History50 randomly selected History questions for quizmasters. New random selection made weekly. Next update: Monday 26th October 2026 (Please note: Questions are taken from our database of previous quizzes. Some questions and answers may be outdated.) |
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| 1. | What 'P' described the restructuring of the Soviet political and economic system, introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev in the 1980s? |
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Perestroika (перестройка) | |
| 2. | What nationality is Sharbat Gula, famously photographed by Steve McCurry for National Geographic in December 1984? |
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Afghan (Afghan Girl) | |
| 3. | What was written below the word "TITANIC" on the stern of RMS Titanic? |
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LIVERPOOL | |
| 4. | What 11th century King of Denmark, England and Norway reputedly commanded the incoming tide to halt and, in failing to do so, demonstrated that he did not possess Godly powers? |
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Cnut the Great / Canute | |
| 5. | What 10-letter German word meaning "lightning war" entered the English language during World War II? |
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Blitzkrieg | |
| 6. | A political leader in the 20th century, what was the surname of Josip Broz? |
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Tito (1st President of Yugoslavia) | |
| 7. | 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) | |
| 8. | What leader of the Russian revolution was appointed first People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs in 1917, expelled from the Communist Party in 1927, and assassinated in Mexico in 1940? |
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Leon Trotsky | |
| 9. | What was the name of the Cunard Line transatlantic passenger steamship that rescued most of the survivors of RMS Titanic after it struck an iceberg and sank on 15th April 1912? |
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RMS Carpathia | |
| 10. | Troops from what country were responsible for the Mỹ Lai Massacre in 1968? |
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United States (around 400 unarmed Vietnamese citizens killed) | |
| 11. | An American labor union official and enforcer for Jimmy Hoffa and Russell Bufalino, born in 1920, by what nickname was Frank Sheeran best known? |
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The Irishman | |
| 12. | In what year did Bill Gates and Paul Allen found a small company called Microsoft? |
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1975 (4th April) | |
| 13. | In which year did Singapore gain independence from the United Kingdom and merge with the newly formed Malaysia? |
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1963 | |
| 14. | Who was executed by firing squad in Bolivia on 9th October 1967? |
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Che Guevara | |
| 15. | Who did anarchist Leon Czolgosz assassinate in 1901? |
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U.S. President William McKinley | |
| 16. | Olaf Palme was Prime Minister of what country before he was assassinated in February 1986? |
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Sweden | |
| 17. | Who commanded the Scottish army during the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314? |
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Robert the Bruce (Robert I of Scotland) | |
| 18. | What was the largest naval battle of the First World War? |
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Battle of Jutland (31st May to 1st June 1916) | |
| 19. | In what year did the Soviet Luna 9 spacecraft make the first controlled rocket-assisted landing on the Moon? |
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1966 | |
| 20. | What was established in Western Europe in 1478 and not disbanded until 1834? |
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Spanish Inquisition (Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition) | |
| 21. | Introduced in New York in 1950, what was the world's first credit card? |
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Diners Club | |
| 22. | Legend says it fell from the heavens at the Battle of Valdemar on 15th June 1219; which country has the oldest state flag in the world still in use by an independent nation today? |
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Denmark (Dannebrog) | |
| 23. | What Portuguese explorer became the first European to reach India by sea in 1498? |
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Vasco da Gama | |
| 24. | The German plan to invade Britain in 1940 was codenamed Operation what? |
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Sea Lion (Unternehmen Seelöwe) | |
| 25. | What future president, after representing Pepsi-Cola at an American Bottlers of Carbonated Beverages convention, left Dallas just a few hours before John F. Kennedy was shot? |
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Richard Nixon | |
| 26. | Formed in 1933, how was the Geheime Staatspolizei better known? |
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Gestapo | |
| 27. | 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 | |
| 28. | What was the name of the supertanker that ran aground off the coast of Cornwall in 1967, causing the worst oil spill in British history? |
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SS Torrey Canyon | |
| 29. | Beginning on 8th November 1942, what name was given to the British–American invasion of French North Africa during World War II? |
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Operation Torch | |
| 30. | What mode of transport was invented by Baron Karl von Drais in Germany in 1817? |
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Bicycle (Drais' own terminology was "Laufmaschine", German for "running machine". Also called the Dandy horse.) | |
| 31. | Which day of the week was deemed "Black" in the October 1987 stock market crash? |
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Black Monday | |
| 32. | What major event took place on 15th March 44 BC? |
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Assassination of Julius Caesar | |
| 33. | In Greek mythology, what is the name of the giant huntsman placed among the stars by Zeus as a constellation? |
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Orion | |
| 34. | What style of writing was developed by Isaac Pitman in 1837? |
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Shorthand | |
| 35. | The spire of what New York City landmark was originally designed as a mooring mast for dirigibles? |
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Empire State Building | |
| 36. | What British monarch was the target of the Gunpowder Plot of 1605? |
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James I | |
| 37. | Before Constantinople was founded in AD 330, by what name was the city known? |
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Byzantium / Byzantion (modern day Istanbul) | |
| 38. | Daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, who was crowned Queen of England on 1st October 1553? |
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Mary I (aka Mary Tudor and "Bloody Mary") | |
| 39. | Whose statue was pulled down in Firdos Square in April 2003? |
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Saddam Hussein | |
| 40. | What leader of the Scottish resistance was brutally executed in London on 23rd August 1305? |
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Sir William Wallace | |
| 41. | 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) | |
| 42. | In what year was Abraham Lincoln assassinated? |
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1865 (14th April) | |
| 43. | Between 1953 and 1961, who was Vice President of the United States under President Dwight D. Eisenhower? |
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Richard Nixon (Richard Milhous Nixon ) | |
| 44. | What 'D' was the code name given to the evacuation of Dunkirk in spring 1940? |
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Operation Dynamo | |
| 45. | On what British park was the Great Exhibition of 1851 held? |
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Hyde Park (London - The Crystal Palace) | |
| 46. | How old was Mahatma Gandhi when he was shot dead in January 1948? |
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78 (2nd October 1869 - 30th January 1948) | |
| 47. | King Philip II of Macedon was assassinated in 336 B.C. and was succeeded by his son. Who was his son? |
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Alexander the Great (Alexander III of Macedon) | |
| 48. | What South American country became landlocked after losing its coastal territories to Peru and Chile in the War of the Pacific (1879-1904)? |
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Bolivia | |
| 49. | The site of the Battle of Bunker Hill during the American War of Independence is located in what modern day U.S. city? |
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Boston (Siege of Boston - Charlestown, Massachusetts) | |
| 50. | What English king was killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field on 22nd August 1485? |
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Richard III | |
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