History trivia questions

From Sumerian clay tablets to the fall of the Berlin Wall. Ten random questions a round, each with a line of context.

10 random questions from a bank of 20 · instant feedback · new mix every time.

History quizzes are full of near-misses: Magellan gets the credit for the first circumnavigation, but he died halfway and Juan Sebastián Elcano brought the ship home. We flag those twists in the answer notes.

Dates are the ones given by mainstream reference works such as Britannica.

More rounds: General Knowledge trivia · Science trivia · Movies trivia · Hard trivia · mixed round

All 20 history questions and answers

  1. In what year did the Titanic sink?

    1912. It struck an iceberg on its maiden voyage in April 1912.

  2. Who was the first person to walk on the Moon?

    Neil Armstrong. Apollo 11, 20 July 1969. Gagarin was the first human in space.

  3. In what year did the Berlin Wall fall?

    1989. The border opened on 9 November 1989.

  4. Which ancient civilisation built Machu Picchu?

    The Inca. Built in the 15th century in the Peruvian Andes.

  5. Who was the first President of the United States?

    George Washington. He took office in 1789.

  6. The Magna Carta was sealed in which year?

    1215. King John sealed it at Runnymede.

  7. Which empire was ruled by Genghis Khan?

    Mongol Empire. It became the largest contiguous land empire in history.

  8. In which year did World War II end?

    1945. Germany surrendered in May, Japan in September 1945.

  9. Which queen reigned in Britain for over 70 years?

    Elizabeth II. Elizabeth II reigned from 1952 to 2022.

  10. The ancient city of Pompeii was destroyed by which volcano?

    Vesuvius. It erupted in 79 AD.

  11. Who wrote the Communist Manifesto with Friedrich Engels?

    Karl Marx. Published in 1848.

  12. Which country was the first to give women the vote in national elections?

    New Zealand. New Zealand did so in 1893.

  13. Who was the Egyptian pharaoh whose nearly intact tomb was found in 1922?

    Tutankhamun. Howard Carter opened it in the Valley of the Kings.

  14. The Renaissance began in which country?

    Italy. Florence is usually named as its birthplace.

  15. Which wall was built across northern England by the Romans?

    Hadrian's Wall. Construction began in AD 122.

  16. Which explorer led the first expedition to circumnavigate the globe (completed 1522)?

    Ferdinand Magellan. Magellan died on the way; Juan Sebastián Elcano completed the voyage.

  17. Who was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize?

    Marie Curie. She won in Physics (1903) and Chemistry (1911).

  18. What was the name of the ship the Pilgrims sailed to America in 1620?

    Mayflower. They landed at Plymouth, Massachusetts.

  19. The French Revolution began in which year?

    1789. The storming of the Bastille was on 14 July 1789.

  20. Which civilisation invented the earliest known writing, cuneiform?

    Sumerians. Cuneiform appeared in Mesopotamia around 3200 BC.

Questions people ask

What are good history trivia questions for adults?

Questions with a twist land best: who actually finished Magellan's voyage, which country first gave women the national vote (New Zealand, 1893), or what colour Dorothy's slippers were in the book (silver).

Are the dates accurate?

Yes, they follow standard references. Where historians debate a date, we avoid the question.

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