History50 randomly selected History questions for quizmasters. New random selection made weekly. Next update: Monday 25th May 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 Some questions and answers may be outdated.)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 the UK, who succeeded David Steel as leader of the Liberal Democrats in 1988? |
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Paddy Ashdown | |
| 2. | What was the name of the Nazi war criminal nicknamed "The Butcher of Lyon"? |
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Nikolaus 'Klaus' Barbie | |
| 3. | In May 1982, Héctor E. Bonzo was the last captain of what ship? |
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General Belgrano | |
| 4. | From which country did Brunei gain independence on 1st January 1984? |
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United Kingdom | |
| 5. | In March 1992, Mike Tyson was sentenced to six years in prison along with four years of probation for the 1991 rape of what 18-year-old model? |
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Desiree Washington | |
| 6. | What three countries signed the Tripartite Pact on 27th September 1940? |
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Germany, Italy, and Japan | |
| 7. | Who was the second President of the USA? |
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John Adams (1797-1801) | |
| 8. | What name was given to the 1918 H1N1 flu pandemic, the most deadly of the 20th century? |
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Spanish flu (between 50 and 100 million deaths) | |
| 9. | Who fell from the Lady Ghislaine on 5th November 1991? |
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Robert Maxwell | |
| 10. | Complete the name of this Wonder of the Ancient World: The Temple of ______ at Ephesus. |
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Artemis | |
| 11. | Who succeeded Nikita Khrushchev as Communist Party leader in 1964? |
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Leonid Brežněv | |
| 12. | On which foot did Neil Armstrong first step on the moon? |
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Left | |
| 13. | On 23rd April 2005, site co-founder Jawed Karim uploaded the very first video to YouTube titled 'Me at the ..' what? |
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Zoo | |
| 14. | By what name was Margaretha Geertruida Zelle better known during World War I? |
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Mata Hari | |
| 15. | On 30th January 1835, just outside the United States Capitol Building, Richard Lawrence made what is thought to be the first attempt to kill a sitting President of the United States. Who was the President? |
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Andrew Jackson | |
| 16. | 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) | |
| 17. | In 1929, American entrepreneur Donald F. Duncan Sr. introduced a toy based on a 16th-century weapon used by Filipino hunters. What is it called? |
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Yo-yo | |
| 18. | In which year was the Great Fire of London? |
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1666 | |
| 19. | Who assassinated Martin Luther King, Jr. on 4th April 1968? |
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James Earl Ray | |
| 20. | In a competition in October 1829, what beat Cycloped, Novelty, Perseverance and Sans Pareil? |
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Stephenson's Rocket (Rainhill Trials) | |
| 21. | Who was responsible for the Barings Bank collapse in 1995? |
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Nick Leeson | |
| 22. | Which English Queen Consort was executed on 19th May 1536? |
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Anne Boleyn | |
| 23. | In the weeks before D-Day, Australian actor and soldier M. E. Clifton James made public appearances disguised as who? |
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Montgomery (Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery) | |
| 24. | John F. Kennedy was assassinated on 22nd November 1963. On what date was Lee Harvey Oswald murdered by Jack Ruby? |
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24th November 1963 | |
| 25. | One of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, what name was given to the war in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648? |
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Thirty Years' War | |
| 26. | Born in 1867, what was the name of the Titanic survivor posthumously nicknamed "The Unsinkable ..."? |
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Molly Brown | |
| 27. | Who was President of the United States when construction of the Berlin Wall began? |
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John F. Kennedy (13th August 1961) | |
| 28. | During which war did Florence Nightingale receive high recognition for her work? |
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Crimean War | |
| 29. | The 1969 Stonewall riots in New York coincided with the funeral of what icon? |
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Judy Garland | |
| 30. | What was the name of the ship that carried Robert Falcon Scott to his fateful last expedition? |
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Terra Nova | |
| 31. | What Chinese Emperor was visited by Marco Polo in the 1270s? |
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Kublai Khan (Shizu / Emperor Shizu of Yuan) | |
| 32. | Which US General escaped to Australia from the Philippines in March 1942, vowing "I shall return"? |
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Douglas MacArthur | |
| 33. | With 25.1% of the vote, who came second to Donald Trump in the 2016 Republican Party presidential primaries? |
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Ted Cruz | |
| 34. | Who co-founded Wikipedia with Larry Sanger in 2001? |
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Jimmy Wales | |
| 35. | Marshal Josip Broz led the Communist partisans to victory against occupation forces in Yugoslavia during the Second World War. By what title and name was he later better known? |
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President Tito | |
| 36. | What British monarch was crowned on Christmas Day in 1066? |
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William I, William the Conqueror | |
| 37. | Between 1712 and 1914, what was the capital of the Russian Empire? |
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Saint Petersburg | |
| 38. | What was the largest internet company in the world in 2000; turned down an offer to purchase Google in 2002; turned down a $44.6 billion takeover bid from Microsoft in 2007; and was eventually sold to Verizon in 2017 for $4.48 billion? |
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Yahoo! | |
| 39. | Name both the captain and the ship that ran aground on the Great Barrier Reef on 11th June 1770? |
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Captain James Cook - HMS Endeavour | |
| 40. | What denomination of pre-decimal coin are these? |
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3d ("thruppence" / threepenny bit) | |
| 41. | Who was named U.S. President after Abraham Lincoln was shot dead by John Wilkes Booth? |
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Andrew Johnson | |
| 42. | Known as El Libertador, or the Liberator, what nationality was Simón Bolívar? |
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Venezuelan | |
| 43. | On what day of the week was Pearl Harbor attacked in 1941? |
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Sunday (7th December) | |
| 44. | How many propellers (screws) did the RMS Titanic have? |
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Three | |
| 45. | In what year did Sony introduce the Betamovie BMC-100P, the world's first consumer camcorder? |
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1983 | |
| 46. | Prior to the introduction of the euro in January 1999, the escudo was the currency of what European country until removed from circulation in February 2002? |
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Portugal | |
| 47. | What Mexican Revolutionary General was shot dead in July 1923? |
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Francisco Villa / Pancho Villa (José Doroteo Arango Arámbula) | |
| 48. | The 1964 film Zulu is a depiction of what 1879 battle during the Anglo-Zulu war? |
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Battle of Rorke's Drift | |
| 49. | Prince Henry the Navigator played a prominent role in the 15th-century development of what country's empire? |
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Portugal | |
| 50. | Who succeeded Georges Pompidou as French President in 1974? |
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Valéry Giscard d'Estaing | |
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