History50 randomly selected History questions for quizmasters. New random selection made weekly. Next update: Monday 12th January 2026 (Please note: Questions are taken from our database of previous quizzes. Some questions and answers may be outdated.) |
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| 1. | The Mau Mau uprising took place between 1952 and 1960 in what country? |
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Kenya (then British Kenya) | |
| 2. | The Mannerheim Line was a defensive structure built after World War I to defend what country? |
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Finland (from the Soviet Union) | |
| 3. | Who was the last US President to die of natural causes while in office? |
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Franklin D. Roosevelt (12th April 1945, cerebral haemorrhage) | |
| 4. | What is the name of the war that included the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876? |
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Great Sioux War / Black Hills War | |
| 5. | In which year did the Asian Financial Crisis hit Thailand, seeing the baht halving in value overnight? |
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1997 | |
| 6. | What name was given to this multi-stranded knotted rope used for flogging in days gone by? |
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Cat o' nine tails | |
| 7. | Why did 13 Wild Boars make world headlines in June 2018? |
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Thai cave rescue (Wild Boars is the name of the Junior football team) | |
| 8. | What U.S. President was assassinated in September 1901? |
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William McKinley | |
| 9. | What Empire was defeated by the Greeks in the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC? |
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Persian Empire | |
| 10. | Introduced by the EEC in 1979, it was designed to achieve monetary stability in Europe and prepare for the introduction of a single currency; what did ERM stand for? |
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Exchange Rate Mechanism | |
| 11. | Who succeeded Calvin Coolidge as President of the United States in 1929? |
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Herbert Hoover | |
| 12. | On what Greek island was the late Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, born on 10th June 1921? |
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Corfu (Κέρκυρα) | |
| 13. | 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) | |
| 14. | What famous speech begins, "Four score and seven years ago ..."? |
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Gettysburg Address (Abraham Lincoln - 1863) | |
| 15. | Unbeaten to this day, what was the name of the steam locomotive that set the world speed record of 126 mph on 3rd July 1938? |
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Mallard (LNER Class A4 4468) | |
| 16. | The only U.S. president to have served more than two terms, how many times was Franklin D. Roosevelt elected president? |
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4 (1932, 1936, 1940, 1944) | |
| 17. | The Great Depression lasted for almost all of what decade? |
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The 1930s | |
| 18. | In what British city did the Peterloo Massacre take place on 16th August 1819? |
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Manchester | |
| 19. | In which sea did the ferry MS Estonia sink in September 1994 with the loss of 852 people? |
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Baltic Sea | |
| 20. | The Gunpowder Plot was a failed attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament in what century? |
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17th (1605) | |
| 21. | Following the Pleistocene around 11,700 years ago, what 'H' describes the current geological epoch? |
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Holocene | |
| 22. | Who was leader of the Soviet Union between 13th February 1984 and his death on 10th March 1985? |
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Konstantin Chernenko | |
| 23. | How many days after Hiroshima was the second atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki? |
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3 (6th & 9th August 1945) | |
| 24. | The first cinematograph to allow simultaneous viewing by multiple parties was patented in the 1890s by French brothers Auguste and Louis ... what? |
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Lumière | |
| 25. | After which war was the League of Nations formed? |
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First World War | |
| 26. | Dr Christian Barnard was a South African surgeon who performed the world's first successful human-to-human transplant of what organ in 1967? |
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Heart | |
| 27. | What were the surnames of the two body snatchers who killed 16 people in Edinburgh in 1868 and sold the corpses to Robert Knox for dissection at his anatomy lectures? |
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Burke and Hare | |
| 28. | During which war was the 1879 Battle of Rorke's Drift fought? |
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Anglo-Zulu War | |
| 29. | What began with the storming of the Bastille in 1789? |
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French Revolution | |
| 30. | Operation Granby was the name given to British military operations during which conflict? |
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Gulf War (1991) | |
| 31. | Who was commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet during World War II? |
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Chester W. Nimitz | |
| 32. | What name is given to the 19th century "torture device" consisting of a human-sized metal cabinet with a hinged front and spike-covered interior? |
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Iron maiden | |
| 33. | Which British Royal married for the second time on 12th December 1992? |
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Anne, Princess Royal (Timothy Laurence) | |
| 34. | Signed on 6th November 1903, what major construction was made possible by the Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty? |
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Panama Canal | |
| 35. | In what decade did Rio de Janeiro cease to be the capital of Brazil? |
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The 1960s (Brasilia founded on 21st April 1960) | |
| 36. | In what country was Leon Trotsky assassinated in August 1940 by Ramón Mercader, a Spanish-born Soviet agent? |
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Mexico (Mexico City) | |
| 37. | Who was the Republican candidate narrowly defeated by John F. Kennedy in the 1960 Presidential election? |
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Richard Nixon | |
| 38. | The name of what General from the American Revolutionary War became a byword in the United States for treason or betrayal? |
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Benedict Arnold | |
| 39. | At the turn of the 20th century, what was the tallest man-made construction in the world? |
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Eiffel Tower (Paris, France - 1889–1930 - surpassed by the Chrysler Building) | |
| 40. | Legal tender in the UK from 1860 to 1960; from 1937 onwards, what bird featured on the reverse of a farthing (¼d) coin? |
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Wren | |
| 41. | On what holiday was Abraham Lincoln assassinated? |
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Good Friday (14th April 1865) | |
| 42. | Complete this famous quote from June 1963: ... and, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words ...
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"Ich bin ein Berliner!" (John F. Kennedy) | |
| 43. | The Law of the Twelve Tables was the legislation that stood at the foundation of what civilisation? |
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Roman (Ancient Rome) | |
| 44. | What was Al Capone's full first name? |
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Alphonse (Alphonse Gabriel Capone) | |
| 45. | Henri Désiré Landru killed 11 women in France in the early 20th century. What was his nickname? |
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Bluebeard | |
| 46. | Former Israeli Prime Ministers Rabin and Shamir shared what first name? |
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Yitzhak | |
| 47. | Which founder of modern Turkey delivered a 36 hour long speech over 6 days in 1927? |
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Mustafa Kemal Atatürk | |
| 48. | In what country is the site of the 1815 Battle of Waterloo? |
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Belgium | |
| 49. | Since 1933, three U.S. Presidents have lost their second-term elections. George H. W. Bush is one. Name the other two. |
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Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter | |
| 50. | Which French general was head of state of the wartime Vichy government? |
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Marshal Philippe Pétain | |
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