History50 randomly selected History questions for quizmasters. New random selection made weekly. Next update: Monday 2nd March 2026 (Please note: Questions are taken from our database of previous quizzes. Some questions and answers may be outdated.) |
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| 1. | In which year did the student massacre take place at Bangkok's Thammasat University? |
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1976 | |
| 2. | Signed in 1997, in effect since 1999, what does the Ottawa Treaty ban? |
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Landmines (specifically anti-personnel) | |
| 3. | Legend says it fell from the heavens at the Battle of Valdemar on 15th June 1219; which country has the oldest state flag in the world still in use by an independent nation today? |
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Denmark (Dannebrog) | |
| 4. | By what name did Lhamo Thondup become known in 1939? |
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Tenzin Gyatso / Dalai Lama (Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet) | |
| 5. | Dubbed the worst volcanic disaster of the 20th century, on which Caribbean island did Mount Pelée erupt in 1902, destroying the city of Saint-Pierre and killing more than 30,000 people? |
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Martinique | |
| 6. | What was the name of the Wing Commander in charge of the "Dambusters" raid in May 1943? |
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Guy Gibson (Wing Commander Guy Penrose Gibson) | |
| 7. | Who was King of Jordan from the abdication of his father in 1952 until his death in 1999? |
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Hussein (Hussein bin Talal) | |
| 8. | A mechanised device for spinning thread or yarn from fibres such as wool or cotton, name either one of the two men credited for the development of the spinning frame in 1767? |
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Sir Richard Arkwright / John Kay | |
| 9. | What name is given to the group of 750,000 year old human fossils first discovered during excavations at Zhoukoudian near Beijing in 1923? |
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Peking Man (Homo erectus pekinensis) | |
| 10. | During which war did the Battle of Hamburger Hill take place? |
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Vietnam War (May 1969) | |
| 11. | Founded around 600 BC by Greek settlers, what is the oldest city in France? |
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Marseille | |
| 12. | What former British Prime Minister graduated from Oxford University with a degree in Chemistry in 1947? |
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Margaret Thatcher | |
| 13. | The Battle of Agincourt on 25th October 1415 took place during what war? |
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Hundred Years' War | |
| 14. | What country established independence from Spain with the signing of the Treaty of Córdoba on 24th August 1821? |
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Mexico | |
| 15. | Prosecutor Ken Starr filed the Starr Report that helped impeach which American president? |
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Bill Clinton (1998) | |
| 16. | According to legend, what was the name of King Arthur's sword? |
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Excalibur | |
| 17. | What major event took place on 15th March 44 BC? |
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Assassination of Julius Caesar | |
| 18. | A sheep born in Scotland on 5th July 1996; what name was given to the first ever mammal to be cloned from an adult cell? |
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Dolly (Her DNA came from a mammary gland cell, hence she was named after Dolly Parton) | |
| 19. | What was the code name of the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima from the B-29 bomber Enola Gay on 6th August 1945? |
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Little Boy | |
| 20. | The Republic of Biafra was a secessionist state that existed from May 1967 to January 1970 whereupon it capitulated and reintegrated into what country? |
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Nigeria | |
| 21. | What two countries fought the War of 1812? |
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United States & United Kingdom | |
| 22. | The 1969 Stonewall riots in New York coincided with the funeral of what icon? |
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Judy Garland | |
| 23. | Who died at Osborne House, Isle of Wight, England on 22nd January 1901? |
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Queen Victoria | |
| 24. | What German priest and professor of theology proposed an academic discussion of the practice and efficacy of indulgences in his Ninety-five Theses of 1517? |
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Martin Luther | |
| 25. | In what century did the Hundred Years' War between England and France begin? |
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14th (1337 to 1453 - 116 years) | |
| 26. | The First Crusade (1095–1099) ultimately resulted in the capture of what city in 1099? |
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Jerusalem | |
| 27. | Which Central European country fell to a Communist coup in February 1948, marking the onset of four decades of communist rule? |
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Czechoslovakia | |
| 28. | In what year did Christopher Columbus first arrive in the Americas? |
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1492 | |
| 29. | Who was the father of Cleopatra VII's son, Ptolomy XV? |
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Julius Caesar | |
| 30. | Who became Queen consort of England by marrying her brother-in-law in 1509? |
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Catherine of Aragon (First wife of King Henry VIII. She was previously Princess of Wales as the wife of Henry's elder brother, Arthur, until his death in 1502) | |
| 31. | What Caribbean country's independence from French colonial rule began with a slave uprising in 1791? |
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Haiti | |
| 32. | In the aftermath of the Russian Civil War, who became the first undisputed leader of the Soviet Union on 30th December 1922? |
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Vladimir Lenin | |
| 33. | Andersonville was a prisoner of war camp during which conflict? |
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American Civil War (aka Camp Sumter) | |
| 34. | News of Mother Teresa's death on 5th September 1997 was overshadowed by continued media coverage of whose unexpected death five days earlier? |
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Lady Diana | |
| 35. | Who was Mayor of Berlin when the Berlin Wall was built and later became Chancellor of West Germany? |
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Willy Brandt | |
| 36. | What African country staged a bloodless military coup on 6th April 1985 while its president, Gaafar Nimeiry, was out of the country? |
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Sudan | |
| 37. | Launched on 6th June 1944 (D-Day) with the Normandy landings, what 'O' was the codename for the Battle of Normandy? |
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Operation Overlord | |
| 38. | Nicknamed "Star Wars" and proposed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan in March 1983, what did the initials of its official title, SDI, stand for? |
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Strategic Defense Initiative | |
| 39. | What was the capital of Yugoslavia from 1918 to 2006? |
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Belgrade | |
| 40. | Who was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his famous murder in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170? |
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Thomas Becket | |
| 41. | In terms of troop numbers, the Battle of Flodden Field in 1513 was the largest battle fought between what two Kingdoms? |
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England and Scotland (26,000 English, 30-34,000 Scottish) | |
| 42. | In which year did India gain independence from the United Kingdom? |
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1947 (15th August) | |
| 43. | By what name was the present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo known between 1971 and 1997? |
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Zaire (previously Belgian Congo and Republic of the Congo) | |
| 44. | What pioneering cosmetician completed development of his "Color Harmony" range of face powder in 1918? |
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Max Factor | |
| 45. | What Arizona town was the scene of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in 1881? |
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Tombstone | |
| 46. | In which sea did the ferry MS Estonia sink in September 1994 with the loss of 852 people? |
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Baltic Sea | |
| 47. | Who, in November 1871, is alleged to have uttered the words "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" |
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Henry Morton Stanley | |
| 48. | Who shot and killed Lee Harvey Oswald? |
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Jack Ruby | |
| 49. | Who famously declared "There can be no whitewash at the White House"? |
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Richard Nixon (30th April 1973) | |
| 50. | Who was King of England during the American Revolutionary War? |
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George III | |
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