History50 randomly selected History questions for quizmasters. New random selection made weekly. Next update: Monday 2nd November 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 Some questions and answers may be outdated.)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 year did Queen Elizabeth II describe as an "annus horribilis"? |
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1992 | |
| 2. | What was Ferdinand Porsche's best-selling car design? |
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Volkswagen Beetle | |
| 3. | Who, to date, is the only British politician to have served in all four of the "Great Offices of State": Chancellor of the Exchequer, Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary, and Prime Minister? |
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James Callaghan | |
| 4. | In what decade did NASA introduce its first class for female astronauts? |
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The 1970s (January 1978 - completed in August 1979) | |
| 5. | Who was appointed first Tsar of Russia in 1547? |
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Ivan the Terrible (Ivan IV Vasilyevich Ива́н Васи́льевич) | |
| 6. | A series of widespread but unofficial ceasefires along the Western Front, in what year was the famous Christmas truce of World War I? |
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1914 | |
| 7. | What city in Texas was the scene of the 1836 Battle of the Alamo? |
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San Antonio (Misión de San Antonio de Valero) | |
| 8. | "Little soldier's boot" is a translation of what Roman Emperor's name? |
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Caligula | |
| 9. | Which Russian nuclear physicist and anti-Soviet dissident won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1975 and, since 1988, has had a European human rights award named in his honour? |
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Andrei Sakharov (The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought) | |
| 10. | Executed in 2001, what was the name of the Oklahoma City bomber? |
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Timothy McVeigh | |
| 11. | What three year old girl was gifted a puppy called Pushinka by Nikita Khrushchev in June 1961? |
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Caroline Kennedy (daughter of John F Kennedy - puppy of Soviet space dog Strelka) | |
| 12. | How old was Mother Theresa when she died? |
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87 (26th August 1910 - 5th September 1997) | |
| 13. | During the 19th century War of the Pacific, what country gained vast coastal regions to its north, making Bolivia a landlocked country ever since? |
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Chile | |
| 14. | What drug, later found to have devastating side effects, was launched in 1957 to help pregnant women overcome morning sickness? |
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Thalidomide (often under the brand names Thalomid, Immunoprin, Talidex, Talizer) | |
| 15. | Valentina Tereshkova (1963) and Svetlana Savitskaya (1982) were the world's first two women to do what? |
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Travel in space (Soviet cosmonauts) | |
| 16. | Which French general was head of state of the wartime Vichy government? |
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Marshal Philippe Pétain | |
| 17. | Which was the only Scandinavian country to remain neutral throughout World War II? |
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Sweden | |
| 18. | Who was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the First Gulf War? |
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Colin Powell | |
| 19. | Of the 56 delegates who signed the United States Declaration of Independence in 1776, how many went on to become President of the United States? |
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2 (Thomas Jefferson and John Adams) | |
| 20. | Beginning with the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, what name is given to the period of European history that lasted from the 5th until the 15th centuries? |
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The Middle Ages | |
| 21. | Who founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta in 1950? |
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Mother Teresa | |
| 22. | What Prussian-born aerospace engineer is credited with inventing the V-2 and Saturn-V rockets for Nazi Germany and the United States, respectively? |
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Wernher von Braun | |
| 23. | What was the name of the Greenpeace ship sunk in Auckland harbour, New Zealand, on 10th July 1985? |
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Rainbow Warrior | |
| 24. | Who was the leader of Italy at the start of World War II? |
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Benito Mussolini | |
| 25. | 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) | |
| 26. | Which battle against the Austrians and Russians in 1805 is commonly regarded as Napoleon's greatest victory? |
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Battle of Austerlitz | |
| 27. | The name of what General from the American Revolutionary War became a byword in the United States for treason or betrayal? |
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Benedict Arnold | |
| 28. | What Roman Goddess shares her name with a Normandy Landing beach? |
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Juno (Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword) | |
| 29. | What began with the storming of the Bastille in 1789? |
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French Revolution | |
| 30. | What major city suffered a devastating fire in AD 64? |
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Rome (The Great Fire of Rome) | |
| 31. | What American human rights activist was assassinated on 21st February 1965? |
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Malcolm X | |
| 32. | What is the name of the street in which the Great Fire of London began at Thomas Farriner's bakery in September 1666? |
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Pudding Lane | |
| 33. | On what French island did Mount Pelée erupt in 1902, completely destroying the town of Saint-Pierre and killing 28,000 people in the space of a few minutes? |
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Martinique | |
| 34. | Name the three ships of the English Virginia Company that set sail from London for the New World in December 1606. |
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Discovery, Godspeed, Susan Constant | |
| 35. | Who succeeded François Mitterrand as President of France in 1995? |
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Jacques Chirac | |
| 36. | Who succeeded Ferdinand Marcos as President of the Philippines in 1986 to become Asia's first ever female President? |
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Corazón "Cory" Aquino (María Corazón Sumulong Cojuangco Aquino) | |
| 37. | Known as the "mother" of social work, name this pioneer American activist and reformer who helped sway a movement for women's suffrage at the turn of the 20th century. |
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Jane Addams | |
| 38. | Who was the last US President to die of natural causes while in office? |
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Franklin D. Roosevelt (12th April 1945, cerebral haemorrhage) | |
| 39. | Mary Todd was the wife of which U.S. president? |
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Abraham Lincoln | |
| 40. | Richard Nixon served two terms as Vice President under what U.S. President? |
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Dwight D. Eisenhower | |
| 41. | What religious movement was founded in 1954 by American author L. Ron Hubbard? |
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Scientology | |
| 42. | What name was given to the incendiary projectile used to great effect during the 1st millennium by the Byzantine Empire because it continued burning while floating on water? |
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Greek fire | |
| 43. | The "Laws of the Twelve Tables" was the legislation that stood at the foundation of law in what ancient civilisation? |
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Roman | |
| 44. | Who was U.S. President throughout the War of 1812? |
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James Madison (Andrew Jackson played a major role and later became president in 1829) | |
| 45. | What royal palace in the U.K. was severely damaged by fire in March 1986? |
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Hampton Court Palace | |
| 46. | How old was Adolf Hitler when he committed suicide on 30th April 1945? |
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56 | |
| 47. | Prior to the introduction of the euro in January 1999, the escudo was the currency of what European country until removed from circulation in February 2002? |
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Portugal | |
| 48. | What nationality was philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras? |
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Greek | |
| 49. | Who was excommunicated by The Pope at the Diet of Worms in 1521? |
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Martin Luther | |
| 50. | Who was Mayor of Berlin when the Berlin Wall was built and later became Chancellor of West Germany? |
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Willy Brandt | |
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