History50 randomly selected History questions for quizmasters. New random selection made weekly. Next update: Monday 6th July 2026 (Please note: Questions are taken from our database of previous quizzes. Some questions and answers may be outdated.) |
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| 1. | With the new Australian dollar equivalent to ten shillings or half an Australian pound, in what year did decimalisation take place in Australia? |
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1966 (14th February) | |
| 2. | In what year did Princess Anne marry Captain Mark Phillips? |
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1973 | |
| 3. | In 1913, Adolf Hitler, Leon Trotsky, Joseph Tito, Sigmund Freud and Joseph Stalin were all living in which city? |
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Vienna | |
| 4. | Who became King of the United Kingdom upon the death of Queen Victoria in 1901? |
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Edward VII | |
| 5. | Who was Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and 1986 to 1988, and President of France from 1995 to 2007? |
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Jacques Chirac | |
| 6. | What did journalists Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward reveal to the world in 1972? |
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Watergate Scandal | |
| 7. | What was the name of the line of concrete fortifications, obstacles and weapon installations built by France in the 1930s to deter invasion by Germany? |
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Maginot Line | |
| 8. | What military leader led a failed attempt to invade Russia in 1812? |
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Napoléon Bonaparte (The French invasion of Russia) | |
| 9. | Later honoured in 8BC by giving his name to a summer month, what name was bestowed upon Roman Emperor Gaius Octavius in 27BC? |
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Augustus | |
| 10. | What city in Texas was the scene of the 1836 Battle of the Alamo? |
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San Antonio (Misión de San Antonio de Valero) | |
| 11. | In 1511, who became the first European country to colonise South-east Asia by conquering the Sultanate of Malacca, part of modern day Malaysia? |
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Portugal | |
| 12. | What was the capital of Yugoslavia from 1918 to 2006? |
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Belgrade | |
| 13. | What name was given to the secret oath-based organisation of English textile workers in the 19th century, where a radical faction destroyed textile machinery as a form of protest? |
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Luddites | |
| 14. | Whose portrait was used on these British WWI recruiting posters? |
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Lord Kitchener (Field Marshal Horatio Herbert Kitchener, Secretary of State for War) | |
| 15. | Who succeeded Javier Pérez de Cuéllar as Secretary-General of the United Nations in 1992 and succeeded by Kofi Annan in 1997? |
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Boutros Boutros-Ghali | |
| 16. | In what year did Harrison Schmitt become the twelfth and last man to date to set foot on the moon? |
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1972 (December) | |
| 17. | What happened to Jorge Mario Bergoglio on 13th March 2013? |
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He became Pope Francis | |
| 18. | Upon being released from prison as part of an amnesty for political prisoners in 1955, to which country did Fidel and Raul Castro go into exile? |
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Mexico | |
| 19. | Following the execution of Charles I, who declared England a republic in 1649? |
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Oliver Cromwell | |
| 20. | What town in New Mexico, USA became famous in 1947 for the recovery of unknown materials and has since become synonymous with extra-terrestrial conspiracies? |
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Roswell | |
| 21. | In which year did an earthquake and subsequent fires destroy more than 80% of San Francisco? |
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1906 (April 18th) | |
| 22. | What war effectively ended with the signing of an armistice on 27th July 1953? |
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Korean War | |
| 23. | What was Dwight D. Eisenhower's middle name? |
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David | |
| 24. | What was the name of the research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons? |
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Manhattan Project | |
| 25. | What war took place in Europe between October 1853 and February 1856? |
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Crimean War | |
| 26. | Which was the only Scandinavian country to remain neutral throughout World War II? |
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Sweden | |
| 27. | What King of France was known as the Sun King? |
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Louis XIV | |
| 28. | In medieval times, the English referred to it as Cambria. By what name do we know it today? |
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Wales | |
| 29. | In which country where the Boer Wars fought? |
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South Africa | |
| 30. | Who became the first female pilot to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean in 1932? |
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Amelia Earhart | |
| 31. | Who was the fifth governor of the Roman province of Judaea, best known for being the official who ordered the crucifixion of Jesus? |
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Pontius Pilate | |
| 32. | Formally known as the Treaty on European Union, what was signed on 7th February 1992 by members of the European Community? |
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Maastricht Treaty | |
| 33. | Archaeologists confirmed in 2013 that a skeleton found under a Leicester car park was that of what King of England? |
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Richard III | |
| 34. | In which year did India gain independence from the United Kingdom? |
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1947 (15th August) | |
| 35. | Dying on 4th April 1841 after just 32 days in office, who was the United States' shortest-serving president? |
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William Henry Harrison | |
| 36. | What Soviet leader ordered the invasion of Afghanistan on 24th December 1979? |
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Leonid Brezhnev | |
| 37. | What world famous discovery did Howard Carter make on 4th November 1922? |
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The tomb of Tutankhamun | |
| 38. | What 'P' is the most common term used to describe the early 20th century 'Noble Experiment' in the United States? |
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Prohibition (1920 to 1933) | |
| 39. | The Tonton Macoutes were a dreaded paramilitary police, most active during the 1960s and 1970s, in what country? |
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Haiti | |
| 40. | In which century was the Taj Mahal built? |
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17th (1632–1653) | |
| 41. | What was Constantinople called before Constantine the Great renamed it after himself in 330 AD? |
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Byzantium | |
| 42. | When Ronald Reagan won the U.S. presidential election in 1980, who came second? |
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Jimmy Carter | |
| 43. | In what century did the Ottoman Empire capture Constantinople? |
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15th (29th May 1453) | |
| 44. | At around 6 million, 17% of its population, what country suffered the highest percent of population deaths during World War II? |
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Poland | |
| 45. | In which decade did Colonel Harland Sanders begin selling fried chicken from his roadside restaurant in Corbin, Kentucky? |
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The 1930s (1930. The first "Kentucky Fried Chicken" franchise opened in Utah in 1952.) | |
| 46. | What English inventor created the first practical steam engine in 1712, using a piston to pump water from a mine? |
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Thomas Newcomen (Newcomen atmospheric engine) | |
| 47. | What worldwide organisation, founded in 1920, was succeeded in 1945 by the United Nations? |
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League of Nations | |
| 48. | Who was President of Argentina during the Falklands War? |
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General Leopoldo Galtieri | |
| 49. | In what year did Christopher Columbus first arrive in the Americas? |
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1492 | |
| 50. | What did Portugal hand back to the People's Republic of China in December 1999? |
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Macau | |
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