History50 randomly selected History questions for quizmasters. New random selection made weekly. Next update: Monday 14th 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 Some questions and answers may be outdated.)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. | The Mau Mau uprising took place between 1952 and 1960 in what country? |
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Kenya (then British Kenya) | |
| 2. | Dr Christian Barnard was a South African surgeon who performed the world's first successful human-to-human transplant of what organ in 1967? |
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Heart | |
| 3. | What valuable cargo was the target on-board the ferry SF Hydro when it was sunk by Norwegian resistance forces on Lake Tinn, Norway in February 1944? |
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Heavy water (Deuterium oxide - 2H2O or D2O - for use in the development of nuclear weapons) | |
| 4. | The Anschluß was the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany in what year? |
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1938 | |
| 5. | Born in AD 23, by what name was Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher Gaius Plinius Secundus better known? |
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Pliny the Elder | |
| 6. | In 1511, who became the first European country to colonise South-east Asia by conquering the Sultanate of Malacca, part of modern day Malaysia? |
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Portugal | |
| 7. | The agreement signed by Adolf Hitler, Neville Chamberlain, Benito Mussolini and Édouard Daladier in September 1938 was named after what German city? |
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Munich | |
| 8. | Born in 1852, by what name was Martha Jane Canary better known? |
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Calamity Jane | |
| 9. | Born in Poland in 1886, he emigrated to Palestine in 1906 and later became the first Prime Minister of the State of Israel. What was his name? |
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David Ben-Gurion | |
| 10. | What two countries fought the "Pastry War" between 1838 and 1839? |
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France & Mexico | |
| 11. | Who was commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet during World War II? |
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Chester W. Nimitz | |
| 12. | How many funnels did the Titanic have? |
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4 | |
| 13. | Released by Atari in November 1979, what is the name of this classic arcade game? |
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Asteroids | |
| 14. | When Lady Nancy Astor said to him "If you were my husband, I'd poison your tea," what British politician responded, "Madam, if you were my wife, I'd drink it!"? |
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Winston Churchill | |
| 15. | What arrived in the United States in 350 pieces packed in 214 crates aboard the French naval vessel Isère on 17th June 1885? |
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Statue of Liberty | |
| 16. | What was the surname of the Archduke assassinated in Sarajevo in 1914, a precursor to World War I? |
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Ferdinand (Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria) | |
| 17. | Legal tender in the UK from 1860 to 1960; from 1937 onwards, what bird featured on the reverse of a farthing (¼d) coin? |
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Wren | |
| 18. | Between 1841 and 1853, what country was divided into the provinces of New Ulster and New Munster? |
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New Zealand | |
| 19. | Who did George W. Bush defeat in the December 2000 presidential election? |
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Al Gore | |
| 20. | By what name is 6th June 1944 often called? |
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D-Day (beginning of the Normandy landings) | |
| 21. | What Venetian navigator and explorer made a British claim to land in Canada, mistaking it for Asia, during his 1497 voyage on the ship Matthew? |
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John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto) | |
| 22. | Who took office on 19th December 1783 as the youngest ever British Prime Minister, aged 24 years, 205 days? |
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William Pitt the Younger | |
| 23. | During World War II, by what name was U.S.-born William Joyce better known? |
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Lord Haw-Haw | |
| 24. | Which 1983 Nobel Peace Prize winner sent his wife to Oslo to accept the prize because he feared he would not be readmitted to his homeland? |
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Lech Wałęsa | |
| 25. | At around 6 million, 17% of its population, what country suffered the highest percent of population deaths during World War II? |
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Poland | |
| 26. | The Rosetta Stone played a key role in the deciphering of the Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. There are three languages inscribed on the stone: hieroglyphs, Demotic script, and what other? |
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Ancient Greek | |
| 27. | Who was captain of the Bounty when Fletcher Christian led the mutiny against him in April 1789? |
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William Bligh (Mutiny on the Bounty) | |
| 28. | What major event took place on 15th March 44 BC? |
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Assassination of Julius Caesar | |
| 29. | What was the name of the Greenpeace ship sunk in Auckland harbour, New Zealand, on 10th July 1985? |
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Rainbow Warrior | |
| 30. | The capital of a newly built Spanish colony in Asia, in 1571, what did King Philip II of Spain designate as the "Distinguished and Ever Loyal City"? |
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Manila (The Philippines) | |
| 31. | An 1818 invention known as the "Dandy Horse" was the forerunner to what mode of transport? |
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Bicycle | |
| 32. | What name was given to the long series of military interventions by the United States in Central America and the Caribbean between 1898 and 1934? |
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The Banana Wars | |
| 33. | Frank Morris, Clarence Anglin, and John Anglin have not been seen since June 1962. For what are they famous? |
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Escape from Alcatraz | |
| 34. | What city held its first Oktoberfest in 1811? |
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Munich / München | |
| 35. | What continent was explored by the Burke and Wills expedition in 1860–61? |
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Australia | |
| 36. | Who was military dictator of Panama between 1983 and 1989? |
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Manuel Noriega | |
| 37. | What is the name of the 1783 treaty that formally ended the American Revolutionary War? |
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Treaty of Paris | |
| 38. | In the 1950s, EOKA was a nationalist guerilla organisation that fought a campaign for the end of British rule in what country? |
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Cyprus (Εθνική Οργάνωσις Κυπρίων Αγωνιστών - National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters) | |
| 39. | Which German inventor introduced the printing press to Europe in the 15th century? |
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Johannes Gutenberg | |
| 40. | Golda Meir was Prime Minister of what country from 1969 to 1974? |
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Israel | |
| 41. | 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) | |
| 42. | In January 1890, emulating Jules Verne's fictional character Phileas Fogg, what American journalist completed a record-breaking trip around the world in 72 days? |
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Nellie Bly (Elizabeth Cochran Seaman) | |
| 43. | Which of the five operational Space Shuttles launched and landed 39 times, gathering more space flights than any other spacecraft to date? |
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Discovery | |
| 44. | The year 1816 is known as the Year Without a Summer, predominantly caused by the massive April 1815 eruption of what volcano in the Dutch East Indies (modern-day Indonesia)? |
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Mount Tambora | |
| 45. | In English legend, what was the name of Dick Turpin's horse? |
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Black Bess | |
| 46. | How many propellers (screws) did the RMS Titanic have? |
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Three | |
| 47. | What British ocean liner was sunk by a German U-boat on 7th May 1915? |
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RMS Lusitania | |
| 48. | In a 1918 speech, what U.S. president outlined the Fourteen Points, a set of principles to work towards world peace? |
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Woodrow Wilson | |
| 49. | What empire was ruled by the Ptolemaic dynasty from 305 to 30 BC? |
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Egyptian (The last dynasty of ancient Egypt) | |
| 50. | In what U.S. city is Ford's Theatre, where Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in April 1865? |
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Washington, D.C. | |
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