History50 randomly selected History questions for quizmasters. New random selection made weekly. Next update: Monday 13th April 2026 (Please note: Questions are taken from our database of previous quizzes. Some questions and answers may be outdated.) |
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| 1. | Nicknamed the "May King", Umberto II reigned for 34 days, from 9th May 1946 to 12th June 1946, as the last king of what European country? |
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Italy | |
| 2. | Nicknamed Dr. Death, what was the name of the American pathologist, best known for claiming to have assisted the suicide of at least 130 patients? |
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Jack Kevorkian | |
| 3. | How many propellers (screws) did the RMS Titanic have? |
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Three | |
| 4. | What was the profession of Wyatt Earp's sidekick Doc Holiday? |
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Dentist | |
| 5. | Sentenced to life imprisonment in 1998, what is the name of the Unabomber? |
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Ted Kaczynski (Theodore John "Ted" Kaczynski) | |
| 6. | What were the first names of the German-American entrepreneur who founded the H. J. Heinz Company in 1869? |
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Henry John | |
| 7. | Who was President of the United States when construction of the Berlin Wall began? |
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John F. Kennedy (13th August 1961) | |
| 8. | In one of the most controversial actions by Allied forces during World War II, what historic city in the German state of Saxony was heavily bombed in four raids between 13th and 15th February 1945? |
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Dresden | |
| 9. | Probably the strangest monarch of the 20th century, what Southeast European country was ruled by Zog I from 1922 to 1939, firstly as Prime Minister, then President, and finally King? |
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Albania | |
| 10. | What was the largest naval battle of the First World War? |
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Battle of Jutland (31st May to 1st June 1916) | |
| 11. | Complete the following transmission by Neil Armstrong upon landing on the moon in July 1969: "Houston, _________ Base here. The Eagle has landed." |
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Tranquility | |
| 12. | Who was the second man in outer space? |
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Alan Shepard (5th May 1961) | |
| 13. | Who was the first British monarch to give birth to a future king? |
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Victoria (Edward VII) | |
| 14. | What was the name of the treaty signed on New Zealand's North Island between Māori chiefs and the British in 1840? |
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Treaty of Waitangi | |
| 15. | Sort these geological periods in date order; oldest first, most recent last: A. Jurassic B. Cretaceous C. Triassic |
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C A B (Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous) | |
| 16. | On what mode of transport was Lyndon B. Johnson sworn in as U.S. President? |
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Aeroplane (on Air Force One at Dallas Love Field in Dallas on 22nd November 1963) | |
| 17. | In April 1968, the City of London famously sold London Bridge to an American, Robert P. McCulloch. Dismantled brick-by-brick, shipped and eventually reconstructed in 1971, in which U.S. state is the bridge now located? |
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Arizona (Lake Havasu City, Mohave County) | |
| 18. | Who was appointed 1st Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland on 16th December 1653? |
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Oliver Cromwell | |
| 19. | What took place on 28th March 1979 in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, making news headlines worldwide? |
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Three Mile Island Accident (Core meltdown) | |
| 20. | What scientist was charged with heresy in 1633 by the Roman Catholic Church for his view that the earth orbits the sun? |
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Galileo Galilei | |
| 21. | What was Winston S. Churchill's middle name? |
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Spencer | |
| 22. | In what century did the Middle Ages begin? |
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5th (most commonly regarded as 476 AD, the fall of the Western Roman Empire) | |
| 23. | Beginning in 1946, the First Indochina War saw Vietnam fighting for independence against which country? |
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France | |
| 24. | What famous documents were discovered near Qumran, Palestine between 1947 and 1956, significantly impacting the world's understanding of religion and history? |
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The Dead Sea Scrolls | |
| 25. | Challenging Mikhail Gorbachev, what is the famous four-word phrase spoken by Ronald Reagan in his June 1987 speech in West Berlin? |
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"Tear down this wall!" | |
| 26. | What was the capital of Yugoslavia from 1918 to 2006? |
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Belgrade | |
| 27. | To what shipping company did the RMS Titanic belong? |
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White Star Line (aka The Oceanic Steam Navigation Company, later merged with Cunard in 1934) | |
| 28. | The Battle of Moscow was fought during the coldest European winter of the 20th Century, having begun in October of what year? |
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1941 | |
| 29. | Who was killed in the Philippines in 1521 during an expedition he led that would become the first to circumnavigate the world? |
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Ferdinand Magellan | |
| 30. | Since being retired from active service in 2008, in which city has the QE2 ocean liner been docked amid a cloud of uncertainty about its future? |
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Dubai (Port Rashid) | |
| 31. | What African country was invaded and occupied by Fascist Italy in October 1935? |
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Ethiopia (Abyssinia) | |
| 32. | Prince Henry the Navigator played a prominent role in the 15th-century development of what country's empire? |
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Portugal | |
| 33. | Who began a speech on 11th December 1936 with the words "At long last I am able to say a few words of my own"? |
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Edward VIII / Duke of Windsor (Abdication speech, BBC World Service) | |
| 34. | In what decade did a military Air Force surveillance balloon crash at a ranch near Roswell, New Mexico, prompting claims that it was an extraterrestrial spaceship? |
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The 1940s (1947) | |
| 35. | On 25th March, 1975, the king of what country was assassinated by his half-brother's son? |
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Saudi Arabia (King Faisal) | |
| 36. | Known as El Libertador, or the Liberator, what nationality was Simón Bolívar? |
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Venezuelan | |
| 37. | At what type of shop did the Great Fire Of London start in 1666? |
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Bakery (Pudding Lane near London Bridge) | |
| 38. | Who was captain of the Bounty when Fletcher Christian led the mutiny against him in April 1789? |
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William Bligh (Mutiny on the Bounty) | |
| 39. | Which of Henry VIII's wives was Queen Elizabeth I's mother? |
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Anne Boleyn | |
| 40. | Alcock and Brown flew the first ever non-stop transatlantic flight in June 1919, between what two countries? |
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Canada (Newfoundland) and Ireland | |
| 41. | Which historical first did Tenzing Norgay achieve in 1953? |
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Reached the summit of Mount Everest (with Edmund Hillary) | |
| 42. | The defeat of the Prussian army in the 1792 Battle of Valmy played a significant role in which well known conflict? |
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French Revolutionary Wars / French Revolution | |
| 43. | What war took place in Europe between October 1853 and February 1856? |
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Crimean War | |
| 44. | What country elected the world's first female prime minister in July 1960? |
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Ceylon / Sri Lanka (Sirimavo Bandaranaike) | |
| 45. | A bilateral agreement first signed by the USA and the USSR on 31st July 1991 and entered into force on 5th December 1994, what does START stand for? |
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Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty | |
| 46. | What political movement was founded in the late 19th century by Hungarian journalist Theodor Herzl? |
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Zionism | |
| 47. | What was the flight number of the Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 that disappeared on 8th March 2014, likely somewhere in the southern Indian Ocean? |
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370 (MH370 or MAS370) | |
| 48. | In what city was the TASS news agency founded in 1925? |
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Moscow (Russian: Телеграфное агентство Советского Союза, Tyelyegrafnoye agyentstvo Sovyetskogo Soyuza; acronym TASS) | |
| 49. | What famous speech begins, "Four score and seven years ago ..."? |
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Gettysburg Address (Abraham Lincoln - 1863) | |
| 50. | 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 | |
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