History50 randomly selected History questions for quizmasters. New random selection made weekly. Next update: Monday 7th July 2025 (Please note: Questions are taken from our database of previous quizzes. Some questions and answers may be outdated.) |
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| 1. | Between April 1990 and January 1997, Violeta Chamorro was the first, and thus far only, female president of what Central American country? |
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Nicaragua | |
| 2. | Who succeeded Georges Pompidou as French President in 1974? |
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Valéry Giscard d'Estaing | |
| 3. | In 1893, what self-governing British colony became the first country in the world to grant adult women the right to vote? |
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New Zealand | |
| 4. | What was the nationality of the first non-Italian Pope since 1523? |
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Polish (Karol Józef Wojtyła, Pope John Paul II 1978-2005) | |
| 5. | In the UK and Ireland, what was the name of the pre-decimal coin worth the equivalent of 12½p in today's money? |
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Half crown (2s 6d / one-eighth of a pound) | |
| 6. | What was unusual about Mel Carnahan's United States Senate election victory over John Ashcroft in Missouri on 7th November 2000? |
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He was dead (died 16th October 2000) | |
| 7. | Who led the first expedition to traverse the Northwest Passage by sea, from 1903 to 1906, and the first expedition to the South Pole in 1911? |
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Roald Amundsen | |
| 8. | In what year was Abraham Lincoln assassinated? |
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1865 (14th April) | |
| 9. | A predecessor to the CIA, what three-letter abbreviation describes the wartime intelligence agency of the United States during World War II? |
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OSS (Office of Strategic Services) | |
| 10. | In which year did Winston Churchill replace Neville Chamberlain as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom? |
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1940 | |
| 11. | The "Winter of 1815" and subsequent "Year Without a Summer" is widely believed to have been caused by the April 1815 eruption of what volcano in Indonesia? |
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Mount Tambora | |
| 12. | One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, what type of structure once stood in Alexandria, Egypt? |
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Lighthouse | |
| 13. | Who was Adolf Hitler's deputy until May 1941 when he flew solo to Scotland in a failed attempt to negotiate peace? |
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Rudolf Hess | |
| 14. | 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) | |
| 15. | Now demolished and cleaned up, what was the name of the neighbourhood in Niagara Falls, New York where 22,000 barrels of toxic waste had been dumped in the 1940s and 50s, leading to a major health disaster in the late 1970s? |
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Love Canal | |
| 16. | Who was commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe from 1935 up until the final days of World War II? |
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Hermann Göring | |
| 17. | Since 1066, how many kings of England and the United Kingdom have gone by the name of William? |
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4 | |
| 18. | What was the name of the captain of the Titanic? |
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Edward Smith (Captain Edward John Smith) | |
| 19. | 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) | |
| 20. | On 25th March, 1975, the king of what country was assassinated by his half-brother's son? |
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Saudi Arabia (King Faisal) | |
| 21. | Historically in the UK and much of the British Commonwealth, what everyday terms were derived from the Roman words libra, solidus and denarius? |
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The currency abbreviations £, s & d (pounds, shillings and pence) | |
| 22. | Ratified on 27th February 1951, what amendment to the U.S. Constitution limits the president to two elected terms? |
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22nd | |
| 23. | What company bought YouTube for US$1.65 billion in 2006? |
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| 24. | 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 | |
| 25. | What Soviet Premier sent one of space dog Strelka's puppies, Pushinka, to first daughter Caroline Kennedy in 1961 as a present? |
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Nikita Khrushchev | |
| 26. | Between 1915 and 1916, in what modern-day country did the Battle of Gallipoli take place? |
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Turkey | |
| 27. | To what airport were American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 scheduled to fly on 11th September 2001? |
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LAX / Los Angeles International Airport | |
| 28. | What country has been ruled by the Chakri dynasty since 1782? |
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Thailand (ราชวงศ์จักรี) | |
| 29. | 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 | |
| 30. | Who was military dictator of Panama between 1983 and 1989? |
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Manuel Noriega | |
| 31. | In an address to a joint session of Congress in 1941, who said, "No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory."?
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Franklin D. Roosevelt (Day of Infamy speech, the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor) | |
| 32. | During what battle was Horatio Nelson killed? |
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Battle of Trafalgar (21st October 1805) | |
| 33. | In what year was the Battle of Trafalgar? |
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1805 (21st October) | |
| 34. | What British ocean liner was sunk by a German U-boat on 7th May 1915? |
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RMS Lusitania | |
| 35. | What 19th century American family produced both typewriters and firearms? |
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Remington (E. Remington and Sons) | |
| 36. | What collective name is given to Soviet spies Donald Maclean, Guy Burgess, "Kim" Philby, Anthony Blunt, and John Cairncross? |
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Cambridge Five (They were recruited during their education at the University of Cambridge in the 1930s.) | |
| 37. | "After all, the chief business of the American people is business" were the words of what U.S. president in a 1925 speech? |
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Calvin Coolidge | |
| 38. | Released by Atari in November 1979, what is the name of this classic arcade game? |
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Asteroids | |
| 39. | In what decade was Mahatma Gandhi assassinated? |
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The 1940s (30th January 1948) | |
| 40. | Who was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the First Gulf War? |
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Colin Powell | |
| 41. | 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 | |
| 42. | Between 1642 and 1643, who became the first known European explorer to reach the islands of Van Diemen's Land, New Zealand, and Fiji? |
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Abel Tasman | |
| 43. | What incumbent president was the first American to win a Nobel Peace Prize? |
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Theodore Roosevelt (1906 - "for his role in bringing to an end the bloody war recently waged between two of the world's great powers, Japan and Russia.) | |
| 44. | Archaeologists confirmed in 2013 that a skeleton found under a Leicester car park was that of what King of England? |
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Richard III | |
| 45. | In what modern-day country was Karl Marx born in 1818? |
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Germany (Trier) | |
| 46. | Norway became independent in 1905 after the dissolution of its union with what country? |
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Sweden | |
| 47. | What was the name of the ship that carried Ernest Shackleton's 1907-09 Antarctic expedition? |
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Nimrod | |
| 48. | What was the name of the acting lieutenant who led the Mutiny on the Bounty in 1789? |
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Fletcher Christian | |
| 49. | The Symbionese Liberation Army famously kidnapped who in 1974? |
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Patty Hearst | |
| 50. | Who was dictator of Spain between 1936 and 1975? |
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General Franco (Generalísimo Francisco Franco) | |
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