By Katee Fletcher
By Katee Fletcher
So you think you know world history? I guess it’s time to find out! Put your wits to the test with these world history trivia questions to see how much you really know about the world around you. Have fun, and you may even learn something new!
History Trivia Questions
Trivia Question: What was the shortest war in human history?
Answer:The war between England and Zanzibar
Trivia Question: How long did the war between England and Zanzibar last?
Answer: Between 38 & 45 minutes
Trivia Question: How many years did the 100 years war last?
Answer:116 years
Trivia Question: What was the name of the research ship Charles Darwin traveled with?
Answer:The Beagle
Trivia Question: In which year did Hitler commit suicide?
Answer: 1945
Trivia Question: In which year was John F. Kennedy assassinated?
Answer: 1963
Trivia Question: One of the ancient world wonders, the “Hanging Gardens,” was found in which city?
Answer: Babylon
Trivia Question: Greenland was a colony of which country until 1981?
Answer: Denmark
Trivia Question: Which organization was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1917?
Answer:The Red Cross
Trivia Question: How many days in a week were there in ancient Roman times?
Answer: 8
Trivia Question: How many days was William Harrison President of the United States?
Answer: 32
Trivia Question: In 1927, who became the first man to fly solo and non-stop across the Atlantic?
Answer: Charles Lindbergh
Trivia Question: What was the family name of the Russian rulers from the 17th century until the 1917 revolution?
Answer: Romanov
Trivia Question: Which bridge was the first to be built across the River Thames in London?
Answer: London Bridge
Trivia Question: Which U.S. president had a home called The Hermitage?
Answer: Andrew Jackson
Trivia Question: Which famous battle took place on Sunday, June 18th, 1815?
Answer: The Battle of Waterloo
Trivia Question: How many U.S. presidents have been assassinated?
Answer: Four
Trivia Question: What are the names of the U.S. presidents who have been assassinated?
Answer:Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield, William McKinley, John F. Kennedy
Trivia Question: Which King of England was executed in 1649 during the English Civil War?
Answer: Charles I.
Trivia Question: Which world leader is famous for his “Little Red Book”?
Answer: Mao Zedong, or Mao Tse-tung
Trivia Question: When did Mao Zedong come to power?
Answer: 1949
Trivia Question: In which country did the Easter Rising take place in 1916?
Answer: Ireland
Trivia Question: Which seven U.S. states seceded and formed the original Confederacy during the U.S. Civil War?
Answer: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas
Trivia Question: What name is given to Britain’s policy of avoiding strict enforcement of parliamentary laws on early American colonies?
Answer: Salutary neglect
Trivia Question: What was the name of the first Space Shuttle to go into space?
Answer: Space Shuttle Columbia
Trivia Question: When did the first Space Shuttle go into space?
Answer: April 12th, 1981
Trivia Question: The ancient Egyptians worshiped dung beetle?
Answer:The scarab
Trivia Question: Who was shot outside the Hilton Hotel in Washington on March 30th, 1981?
Answer: President Ronald Reagan
Trivia Question: Which mountaineer and his Sherpa became the first men to conquer Mount Everest?
Answer: Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay
Trivia Question: How did Alexander the Great solve the puzzle of the Gordion knot?
Answer: He cut it with a sword
Trivia Question: Who was the first man to walk on the moon, and in which year?
Answer: Neil Armstrong, 1969
Trivia Question: Which Greek historian is known as the “Father of History”?
Answer: Herodotus
Trivia Question: Which Russian astronaut was the first man to conduct a spacewalk?
Answer: Alexey Leonov
Trivia Question: In which Libyan city was the American diplomatic compound attacked in September 2012?
Answer: Benghazi
Trivia Question: In 1865, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant, effectively ending the American Civil War. Where did this take place?
Answer: Appomattox
Trivia Question: Which infamous prison was stormed on July 14th, 1789?
Answer: The Bastille in Paris
Trivia Question: Where were the first modern Olympics held?
Answer: Athens, Greece 1896
Trivia Question: What is the modern name for Van Diemen’s Land?
Answer: Tasmania
Trivia Question: Who was the first woman in space?
Answer: Soviet Cosmonaut, Valentina Tereshkova
Trivia Question: Roald Amundsen led a successful expedition to what location in 1911?
Answer:The South Pole
Trivia Question: The Ptolemy dynasty ruled which ancient kingdom?
Answer: Egypt
Trivia Question: Who invented the cotton gin?
Answer: Eli Whitney
Trivia Question: What year did the War of 1812 end?
Answer:1815
Trivia Question: Who became President of the United States after John F. Kennedy was assassinated?
Answer: Lyndon B. Johnson
Trivia Question: The ancient city of Rome was built on how many hills?
Answer:Seven
Trivia Question: Octavian defeated Mark Anthony in which famous naval battle of 31 B.C.?
Answer: The Battle of Actium
Trivia Question: Who was the first man to swim the English Channel?
Answer: Matthew Webb
Trivia Question: The Peloponnesian War was fought between Athens and which other ancient Greek state?
Answer: Sparta
Trivia Question: Who built the first car in America?
Answer: Henry Ford
Trivia Question: What is the name of the first car ever made?
Answer: The Motorwagon
Trivia Question: Which English queen reigned for just nine days?
Answer: Lady Jane Grey
Trivia Question: Which war took place between 1950 and 1953?
Answer: The Korean War
Trivia Question: What is the name of the first human civilization?
Answer: Mesopotamia
Trivia Question: What does “The Magna Carta” mean?
Answer: “The Great Charter”
Trivia Question: In which year was the first Super Bowl played?
Answer: 1967
Trivia Question: Which team won the first Super Bowl?
Answer: GreenBay Packers
Trivia Question: The Maya of Mesoamerica are best known for their achievements in which subjects?
Answer: Math & Astronomy
Trivia Question: Who is known for running through the streets crying Eureka?
Answer: Archimedes
Trivia Question: What is the name of the first female Hispanic astronaut?
Answer: Ellen Ochoa
Trivia Question: How did Joan of Arc die?
Answer: She was burned at the stake
Trivia Question: How many times has the Mona Lisa been stolen?
Answer:One
Trivia Question: What is the breed of Snoopy in the highly successful comic strip?
Answer: Beagle
Trivia Question: Who was the emperor of Rome from A.D. 54 – A.D. 68?
Answer: Nero
Trivia Question: Which century did the French Revolution take place in?
Answer: The 18th Century
Trivia Question: In which year was the Berlin Wall torn down?
Answer: 1989
Trivia Question: In which year was Mahatma Gandhi killed?
Answer:1948
Trivia Question: What is the name of The Beatles’ debut album?
Answer: Please Please Me
Trivia Question: Who led the USSR from 1917-1922?
Answer: Vladimir Lenin
Trivia Question: The “Whitechapel Murderer” is the nickname given to which serial killer?
Answer: Jack the Ripper
Trivia Question: The construction of the Berlin Wall begin in what year?
Answer: 1961
Trivia Question: The Incan Empire is located in which modern-day country?
Answer: Peru
Trivia Question: The Great Fire of London happened in which year?
Answer: 1666
Trivia Question: In which war did the Battle of the Bulge take place?
Answer:World War II
Trivia Question: Who invented the telephone?
Answer: Alexander Graham Bell
Trivia Question: Who crossed the Rubicon?
Answer: Julius Caeser
Trivia Question: Who was the first female to be elected into the U.S. Congress?
Answer: Janet Rankin
Trivia Question: Who was the first black Senator in the United States?
Answer: Carol Moseley Brown
Trivia Question: Before independence, what was Bangladesh called?
Answer: East Pakistan
Trivia Question: What was the Great Western Schism?
Answer: When more than one pope claimed authority over the Roman Catholic church.
Trivia Question: Who painted the mural of “The Last Supper”?
Answer: Leonardo da Vinci
Trivia Question: What First Lady became the first wife of a sitting president to appear under subpoena before a grand jury?
Answer: Hillary Rodham Clinton
Trivia Question: Whose assassination resulted in the Lorraine Motel becoming the National Civil Rights Museum?
Answer: The assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Trivia Question: Which U.S. President was inducted in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1992?
Answer: Abraham Lincoln
Trivia Question: What nation separated from the United Kingdom in 1921?
Answer: Ireland
Trivia Question: In which country was the largest known T-Rex skeleton found?
Answer: Canada
Trivia Question: What was the first toy to be advertised on television?
Answer: Mr. Potato Head
Trivia Question: In which year did WWI begin?
Answer: 1914
Trivia Question: Where was Adolf Hitler born?
Answer: Austria
Trivia Question: The Battle of Hastings in 1066 was fought in which country?
Answer: England
Trivia Question: When was Pearl Harbor bombed?
Answer:December 7th, 1941
Trivia Question: Who created the first successful printing press?
Answer: Johannes Gutenberg
Trivia Question: What is the name of the disease that ravaged and killed a third of Europe’s population in the 14th century?
Answer: The Bubonic Plague
Trivia Question: In which city and state was John F. Kennedy assassinated?
Answer:Dallas, Texas
Trivia Question: The Hundred Years War was fought between what two countries?
Answer: France and England
Trivia Question: Which Roman Emperor built a massive wall across Northern Britain in 122 A.D.?
Answer: Hadrian
Trivia Question: In the 5,000 years of human history, what is the one disease that has been completely eradicated?
Answer: Small Pox
Trivia Question: What is the longest war in U.S. history?
Answer: Afghan War
Trivia Question: The Aztec people sacrificed about how many people per year?
Answer: 250,000
Trivia Question: Who wrote the document known as the 95 Theses?
Answer: Martin Luther
Trivia Question: Who painted the Sistine Chapel?
Answer: Michelangelo
Trivia Question: The ancient Mayan civilization existed in which modern-day country?
Answer: Guatemala
Trivia Question: In 1594, William Shakespeare joined the company of which London theatre?
Answer:The Globe
Trivia Question: What group of people discovered Greenland?
Answer: The Vikings
Trivia Question: What is the name of the first successful colony in Virginia?
Answer: Jamestown
Trivia Question: The Khmer Rouge was a regime ruling which nation in the 20th century?
Answer:Cambodia
Trivia Question: The 1707 Acts of Union was an event that combined what?
Answer: England and Scotland
Trivia Question: What famous 5th century A.D. conqueror was known as “The Scourge of God”?
Answer: Attila the Hun
Trivia Question: When did WWI officially end?
Answer: November 11th, 1918
Trivia Question: In 1939, the UK declared war on Germany after what event?
Answer: Poland was invaded
Trivia Question: In what year did humans put the first satellite into orbit?
Answer:1957
Trivia Question: Who orchestrated a terrorist attack against the United States on September 11th, 2001?
Answer: Al Qaeda
Trivia Question: Who was the first Western explorer to reach China?
Answer: Marco Polo
Trivia Question: When was the television invented?
Answer:1927
Trivia Question: Who was the inventor of the television?
Answer: Philo Taylor Farnsworth
Trivia Question: How old was Philo Farnsworth when he invented the television?
Answer: 21
Trivia Question: What scandal forced U.S. President Richard Nixon to resign in 1974?
Answer: Watergate
Trivia Question: The Cuban Revolution led to the rise of what dictator?
Answer: Fidel Castro
Trivia Question: There have been four eons since the Earth’s beginning. What is the name of the eon we are living in?
Answer: Phanerozoic Eon
Trivia Question: Along with Hiroshima, Japan, which Japanese city was hit by an atomic bomb in 1945?
Answer: Nagasaki
Trivia Question: Which series of wars saw European Christians invading the middle east to take the Holy Land?
Answer: The Crusades
Trivia Question: Which human ancestor was the first to discover fire?
Answer: hom*o Erectus
Trivia Question: Who was the first female prime minister of Britain?
Answer: Margaret Thatcher
Trivia Question: Who assassinated Abraham Lincoln?
Answer: John Wilkes Booth
Trivia Question: What acquisition of territory by the United States from France occurred in 1803?
Answer: Louisiana Purchase
Trivia Question: Who was known as the “Virgin Queen”?
Answer:Queen Elizabeth I
Trivia Question: Where was Cleopatra’s birthplace?
Answer: Greece
Trivia Question: The Cold War was between the United States and what other world power?
Answer: Soviet Union
Trivia Question: The Reign of Terror was a period during which major social and political event?
Answer: French Revolution
Trivia Question: What category was Hurricane Katrina when it made landfall in 2005?
Answer: Category 3
Trivia Question: What is the full title of the first Harry Potter movie released on November 16th, 2001?
Answer: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Trivia Question: How long did it take Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, to orbit Earth?
Answer: 89 minutes
Trivia Question: In which year did The Challenger disaster take place?
Answer: 1986
Trivia Question: The Protestant Reformation was started by whom?
Answer: Martin Luther
Trivia Question: What famous music festival took place in 1969?
Answer: Woodstock
Trivia Question: What was the name of the movie that Elvis Presley made his film debut in?
Answer: Love Me Tender
Trivia Question: Eva Peron was the first lady of what country?
Answer: Argentina
Trivia Question: Who won the Nobel Peace prize in 1964?
Answer: Martin Luther King, Jr.
Trivia Question: Who was not a member of the Allied Powers during World War II?
Answer: Italy
Trivia Question: “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” is a well-known phrase from what collection of 282 laws?
Answer: The Code of Hammurabi
Trivia Question: Who was responsible for liberating much of South Africa?
Answer: Simon Bolivar
Trivia Question: What was the name given to the laws aimed at enforcing segregation in public places in the United States?
Answer: Jim Crow Laws
Trivia Question: Which Roman Emperor’s Edit of Milan made Christianity legal?
Answer: Constantine
Trivia Question: What was the name of the first computer?
Answer: ENIAC
Trivia Question: Which African nation successfully resisted colonialism in the late 19th century?
Answer:Ethiopia
Trivia Question: Which civilization was centered around the city of Tenochtitlan?
Answer: Aztec
Trivia Question: Who was the victor in the French and Indian War?
Answer: The British
Trivia Question: Who wrote “The Communist Manifesto”?
Answer: Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels
Trivia Question: What was the first dynasty of Imperial China?
Answer: Qin dynasty
Trivia Question: Which Chinese destination was the site of protests in 1989?
Answer: Tiananmen Square
Trivia Question: Who invented Penicillin?
Answer: Alexander Fleming
Trivia Question: What was Marie Curie known for?
Answer: The discovery of the elements polonium and radium
Trivia Question: Whose assassination led to World War I?
Answer: Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Trivia Question: Which Argentinian became a notable figure in the Cuban Revolution?
Answer: Che Guevara
Trivia Question: Which international organization formed after World War I and was headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland?
Answer: League of Nations
Trivia Question: During which years were the Spanish Civil War?
Answer: 1936-1939
Trivia Question: How long was Francisco Franco in power in Spain?
Answer:36 Years
Trivia Question: Which country did England send convicts to between 1788 and 1868?
Answer: Australia
Trivia Question: Who ran the USSR during World War II?
Answer: Joseph Stalin
Trivia Question: Which movie star married the Prince of Monaco on April 18th, 1956?
Answer: Grace Kelly
Trivia Question: Which union has 28 member countries, many of which use the euro as their currency?
Answer: European Union
Trivia Question: What are the Bill of Rights?
Answer: The first Ten Amendments of the U.S. Constitution
Trivia Question: Which conflict ended with the Good Friday Agreement?
Answer: The Troubles
Trivia Question: What was the previous name for New York?
Answer: New Amsterdam
Trivia Question: Which British ocean liner did a German U-boat torpedo on May 7th, 1915?
Answer: Lusitania
Trivia Question: Who did the United States acquire Alaska from?
Answer: Russia
Trivia Question: Which empire did Charlemagne rule?
Answer: Holy Roman Empire
Trivia Question: What is the name of the island Napoleon was exiled to?
Answer: Elba
Trivia Question: Who was the founder of the Mongol Empire?
Answer: Genghis Khan
Trivia Question: What modern-day city was known as Bombay?
Answer: Mumbai
Trivia Question: Who was the first African American Supreme Court Justice?
Answer: Thurgood Marshall
Trivia Question: Which country was not part of the Triple Entente?
Answer: Germany
Trivia Question: What is the name of the strip of land that divides the Korean Peninsula?
Answer: Korean Demilitarized Zone
Trivia Question: Who won four gold medals in the 1936 Olympics, infuriating Adolf Hitler?
Answer: Jessie Owens
Trivia Question: Who was the first and, thus far, only female prime minister of Israel?
Answer: Golda Meir
Trivia Question: What documents were responsible for establishing the 17th Parallel as the line that separated Vietnam during the Vietnam War?
Answer:Geneva Accords
Trivia Question: In which country did Buddhism originate?
Answer: Nepal
Trivia Question: Who was the President of the United States during the Iran Hostage Crisis?
Answer: Jimmy Carter
Trivia Question: Which city served as the capital of the Ottoman Empire?
Answer: Constantinople
Trivia Question: What were warriors in Japan known as?
Answer: Samarais
Trivia Question: What city was formerly known as Saigon?
Answer: Ho Chi Minh City
Trivia Question: Which country did the United Kingdom fight against in the Falklands War?
Answer: Argentina
Trivia Question: Which organization has 193 member countries?
Answer: United Nations
Trivia Question: Who was the king of France during the French Revolution?
Answer: Louis XVI
Trivia Question: Which famous novel is based on the French Revolution?
Answer: The Tale of Two Cities
Trivia Question: Which book was written by Hitler while in prison in the 1920s?
Answer:Mein Kampf
Trivia Question: During World War I, the territory known as South West Africa was a colony of which country?
Answer: Germany
Trivia Question: Which 19th-century scientist is known for creating the first vaccine?
Answer: Louis Pasteur
Trivia Question: In which year did the Emancipation Proclamation become law?
Answer: 1863
Trivia Question: In 1981, MTV showed its first music video. What was it?
Answer:“Video Killed the Radio Star” by The Buggles
Trivia Question: Who invented the steam engine?
Answer: George Stephenson
Trivia Question: In 1773, tea from the British East India Company was famously thrown into which body of water in protest by American colonists?
Answer: Boston Harbor
Trivia Question: From what city did the Titanic set sail?
Answer: South Hampton
Trivia Question: Who was the airline pilot that successfully landed his stricken plane in the Hudson River in 2009?
Answer: Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger
Trivia Question: Who invented the vaccine for Polio?
Answer: Jonas Salk
Trivia Question: In what year did Nelson Mandela get released from prison?
Answer: 1990
Trivia Question: Rome was founded in which year?
Answer: 753, B.C.
Trivia Question: The Statue of Liberty was a gift from which country?
Answer: France
Trivia Question: Which former Primer Minister of India was assassinated in 1991?
Answer: Rajiv Gandhi
Trivia Question: What is the date that The Allies invaded Europe at Normandy?
Answer: June 6th, 1944
Trivia Question: Who was the second President of the United States?
Answer: John Adams
Trivia Question: What kind of animal did Cleopatra use to kill herself?
Answer: A snake
Trivia Question: Which U.S. mail service started in 1860?
Answer: Pony Express
Trivia Question: What is the smallest country in the world?
Answer: Vatican City
Trivia Question: Who was the Hollywood star who became the governor of California in 2003?
Answer: Arnold Schwarzenegger
Trivia Question: Who is the Greek goddess of victory?
Answer: Nike
Trivia Question: Which great wonder of the Ancient World still stands today?
Answer: Giza Pyramid
Trivia Question: Which country was the first to allow women to vote?
Answer: New Zealand
Trivia Question: What year was India given independence from Great Britain?
Answer: 1947
Trivia Question: What was the first capital of the United States?
Answer: New York, New York
Trivia Question: How many astronauts have walked on the moon as of 2020?
Answer: 12
Trivia Question: Which river did George Washington famously cross in 1776?
Answer: Delaware
Trivia Question: Who was the first African American woman to be crowned Miss America?
Answer: Vanessa Williams
Trivia Question:Which U.S. President created the interstate highway system?
Answer: Dwight D. Eisenhower
Trivia Question:How many U.S. Presidents died in office (including assassination)?
Answer: Eight
Trivia Question:What was the longest battle in WWII?
Answer: Battle of the Atlantic
Trivia Question:What was the first Nazi concentration camp?
Answer: Dachau
Trivia Question:What was the name of the B-29 Bomber that dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima?
Answer: Enola Gay
Trivia Question:Who was the first democratically elected president of Russia?
Answer: Boris Yeltsin
Trivia Question:What new economic program did China’s Mao Zedong announce in 1958?
Answer: “The Great Leap Forward”
Trivia Question:Which country held its first democratic elections on January 30th, 2005?
Answer: Iraq
Trivia Question:What was the first city to reach a population of 1 million?
Answer: Ancient Rome
Trivia Question:What year was the first internet domain registered?
Answer: 1985
Trivia Question: To whom was the first internet domain registered?
Answer: Symbolics.com
Trivia Question:The name “Australia” was formally adopted in which year?
Answer: 1824, A.D.
Trivia Question:What is the oldest operating airline in the world?
Answer: QANTAS
Trivia Question:Which political party was banned in Italy after WWII?
Answer: Fascist
Trivia Question:What language was the name “Australia” derived from?
Answer: Latin
Trivia Question:What year was the United Nations established?
Answer: 1945
Trivia Question:What was the Eureka Stockade?
Answer: A gold miner’s revolt in 1854 near Ballarat, Victoria
Trivia Question:What country won the first World Cup?
Answer: Uruguay
Trivia Question:In which year was the White Australia Policy formally abolished?
Answer: 1972 by Gough Whitlam
Trivia Question:What is the best selling novel of all time?
Answer: Don Quixote
Trivia Question:Ulysses S. Grant appears on the front on which denomination of U.S. currency?
Answer: The $50 bill
Trivia Question:Whose crew was the first to sail completely around the world?
Answer: Ferdinand Magellan
Trivia Question:Who overthrew the leader Salvador Allende in Chile in a coup d’etat?
Answer: Augusto Pinochet
Trivia Question:What was the term for the official policy of racial segregation in South Africa until 1994?
Answer: Apartheid
Trivia Question: In which year did the Titanic sink?
Answer: 1912
Trivia Question:What is the name of the economic program that was created to help Puerto Rico?
Answer: Operation Bootstrap
Trivia Question:How many heads of executive departments make up the U.S. President’s cabinet?
Answer: 15
Trivia Question:Who captured and murdered the Inca Emperor Atahualpa?
Answer: Francisco Pizarro
Trivia Question:Which South American country has a famous canal running through it?
Answer: Panama
Trivia Question:Which country was the first to legalize same-sex marriage?
Answer: The Netherlands
Trivia Question:Who was the first African American to be elected President of the United States?
Answer: Barrack Obama
Trivia Question:What is the name of the first pyramid ever built?
Answer: The pyramid of Djoser, also known as the Step Pyramid
Trivia Question:The Great Pyramids of Giza consist of how many pyramids?
Answer: Three
Trivia Question:What was Shakespeare’s first printed work?
Answer: Two poems: “Venus and Adonis” & “The Rape of Lucrece.”
Trivia Question:Where was the first Disney park built?
Answer: Anaheim, California
Trivia Question:What was the first cash crop in America?
Answer: Tobacco
Trivia Question:Which Treaty forced Britain to recognize The United States as an independent nation?
Answer: The Treaty of Paris of 1783
Trivia Question:Who was the first U.S. President to appear on television?
Answer: Franklin Roosevelt
More Fun Trivia Questions and Answers
Below are more quiz questions to stump you and your friends.
- General Trivia Questions
- Trivia Questions for Kids
- Harry Potter Trivia Questions
- Friends Trivia Questions
- Bible Trivia Questions
- Easy Trivia Questions
- The Office Trivia Questions
- Movie Trivia Questions
- Hard Trivia Questions
- Disney Trivia Questions
- Science Trivia Questions
- Bar Trivia Questions
- Music Trivia Questions
- Star Wars Trivia Questions
- Funny Trivia Questions
- Sports Trivia Questions
- Animal Trivia Questions
- Marvel Trivia Questions
- Food Trivia Questions
- Christmas Trivia Questions
- Thanksgiving Trivia Questions
- Geography Trivia Questions
- Math Trivia Questions