History50 randomly selected History questions for quizmasters. New random selection made weekly. Next update: Monday 24th February 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 Some questions and answers may be outdated.)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 world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here." is part of what speech, by what orator? |
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Gettysburg Address - Abraham Lincoln (19th November 1863) | |
| 2. | What was Ferdinand Porsche's best-selling car design? |
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Volkswagen Beetle | |
| 3. | Who became the first Roman Emperor in 27 BC? |
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Augustus (also known as Octavian) | |
| 4. | The only British prime minister to have been assassinated, who was shot on 11th May 1812? |
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Spencer Percival | |
| 5. | Whilst researching radar technology, what household appliance did American physicist Percy L. Spencer accidentally invent in 1945? |
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Microwave oven | |
| 6. | What was the name of the prison in Paris stormed by a crowd on 14th July 1789? |
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Bastille (French Revolution) | |
| 7. | In what century was Joan of Arc burnt at the stake? |
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15th (1431) | |
| 8. | Who was Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and 1986 to 1988, and President of France from 1995 to 2007? |
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Jacques Chirac | |
| 9. | In September 1513, who became the first European to lead an expedition to have seen or reached the Pacific from the New World? |
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Vasco Núñez de Balboa | |
| 10. | What former U.S. president became the first to ride in an aeroplane on 11th October 1910? |
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Theodore Roosevelt | |
| 11. | Who was elected U.S. President in the same year John Lennon was killed in New York? |
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Ronald Reagan (1980) | |
| 12. | What city was destroyed by "Fat Man"? |
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Nagasaki (Nuclear bomb, 9th August 1945) | |
| 13. | What country did Napoleon's Grande Armée invade in June 1812, only to face heavy defeat and retreat five months later? |
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Russia | |
| 14. | Between 1923 and 1939, what did Sir Malcolm Campbell name his record breaking automobiles and speed boats? |
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Blue Bird | |
| 15. | What world leader resigned from his position of power on Christmas Day 1991? |
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Mikhail Gorbachev | |
| 16. | During his voyage of 1605-1606, Willem Janszoon became the first European known to have seen the coast of what modern-day country? |
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Australia | |
| 17. | In what decade was Mahatma Gandhi assassinated? |
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The 1940s (30th January 1948) | |
| 18. | 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) | |
| 19. | Who led the Macedonians to victory against the Persians in the Battle of Gaugamela in 331BC? |
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Alexander the Great | |
| 20. | A boxing injury left what 20th century U.S. president blind in one eye? |
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Theodore Roosevelt | |
| 21. | Fought between 1756-63, what was the last major war before the French Revolution to involve all the great powers of Europe? |
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Seven Years' War | |
| 22. | In what modern day country was Adolf Hitler born? |
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Austria (Ranshofen (later known as Braunau am Inn), Austria–Hungary) | |
| 23. | In what year did the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster occur? |
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1986 (26th April) | |
| 24. | What name is given to the period in Ireland between 1845 and 1852 during which approximately 1 million people died and a million more emigrated? |
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Great Famine / Irish Potato Famine | |
| 25. | What American Civil War general later became president of the United States? |
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Ulysses S. Grant | |
| 26. | What name is given to the 1803 expansion of the United States via a $15 million acquisition of land from the French? |
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Louisiana Purchase (French: Vente de la Louisiane "Sale of Louisiana") | |
| 27. | What U.S. president was the first American to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize? |
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Theodore Roosevelt (1906 - for his work in helping broker the end of the Russo-Japanese War in 1905) | |
| 28. | What Russian leader founded the Bolshevik faction in 1903? |
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Vladimir Lenin (with Alexander Bogdanov) | |
| 29. | Which town gave its name to the Nazi collaborationist movement in France during World War II? |
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Vichy | |
| 30. | By what name was the World War II prisoner-of-war camp Oflag IV-C near Leipzig better known? |
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Colditz Castle | |
| 31. | Who was the leader of the Khmer Rouge and Prime Minister of Cambodia between 1976 and 1979? |
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Pol Pot (Saloth Sar) | |
| 32. | By what name has No. 617 Squadron Royal Air Force been popularly known since World War II? |
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The Dambusters | |
| 33. | Beginning in June 1941, what 'B' was the codename used for the German invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II? |
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Barbarossa | |
| 34. | 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 | |
| 35. | What aviation first was performed by Ellen Church in 1930? |
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First female flight attendant / air hostess | |
| 36. | Who was queen of the Celtic British Iceni tribe, leading an uprising against the occupying forces of the Roman Empire around 60 AD? |
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Boudica / Boadicea | |
| 37. | Who is the only British Prime Minister to have been assassinated? |
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Spencer Perceval (11th May 1812) | |
| 38. | Who was the longest-serving First Lady of the United States? |
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Eleanor Roosevelt | |
| 39. | Beginning on 8th November 1942, what name was given to the British–American invasion of French North Africa during World War II? |
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Operation Torch | |
| 40. | Part of the Manhattan Project, what 'T' was the code name given to the first detonation of a nuclear weapon on 16th July 1945? |
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Trinity | |
| 41. | What name is given to the group of 750,000 year old human fossils first discovered during excavations at Zhoukoudian near Beijing in 1923? |
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Peking Man (Homo erectus pekinensis) | |
| 42. | What Empire was defeated by the Greeks in the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC? |
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Persian Empire | |
| 43. | In May 2001, at a cost of $1 million, what US restaurant chain became the first company in the world to deliver fast food to outer space? |
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Pizza Hut | |
| 44. | Who seized power from King Idris in a coup d'état on 1st September 1969? |
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Colonel Gaddafi (Muammar Gaddafi - Libya) | |
| 45. | 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) | |
| 46. | What world famous discovery did Howard Carter make on 4th November 1922? |
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The tomb of Tutankhamun | |
| 47. | What war began on 12th April 1861? |
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American Civil War (Battle of Fort Sumter) | |
| 48. | In what year did U.S. President Richard Nixon resign from office? |
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1974 | |
| 49. | What 19th century American family produced both typewriters and firearms? |
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Remington (E. Remington and Sons) | |
| 50. | Which country was ruled by King Idris I when it gained independence in 1951? |
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Libya | |
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