Smart Cookie Trivia

40 History Trivia Questions and Answers (Easy to Hard)

Pharaohs, emperors, revolutions, and world wars. These start easy and get harder as you go. Tap any question to reveal the answer and a quick fact.

1. 1Who was the first President of the United States?Answer

   George WashingtonHe served two terms, from 1789 to 1797, and then chose to step down.

2. 2In what year did World War II end?Answer

   1945Germany surrendered in May and Japan formally surrendered on 2 September.

3. 3Which ancient civilization built the pyramids at Giza?Answer

   The ancient EgyptiansThe Great Pyramid was built for the pharaoh Khufu about 4,500 years ago.

4. 4Which ocean liner sank on its maiden voyage in April 1912?Answer

   The TitanicIt struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic, and more than 1,500 people died.

5. 5Who wrote the first draft of the Declaration of Independence?Answer

   Thomas JeffersonThe Continental Congress adopted the final version on 4 July 1776.

6. 6Which wall, dividing a European city, fell in 1989?Answer

   The Berlin WallIt opened on 9 November 1989, and Germany reunified less than a year later.

7. 7Who was the first person to walk on the Moon?Answer

   Neil ArmstrongHe stepped onto the lunar surface on 20 July 1969 during Apollo 11.

8. 8Which Roman leader was assassinated on the Ides of March in 44 BC?Answer

   Julius CaesarHe was stabbed by a group of senators that included Brutus and Cassius.

9. 9Which French military leader crowned himself emperor in 1804?Answer

   Napoleon BonaparteHis final defeat came at Waterloo in 1815.

10. 10Which country gave the Statue of Liberty to the United States?Answer

    FranceIt was dedicated in New York Harbor in 1886.

11. 11Who was Britain's prime minister for most of World War II?Answer

    Winston ChurchillHe took office in May 1940, as Germany invaded France.

12. 12Which civil rights leader gave the "I Have a Dream" speech?Answer

    Martin Luther King Jr.He delivered it at the March on Washington on 28 August 1963.

13. 13Which ancient wonder of the world stood in the harbor of Alexandria?Answer

    The Lighthouse of AlexandriaAlso called the Pharos, it guided ships for well over a thousand years.

14. 14Which U.S. president issued the Emancipation Proclamation?Answer

    Abraham LincolnIt took effect on 1 January 1863, during the Civil War.

1. 15In what year did Christopher Columbus first reach the Americas?Answer

   1492He made landfall in the Bahamas that October.

2. 16Which Chinese dynasty built most of the Great Wall that survives today?Answer

   The Ming dynastyEarlier walls existed, but the best-preserved stretches are Ming work.

3. 17Which English king sealed the Magna Carta?Answer

   King JohnHe agreed to it at Runnymede in 1215 under pressure from rebel barons.

4. 18What was the 1962 standoff between the U.S. and the Soviet Union over missiles in Cuba called?Answer

   The Cuban Missile CrisisIt lasted 13 days in October 1962 and is often called the closest the Cold War came to nuclear war.

5. 19Who was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize?Answer

   Marie CurieShe won for physics in 1903 and chemistry in 1911, the only person with Nobels in two sciences.

6. 20Which empire was ruled from Constantinople for about a thousand years?Answer

   The Byzantine EmpireThe Eastern Roman Empire fell when the Ottomans took the city in 1453.

7. 21Which assassination in 1914 triggered World War I?Answer

   Archduke Franz Ferdinand'sThe heir to Austria-Hungary was shot in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914.

8. 22Whose nearly intact tomb did Howard Carter discover in 1922?Answer

   Tutankhamun'sThe young pharaoh's tomb in the Valley of the Kings held over 5,000 objects.

9. 23Which revolution began with the storming of the Bastille?Answer

   The French RevolutionThe Bastille fell on 14 July 1789, now France's national day.

10. 24Who led the Soviet Union during World War II?Answer

    Joseph StalinHe ruled from the mid-1920s until his death in 1953.

11. 25What is the name for the ancient trade routes linking China with the Mediterranean?Answer

    The Silk RoadThe name was coined in the 19th century by the German geographer Ferdinand von Richthofen.

12. 26From which country did the United States buy Alaska in 1867?Answer

    RussiaThe price was $7.2 million, about two cents an acre.

13. 27Which queen ruled England when the Spanish Armada was defeated?Answer

    Elizabeth IThe Armada sailed against England in 1588.

14. 28Which Roman city was buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79?Answer

    PompeiiThe ash preserved the city so well that excavations still reveal daily life.

1. 29Which treaty formally ended World War I between Germany and the Allies?Answer

   The Treaty of VersaillesIt was signed on 28 June 1919, five years to the day after Franz Ferdinand's assassination.

2. 30Who was the first emperor of a unified China?Answer

   Qin Shi HuangHe was buried with the Terracotta Army, thousands of life-size clay soldiers.

3. 31What is usually cited as the shortest war in recorded history?Answer

   The Anglo-Zanzibar WarIn 1896 it was over in well under an hour.

4. 32Which leader founded the Mongol Empire?Answer

   Genghis KhanUnder his successors it became the largest contiguous land empire in history.

5. 33Which Carthaginian general crossed the Alps with war elephants?Answer

   HannibalHe invaded Italy this way in 218 BC during the Second Punic War.

6. 34The Hundred Years' War was fought between which two kingdoms?Answer

   England and FranceDespite the name, it lasted 116 years, from 1337 to 1453.

7. 35Which city was the capital of the Inca Empire?Answer

   CuscoIt sits in the Peruvian Andes at about 3,400 m.

8. 36Who was the last tsar of Russia?Answer

   Nicholas IIHe abdicated in 1917 and was executed with his family in 1918.

9. 37Which 1648 peace treaties ended the Thirty Years' War?Answer

   The Peace of WestphaliaIt is often credited with shaping the modern idea of sovereign states.

10. 38Which Aztec capital stood where Mexico City is today?Answer

    TenochtitlanIt was built on an island in Lake Texcoco.

11. 39Which U.S. president served the shortest time in office?Answer

    William Henry HarrisonHe died 31 days after his inauguration in 1841.

12. 40Which 1066 battle began the Norman conquest of England?Answer

    The Battle of HastingsWilliam the Conqueror defeated King Harold II there.