History50 randomly selected History questions for quizmasters. New random selection made weekly. Next update: Monday 26th 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 Some questions and answers may be outdated.)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. | 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 | |
| 2. | 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) | |
| 3. | Born in 1852, by what name was Martha Jane Canary better known? |
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Calamity Jane | |
| 4. | For what did Chesley B. Sullenberger make headline news on 15th January 2009? |
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Captain of the passenger jet that ditched in the Hudson River (US Airways Flight 1549) | |
| 5. | In what city was Anne Frank when she wrote her famous wartime diary? |
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Amsterdam (Netherlands) | |
| 6. | From 1975 to 1977 under Gerald Ford, who is the youngest person to have served as U.S. Secretary of Defense? |
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Donald Rumsfeld (also the second-oldest from 2001 to 2006 under George W. Bush) | |
| 7. | What was the name of the line of concrete fortifications, obstacles and weapon installations built by France in the 1930s to deter invasion by Germany? |
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Maginot Line | |
| 8. | Who was the first U.S. president to have taken part in televised debates during his election campaign? |
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John F. Kennedy (first held on 26th September 1960 between Senator Kennedy and Vice President Nixon) | |
| 9. | 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) | |
| 10. | In what year did the first Ford Model T roll off the production line? |
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1908 (27th September) | |
| 11. | Amongst the world's worst man-made disasters, in 1989, the oil tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground off the coast of what U.S. state? |
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Alaska (Prince William Sound) | |
| 12. | What did journalists Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward reveal to the world in 1972? |
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Watergate Scandal | |
| 13. | To whom did Sitting Bull give the nickname "Watanya Cicilla", or "Little Sure Shot"? |
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Annie Oakley | |
| 14. | What 'S' was the common name given to East Germany's secret police, the Ministry for State Security, during the cold war? |
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Stasi (Ministerium für Staatssicherheit) | |
| 15. | In what city was the RMS Titanic built? |
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Belfast (Harland and Wolff) | |
| 16. | Who assassinated Martin Luther King, Jr. on 4th April 1968? |
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James Earl Ray | |
| 17. | In the UK, before ceasing to be legal tender in 1960, how many farthings made up one pound? |
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960 | |
| 18. | What future president became U.S. vice president when Spiro Agnew resigned in 1973? |
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Gerald Ford | |
| 19. | In what country were 29 miners killed after two methane explosions at the Pike River Mine in November 2010, making it the most deadly mining disaster there in 96 years? |
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New Zealand | |
| 20. | One of the deadliest and most destructive volcanic events in recorded history, what volcano in South East Asia erupted in August 1883? |
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Krakatoa | |
| 21. | Who was the first British monarch to give birth to a future king? |
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Victoria (Edward VII) | |
| 22. | Where in North Africa did a War of Independence against France take place between 1954 and 1962? |
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Algeria | |
| 23. | Who was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26th June 1830 until his death in 1837? |
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William IV | |
| 24. | 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 | |
| 25. | To what was the Canadian city of York renamed on 6th March 1834? |
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Toronto | |
| 26. | What empire fell at the hands of Spanish Conquistador Hernán Cortés in 1521? |
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Aztec | |
| 27. | Fill in the blank: The _______ Exclusion Act was a United States federal law signed by President Chester A. Arthur on 6th May 1882. |
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Chinese | |
| 28. | The first major defeat of Nazi forces during World War II concluded on 2nd February 1943 with the end of the Battle of .. what? |
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Stalingrad | |
| 29. | On what holiday was Abraham Lincoln assassinated? |
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Good Friday (14th April 1865) | |
| 30. | In many Commonwealth pre-decimal currencies, what name was given to a coin with a value of 2 shillings? |
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Florin | |
| 31. | Which of Henry VIII's wives gave birth to Elizabeth I? |
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Anne Boleyn | |
| 32. | What was the name of the leading ship in Captain Arthur Phillip's First Fleet that arrived at Botany Bay to colonise Australia on 18th January 1788? |
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HMS Supply | |
| 33. | Who was U.S. President when John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth? |
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John F. Kennedy (20th February 1962) | |
| 34. | What did Marshal Ferdinand Foch, a French commander during the First World War, describe as "interesting toys, but of no military value"? |
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Aeroplanes | |
| 35. | What was the surname of French brothers Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Étienne, whose hot-air balloon made the first ever manned flight in 1783? |
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Montgolfier | |
| 36. | How old was Anne Frank when she died in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in 1945? |
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15 | |
| 37. | Which American president rode a horse called Nelson? |
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George Washington | |
| 38. | Before Constantinople was founded in AD 330, by what name was the city known? |
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Byzantium / Byzantion (modern day Istanbul) | |
| 39. | Who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom throughout the Gulf War? |
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John Major | |
| 40. | 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) | |
| 41. | Raised by a wolf, what were the names of the mythical twin founders of Rome? |
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Romulus and Remus | |
| 42. | Walter Mondale was Vice President of the United States under which President? |
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Jimmy Carter (1977 - 1981) | |
| 43. | Who became King of England on 25th December 1066? |
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William I / William the Conqueror / William the Bastard | |
| 44. | When Ronald Reagan won the U.S. presidential election in 1980, who came second? |
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Jimmy Carter | |
| 45. | When Henry VI became King of England in 1422, was he: (A) 9 months old (B) 9 years old (C) 19 years old |
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(A) 9 months old | |
| 46. | How many British monarchs reigned during the 20th century? |
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6 (Victoria, Edward VII, George V, Edward VIII, George VI, Elizabeth II) | |
| 47. | In 1975, Papua New Guinea achieved full independence from what country? |
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Australia | |
| 48. | In what century was the Battle of the Boyne fought near the town of Drogheda on the eastern coast of Ireland? |
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17th (1st July 1690) | |
| 49. | Which American actress and comedian was the 2012 presidential nominee for the California-based Peace and Freedom Party? |
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Roseanne Barr | |
| 50. | Until relocated in 1851, what London landmark served as the state entrance to the courtyard of Buckingham Palace? |
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Marble Arch | |
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