History50 randomly selected History questions for quizmasters. New random selection made weekly. Next update: Monday 31st August 2026 (Please note: Questions are taken from our database of previous quizzes. Some questions and answers may be outdated.) |
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| 1. | A gift as a puppy from Martin Bormann in 1941, what was the name of Adolf Hitler's German Shepherd? |
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Blondi | |
| 2. | What was the full name of the British explorer who led the ill-fated second expedition to reach the South Pole? |
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Robert Falcon Scott | |
| 3. | By what name is 6th June 1944 often called? |
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D-Day (beginning of the Normandy landings) | |
| 4. | Known as El Libertador, or the Liberator, what nationality was Simón Bolívar? |
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Venezuelan | |
| 5. | What Scottish king was killed at the Battle of Flodden Field in 1513? |
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James IV | |
| 6. | Which country joined the "Group of Seven" in 1997 to make it the G8? |
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Russia | |
| 7. | While conducting an autopsy in April 1955, what did pathologist Thomas Stoltz Harvey famously steal? |
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Albert Einstein's brain | |
| 8. | The Entente Cordiale was a series of agreements signed on 8th April 1904 between what two countries? |
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U.K. and France | |
| 9. | What American first patented the revolver in 1835? |
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Samuel Colt | |
| 10. | What was the first country to be invaded by Germany at the start of the First World War in August 1914? |
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Belgium (quickly followed by Luxembourg and France) | |
| 11. | The annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany, in what year did the Anschluss take place? |
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1938 (12th March) | |
| 12. | How old was Billy the Kid when he was shot and killed on 14th July 1881? |
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21 | |
| 13. | What was the name of the ship that carried Robert Falcon Scott to his fateful last expedition? |
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Terra Nova | |
| 14. | Who was sworn in as US President in 1977? |
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Jimmy Carter | |
| 15. | The name of what former Soviet leader translates into English as "man of steel"? |
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Stalin | |
| 16. | First to arrive on scene, what was the name of the passenger steamship that rescued most of the survivors after the sinking of the Titanic? |
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RMS Carpathia | |
| 17. | On 3rd March 1991, who was videotaped being severely beaten by Los Angeles police officers, causing a public outcry? |
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Rodney King | |
| 18. | 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 | |
| 19. | What name was given to the incendiary projectile used to great effect during the 1st millennium by the Byzantine Empire because it continued burning while floating on water? |
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Greek fire | |
| 20. | In which year did the student massacre take place at Bangkok's Thammasat University? |
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1976 | |
| 21. | In what year did Bill Gates and Paul Allen found a small company called Microsoft? |
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1975 (4th April) | |
| 22. | Who was put on trial in northern France in January 1431 for capital crimes of public heresy that included wearing men's clothes? |
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Joan of Arc | |
| 23. | Discovered by the French in 1799, what is the name of the stone slab that became the key for deciphering ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics? |
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Rosetta Stone | |
| 24. | Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922, who was nicknamed the "Welsh Wizard"? |
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David Lloyd George | |
| 25. | Widely regarded as the world's first skyscraper, the Home Insurance Building was opened in 1885, in what U.S. city? |
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Chicago (Illinois) | |
| 26. | The youngest and oldest men to be elected President of the United States took office on the same day twenty years apart. Who were they? |
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John F. Kennedy & Ronald Reagan (1961 & 1981. Theodore Roosevelt was younger than Kennedy, but sworn in (rather than elected) after the assassination of William McKinley in 1901) | |
| 27. | What name was given to the two NASA space probes sent to Mars in the 1970s? |
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Viking | |
| 28. | The daughter of a Pakistani Prime Minister, her husband became President shortly after her assassination in 2007. Name her. |
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Benazir Bhutto | |
| 29. | What 'B' was the name given to the coastal regions of North Africa from the 16th to 19th centuries? |
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Barbary Coast | |
| 30. | In which year did Isaac Newton watch an apple fall from a tree, inspiring his famous theory of gravity? |
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1666 | |
| 31. | Between 1923 and 1939, what did Sir Malcolm Campbell name his record breaking automobiles and speed boats? |
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Blue Bird | |
| 32. | In what country were up to 3 million communist sympathizers, ethnic Chinese and alleged leftists killed in a mass genocide from 1965 to 1966? |
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Indonesia | |
| 33. | Who was President of the United States when Donald Trump was born? |
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Harry S. Truman (14th June 1946) | |
| 34. | Negotiations between the U.S. and the Soviet Union to limit missile numbers were known by what four letter acronym? |
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SALT (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks) | |
| 35. | Named after a Norwegian war-time leader and World War II Nazi collaborator, what word has since become synonymous with any person who collaborates with an enemy occupying force? |
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Quisling (after Vidkun Quisling) | |
| 36. | Golda Meir was Prime Minister of what country from 1969 to 1974? |
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Israel | |
| 37. | What country was invaded by 300,000 Chinese troops in February 1979? |
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Vietnam (Sino-Vietnamese War) | |
| 38. | How old was Mother Theresa when she died? |
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87 (26th August 1910 - 5th September 1997) | |
| 39. | Which country was ruled by King Idris I when it gained independence in 1951? |
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Libya | |
| 40. | In 1969, what U.S. politician drove his car off a bridge at Chappaquidick, resulting in the death of a young colleague, Mary Jo Kopechne? |
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Senator Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy | |
| 41. | In what century is it estimated the Black Death killed some 75 to 200 million people in Eurasia? |
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14th (peaking in Europe between 1346 and 1353) | |
| 42. | A false flag operation known as the Gleiwitz incident marked the eve of what major 20th century conflict? |
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World War II (On 31st August 1939, Nazi forces dressed in Polish uniforms attacked a radio station in Germany. The German invasion of Poland began the next day.) | |
| 43. | What was the surname of the Archduke assassinated in Sarajevo in 1914, a precursor to World War I? |
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Ferdinand (Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria) | |
| 44. | What happened to Jorge Mario Bergoglio on 13th March 2013? |
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He became Pope Francis | |
| 45. | In what U.S. State was the Battle of Bunker Hill fought in 1775? |
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Massachusetts (Charlestown) | |
| 46. | 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) | |
| 47. | In the UK, the Christmas Broadcast tradition began in 1932 with a BBC radio broadcast by what monarch? |
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George V | |
| 48. | What nationality was 15th and 16th century explorer Vasco da Gama? |
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Portuguese | |
| 49. | What Prussian-born aerospace engineer is credited with inventing the V-2 and Saturn-V rockets for Nazi Germany and the United States, respectively? |
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Wernher von Braun | |
| 50. | Who married who at Westminster Abbey, London on 29th April 2011? |
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Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine Middleton | |
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