History questions and answers

100 History Quiz Questions and Answers | The Ultimate History Quiz

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Do you know your Julius Caesar from your Charlemagne? Your Rommel from your Reagan? Regardless of your history know-how, you’ve probably arrived here because you’re wanting to host an epic history pub quiz, perhaps for family, friends or even your colleagues. We’ve got you covered – as a group of wannabe historians, we’ve put together what we think are 100 of the best history quiz questions and answers.

From the easiest of quizzes to hard history quiz questions, we’ve put together ten rounds that will hopefully have your contestants scratching their heads in historical delight. Whether it’s for a real-life quiz night or virtual home pub quiz for Zoom, House Party or even Skype, you’ll find all the history quiz questions you need.

Ready to test their history knowledge? Let’s delve right into the past…

Fun History Quiz Questions and Answers

So, get those quiz cockles warmed up with this opening round of what we can only term funny history quiz questions. Well, as funny as history can be, right?

1. Who sighted Cuba, which he thought was China, before landing on Hispaniola, which he thought was Japan?

2. In the 17th century practice of ‘witch swimming’, how would the accused prove their innocence?

3. Which Roman Emperor banned laughing and bathing for a year after the death of his sister Drusila?

4. What was remarkable about the appointment of Incitatus as a Roman Senator?

5. What was dismantled, shipped across the Atlantic and now stands in Lake Havasu City, Arizona?

6. Which Nobel prize were both Benito Mussolini and Josef Stalin nominated for?

7. Which symbol of triumph did Julius Caesar establish in Rome as a means to obscure his baldness?

8. Which vegetable did Antoine-Agustin Parmentier seek to popularise in France by surrounding his patch with Armed Guards during the day, so that people would think they were valuable and steal them at night?

9. Cecil Chubb’s wife was angered when she sent him to an auction to buy dining chairs in 1915 and he instead purchased which prehistoric monument?

10. Needing somewhere highly secure, where did Henry III house his pet polar bear in the 13th century?

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Fun History Quiz Answers

  1. Christopher Columbus
  2. By drowning
  3. Caligula
  4. Incitatus was a horse
  5. The original London Bridge
  6. Peace (Stalin was nominated twice)
  7. The laurel wreath
  8. The Potato
  9. Stonehenge
  10. The Tower of London

Fun Fact: The polar bear was a gift from King Haakon IV of Norway and was tethered to the riverbank to allow it to swim and fish in the Thames. It shared the tower with monkeys, lions and leopards.

Kings and Queens – British History Quiz Questions and Answers

The monarchs are a rich territory for pub quizzes, so why not give your participants a royal dose of history questions and answers related to kings and queens of the British empire; whether that’s England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.

1. Who was the sixth and final wife of Henry VIII?

2. Which Queen of the Iceni led a revolt against the Romans in AD60?

3. Alfred the Great was the ruler of which Anglo Saxon kingdom?

4. Which meadow in Berkshire was the site of the signing of Magna Carta in 1215?

5. Which King abdicated the throne in 1936?

6. Which Stuart King united England and Scotland?

7. What relation was Queen Victoria to King George III?

8. King Henry IV, King Henry V and King Henry VI were members of which royal house?

9. Who did William the Conqueror defeat at the Battle of Hastings in 1066?

10. What is the commonly given nickname of King Aethelred II?

Kings and Queens – British History Quiz Answers

  1. Catherine Parr
  2. Boudica (or Boadicea)
  3. Wessex
  4. Runnymede
  5. Edward VIII
  6. James I (James VI of Scotland)
  7. Granddaughter
  8. Lancaster
  9. Harold (Godwin)
  10. The Unready

Interesting Fact: This nickname actually means poorly advised, rather than unprepared. It is a pun on his actual name which meant well advised and refers to Aethelred losing his kingdom to the Danes.

Easy History Quiz Questions and Answers

Those first two rounds a little difficult? Give your quizzers a break by serving up ten of the best easy history questions and answers. Really want to make this easy? You could even do it as a Picture Round using some Google Images!

1. Which US President was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald?

2. Which country was known as Rhodesia before gaining independence from the British in 1979?

3. Which wife of Henry VIII was the first to be beheaded?

4. Who was Prime Minister of Great Britain for most of the Second World War?

5. Which country was unified by Giuseppe Garibaldi in 1851?

6. Who was the first Lord Protector of England after the Civil War?

7. Who led the Chinese revolution, becoming chairman of the Communist Party in 1949?

8. Which President was brought down by the Watergate Scandal?

9. Yuan, Qing and Ming were Imperial Dynasties in the history of which country?

10. Who was the longest serving US President?

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Easy History Quiz Round Answers

  1. John F Kennedy
  2. Zimbabwe
  3. Anne Boleyn
  4. Winston Churchill
  5. Italy
  6. Oliver Cromwell
  7. Mao Zedong
  8. Richard Nixon
  9. China
  10. Franklin D Roosevelt

Interesting Fact: Popular for navigating the country out of the Great Depression, FDR was elected for a record fourth term in 1944, by which time he was in very poor health. He died in 1945 and subsequently the constitution was changed to prevent future Presidents from serving more than two terms.

American History Trivia Questions and Answers

Did that British royalty round absolutely puzzle your participants? Switch gears and try out these ten US history trivia questions, fit for anyone with even a passing interest in the heritage of the USA.

1. Who was President of the USA throughout World War One?

2. In what year did the Mayflower cross the Atlantic?

3. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 marked the end of which conflict?

4. Complete the extract from Martin Luther King’s famous 1963 speech: I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the _____?

5. Which Commander of the Continental Army defected to the British after his plot to surrender West Point to them was uncovered?

6. Where on the island did the US trained and funded troops involved in the failed 1961 invasion of Cuba land?

7. What links Chester A. Arthur, Andrew Johnson, Millard Fillmore, John Tyler and Gerald Ford?

8. The sinking of which passenger ship in 1915 is often said to have brought about the USA’s declaration of war on Germany, though in fact this did not happen for a further two years?

9. Which Brigadier General earned his nickname at the First Battle of Bull Run in 1861 when his brigade held its ground in the face of attack from Union troops?

10. The Little Rock Nine were prevented from doing what on September 4th 1957? 

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American History Trivia Answers

  1. Woodrow Wilson
  2. 1620
  3. The Mexican-American War
  4. Content of their character
  5. Benedict Arnold
  6. The Bay of Pigs (Bahía de los Cochinos)
  7. Presidents who never won an election
  8. The Lusitania
  9. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson
  10. Going to High School

Interesting Fact: Segregated schools were ruled illegal in 1954. Three years later these nine children were to become the first African Americans to study at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas but were prevented from doing so by protesting mobs. They eventually began at Central High School three weeks late with an escort from the army.

World History Trivia Questions and Answers

Now we’ve covered two of the most prominent countries in world history – the United Kingdom and the United States – it’s time to go global. Use this round of ten historical questions related to places all over our planet:

1. Where did Vaclav Havel lead the so-called Velvet Revolution?

2. Which Venezuelan was known as the Liberator of Latin America?

3. The treaty of Waitangi established the rights of which indigenous people?

4. Where did a 1791 slave uprising eventually lead to revolution and independence from French colonialism?

5. Who was assassinated at Birla House, India on January 30th 1948?

6. Which Emperor was known as Ras Tafari, after whom the Rastafarian religion is named?

7. In which country did Daniel Ortega become leader following the 1979 Sandinista revolution?

8. Which empire was ruled by the Ptolemaic dynasty from 305 BC until 30 BC?

9. Where did Sirimavo Bandaranaike become the world’s first female Prime Minister in 1960?

10. Probably the richest man of all time, on which continent was the empire of 14th century ruler Mansa Musa?

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World History Trivia Answers

  1. Czechoslovakia
  2. Simón Bolívar
  3. The Maori (in New Zealand)
  4. Haiti
  5. Mahatma Ghandi
  6. Haile Selassie (of Ethiopia)
  7. Nicaragua
  8. Egyptian
  9. Ceylon / Sri Lanka
  10. Africa

Who was he? Mansa Musa ruled a vast empire centred in what is now Mali in the fourteenth century. Adjusting for inflation, some estimates measure his fortune as $400 billion, making him around three times as wealthy as Jeff Bezos in 2020.

World War Two Quiz Questions and Answers

It was a difficult time in world history, but World War II is often one of those events that sparks a lot of quiz questions, and you can’t really do a history trivia quiz without out. So, with that in mind, we’ve put together ten of the best history quiz questions and answers about the second World War.

1. Who was the Emperor of Japan during World War Two?

2. Which US President ordered the deployment of two atomic bombs in Japan?

3. Atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and which other Japanese city?

4. Which nation fought against the Allies until 1943 but declared war on Japan in July 1945?

5. Which German General was known as the Desert Fox?

6. In reference to the town to which the government was evacuated, what was common name for the French state under occupation?

7. In which state of the USA is the Pearl Harbour base, attacked by Japan in 1941?

8. Which Scandinavian country was a co-belligerent of the Axis powers after signing the anti-Comintern pact of 1941?

9. Troops from which nation liberated Auschwitz?

10. Complete the extract from Churchill’s 1942 speech following the second Battle of El Alamein: This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it may just be…

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World War Two Quiz Answers

  1. Hirohito
  2. Harry S. Truman
  3. Nagasaki
  4. Italy
  5. Erwin Rommel
  6. Vichy France
  7. Hawaii
  8. Finland
  9. USSR
  10. The end of the beginning

Name the Historical Figure Quiz Questions and Answers

Think your contestants know the great figures throughout the ages? Those that helped to write the history books with their actions? Test that assumption with these good history questions about prominent figures.

1. Born in Macedon in 356 BC, I was tutored by Aristotle and by the age of 30 had one of the largest kingdoms of the Ancient World, who am I?

2. I was born on Corsica, exiled to Elba and died on Saint Helena, who am I?

3. I was born in Braunau am Inn in 1889, failed in a coup of 1923 and married in 1945, who am I?

4. The last monarch of the House of Tudor, I succeeded my sister but never married or had children, who am I?

5. The eldest son of Pepin the Short, I united most of Western and Central Europe during the early middle ages, who am I?

6. The third President of the USA, I served two terms in office and organised the Louisiana Purchase, who am I?

7. I ruled Ithaca in the early Bronze Age and, if the myths are to be believed, was instrumental in winning the Trojan War for the Greeks, who am I?

8. Born in 1918, I spent 27 years in prison and did not become ruler of my country until 1994, who am I?

9. The first Tsar of Russia, my reign was marked by the Tartar burning of Moscow and the massacre of Novgorod, who am I?

10. The first Emperor of Rome, I was in power at the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, who am I?

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Name the Historical Figure Quiz Round Answers

  1. Alexander the Great
  2. Napoleon Bonaparte
  3. Adolf Hitler
  4. Elizabeth I
  5. Charlemagne
  6. Thomas Jefferson
  7. Odysseus / Ulysses
  8. Nelson Mandela
  9. Ivan the Terrible
  10. Augustus

Testing History General Knowledge Quiz Questions and Answers

You lulled them into a false sense of security with that round of easy trivia history, so now its time for some slightly more difficult ones. They might not be totally fiendish, but they are definitely not easy!

1. Who gave the Gettysburg Address?

2. Which King of England was executed as a result of the English Civil War?

3. Who was the wife of Louis XVI of France?

4. In what year was the Russian Revolution?

5. Florence Nightingale became famous for her work as a nurse during which conflict?

6. Augusto Pinochet took power in which country after a 1973 coup?

7. Which Queen gave birth to her son Caesarion in 47 BC? 

8. In which country was the Battle of Ypres fought in World War One?

9. Which common British pub name recalls the hiding place of King Charles I after the battle of Worcester?

10. Who was the first ruler of the Mongol Empire in the late 12th century?

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Testing History General Knowledge Quiz Answers

  1. Abraham Lincoln
  2. Charles I
  3. Marie Antoinette
  4. 1917
  5. The Crimean War
  6. Chile
  7. Cleopatra
  8. Belgium
  9. The Royal Oak
  10. Genghis Khan

Women in History Quiz Questions and Answers

Female pioneers don’t often get a look-in when it comes to quizzes. We thought we’d change that by dedicating this entire round to the leading historical ladies of years gone by.

1. Which Argentine was the first woman anywhere in the world to hold the title of President?

2. Who overthrew their husband to rule Russia for more than thirty years in the eighteenth century?

3. Which daughter of Lord Byron was a celebrated mathematician, known for her work with Charles Babbage on computing?

4. Who was the third Prime Minister of India and assassinated in 1984?

5. Who married both Louis XII of France and Henry II of England?

6. How did suffragette Emily Davison die?

7. Who was, albeit not undisputedly, the first Queen to rule England in the 1140s?

8. In which state of the USA did Rosa Parks famously resist bus segregation?

9. In which country was Benazhir Bhutto twice the Prime Minister?

10. Which American pilot flew solo across the Atlantic in 1932?

Women in History Quiz Answers

  1. Isabel Perón
  2. Catherine the Great
  3. Ada Lovelace
  4. Indira Ghandi
  5. Eleanor of Aquitaine
  6. She ran in front of the King’s horse at Epsom
  7. Matilda
  8. Alabama
  9. Pakistan
  10. Amelia Earhart

History of Pirates Quiz Questions and Answers

For the final round of your epic trivia quiz night, we thought we’d channel everyone’s favourite swashbuckling stars: pirates! Great even for some family history quiz questions, let’s see how your participants do in answering these buccaneer-themed brainteasers:

1. What was Blackbeard’s real name?

2. What term was used for freelance sailors who gained a commission of war from their governments to attack foreign ships?

3. By what nickname was Ottoman pirate Hayreddin Barbarossa known in English?

4. A hero in Elizabethan England, which global circumnavigator was considered a pirate by the Spanish who placed a huge ransom on his head?

5. What was the common nickname given to any flag used to identify pirate ships, most famously the skull and crossbones design? 

6. Which brand of rum is named after a 17th century Welsh pirate?

7. Which Scottish Captain’s body was hung over the Thames as a deterrent to other would-be pirates for 3 years after his execution in 1701?  

8. Name any year in the so-called Golden Era of Piracy.

9. What happened to you if you were “keelhauled”?

10. In which ocean did Blackbeard operate?

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History of Pirates Quiz Answers

  1. Edward Teach (or perhaps Edward Thatch)
  2. Privateers
  3. Redbeard
  4. Francis Drake
  5. Jolly Roger
  6. Captain Morgan
  7. William Kidd
  8. Accept anything from 1650s to 1730s
  9. You were tied to a rope and dragged underneath the ship from one end to the other
  10. Atlantic (mostly the West Indies and the East coast of North America).

So, what did you think of our History Quiz Questions and Answers? Whether it’s news of yesteryear or even more modern historical facts, we hope we’ve delivered all the history trivia questions and answers that you need.

Did we miss any key questions off the list? Please do get in touch or just drop a note in the comments below! 

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