History50 randomly selected History questions for quizmasters. New random selection made weekly. Next update: Monday 30th March 2026 (Please note: Questions are taken from our database of previous quizzes. Some questions and answers may be outdated.) |
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| 1. | At what northern parallel did escalating border conflicts mark the beginning of the Korean War in 1950? |
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38th | |
| 2. | What is the name of the monoplane flown by Charles Lindbergh in May 1927 on the first solo non-stop transatlantic flight? |
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Spirit of St. Louis | |
| 3. | Who was most famously accused and convicted in the Rivonia Trial of 1963-64? |
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Nelson Mandela | |
| 4. | Borrowing a line Jack Dempsey said after losing the heavyweight championship to Gene Tunney in 1926, who reportedly said to his wife, "Honey, I forgot to duck," on 30th March 1981? |
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Ronald Reagan (in the hospital emergency room after his assassination attempt) | |
| 5. | What incident in June 1993 between John and Lorena Bobbitt made world headlines that year? |
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She severed his penis with a knife | |
| 6. | Who was killed in the Philippines in 1521 during an expedition he led that would become the first to circumnavigate the world? |
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Ferdinand Magellan | |
| 7. | Who commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War? |
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General Robert E. Lee | |
| 8. | Founded around 600 BC by Greek settlers, what is the oldest city in France? |
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Marseille | |
| 9. | 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) | |
| 10. | A favourite of Queen Elizabeth I and credited with popularising tobacco in England, who was executed in London on 29th October 1618? |
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Sir Walter Raleigh | |
| 11. | What Scottish-American industrialist led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and is famously quoted as saying "The man who dies thus rich dies disgraced"? |
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Andrew Carnegie | |
| 12. | In December 1970, a Soviet spacecraft became the first to soft land on another planet and transmit data back to Earth. What major planet did it land on? |
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Venus (Venera 7) | |
| 13. | Before becoming President, Bill Clinton was Governor of what U.S. state? |
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Arkansas | |
| 14. | Born around 1430, what 'I' is a nickname given to Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia? |
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(Vlad the) Impaler (Vlad Dracula) | |
| 15. | Who is reputed to have coined the phrase, "An army marches on its stomach"? |
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Napoléon Bonaparte | |
| 16. | In terms of troop numbers, the Battle of Flodden Field in 1513 was the largest battle fought between what two Kingdoms? |
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England and Scotland (26,000 English, 30-34,000 Scottish) | |
| 17. | Who assassinated Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre, Washington, D.C. in 1865? |
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John Wilkes Booth | |
| 18. | Who fell from the Lady Ghislaine in November 1991? |
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Robert Maxwell | |
| 19. | What name is given to the political movement that supported the restoration of the senior line of the House of Stuart to the British throne between 1688 and 1807? |
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Jacobites | |
| 20. | Generally credited with inventing, building, and flying the world's first successful aeroplane, what were the first names of the Wright brothers? |
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Orville & Wilbur | |
| 21. | On what Greek island was the late Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, born on 10th June 1921? |
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Corfu (Κέρκυρα) | |
| 22. | In what modern-day country was Saint Nicholas born in 270 AD? |
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Turkey (Patara, Roman Empire) | |
| 23. | From which country did Lebanon gain independence in 1943? |
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France | |
| 24. | Released by Atari in November 1979, what is the name of this classic arcade game? |
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Asteroids | |
| 25. | Hassan II was the king of what African country from 1929 until his death in 1999? |
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Morocco | |
| 26. | What country declared independence from the Netherlands on 4th October 1830? |
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Belgium | |
| 27. | With West Germany and Belgium also involved, between what two countries were the "Cod Wars" primarily fought in the 1950s and 1970s? |
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United Kingdom and Iceland | |
| 28. | In what British city did the Peterloo Massacre take place on 16th August 1819? |
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Manchester | |
| 29. | What British coin ceased to be legal tender from 1st January 1961? |
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Farthing / ¼d | |
| 30. | Who was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama for refusing to relinquish her bus seat to a white man on 1st December 1955? |
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Rosa Parks | |
| 31. | What country did the USA declare war on in 1898? |
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Spain (Spanish–American War) | |
| 32. | "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 | |
| 33. | What became the first independent credit card company in the world when founded in New York City in 1950? |
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Diners Club | |
| 34. | What war was fought in the mid-17th century between the Cavaliers and the Roundheads? |
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English Civil War | |
| 35. | Which French general was head of state of the wartime Vichy government? |
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Marshal Philippe Pétain | |
| 36. | Which major European conflict was fought between 1936 and 1939? |
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Spanish Civil War | |
| 37. | Who became Queen consort of England by marrying her brother-in-law in 1509? |
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Catherine of Aragon (First wife of King Henry VIII. She was previously Princess of Wales as the wife of Henry's elder brother, Arthur, until his death in 1502) | |
| 38. | 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) | |
| 39. | 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) | |
| 40. | In what year did Christopher Columbus first arrive in the Americas? |
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1492 | |
| 41. | Which four modern day countries, in part or whole, formed the historic colony of French Indochina? |
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Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, China | |
| 42. | In 1964, Kenneth Kaunda became founding President of what African country? |
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Zambia | |
| 43. | Māori for "woman", what was the name of the roll-on/roll-off ferry that sank near Wellington Harbour during a storm on 10th April 1968, killing 53 people? |
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Wahine | |
| 44. | What country celebrated its bicentenary in 1988? |
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Australia | |
| 45. | 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 | |
| 46. | What military leader led a failed attempt to invade Russia in 1812? |
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Napoléon Bonaparte (The French invasion of Russia) | |
| 47. | Ferdinand Magellan's nautical expedition was the first documented circumnavigation of the world. In what century did it take place? |
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16th (1519-1522) | |
| 48. | What was "Che" Guevara's given first name? |
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Ernesto | |
| 49. | Which World War II battle between December 1944 and January 1945 was a German offensive on the Western Front in Belgium, France and Luxembourg? |
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Battle of the Bulge (German: Unternehmen Wacht am Rhein "Operation Watch on the Rhine") | |
| 50. | In January 2011, Dilma Rousseff became the first female president of what country? |
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Brazil | |
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