The Best History Trivia Quiz Questions to See How Clever You Really Are

There are some events and figures in history that are so unequivocally influential—and so wildly world-changing—that they have truly stood the test of time. Marvels like Machu Picchu, the Egyptian pyramids, and the Mayan calendar are immortal examples of the transcendent wisdom of the ancients.

More modern events like the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and the dropping of the atomic bomb during World War II, meanwhile, mark moments where the world teetered on the brink of countless possible realities and was thrust into a future that would forever be determined by these singularly influential occurrences.

History is a constellation of these types of massive events—empires that rise and fall, massive wars, and incredible innovations and creative triumphs that all give shape to the countless little lives influenced by them.

Through deepening our knowledge of these hugely influential events, we can better understand our present moment, both in terms of the precedent for current events as well as what we can expect from the future. Alternatively, by forgetting the past, we risk repeating old mistakes and falling into cyclical patterns.

If you've been wishing to test your knowledge of some of history's most notorious events and figures, here are 100 questions that will allow you to do just that.

1. Ancient History
2. Medieval History
3. Renaissance and Exploration
4. Revolutionary and Civil Wars
5. World War I and World War II
6. U.S. History
7. The Cold War
8. Ancient and Modern Leaders
9. Inventions, Discoveries, and Culture
10. Miscellaneous History Trivia

Ancient History

1. Which ancient civilization built Machu Picchu?

Answer: The Inca civilization

2. What river was central to the development of ancient Egyptian civilization?

Answer: The Nile

3. Who was Rome's first emperor?

Answer: Augustus Caesar

4. What ancient city was destroyed by Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE?

Answer: Pompeii

5. What writing system was developed by the ancient Sumerians?

Answer: Cuneiform

6. What Greek philosopher instructed Alexander the Great?

Answer: Aristotle

7. What was the trade route connecting China to the Mediterranean called?

Answer: The Silk Road

8. Who was the last active ruler of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt?

Answer: Cleopatra VII

9. Which of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World was located in Alexandria, Egypt?

Answer: The Lighthouse of Alexandria

10. Which empire did Genghis Khan rule?

Answer: The Mongol Empire

Medieval History

11. What year did the Battle of Hastings take place?

Answer: 1066

12. What document signed in 1215 limited the English king's power?

Answer: The Magna Carta

13. What pandemic killed millions of people in Europe in the 14th century?

Answer: The Black Death

14. What French heroine famously led troops in the Hundred Years' War?

Answer: Joan of Arc

15. What was the Byzantine Empire's capital city?

Answer: Constantinople

16. What Viking explorer is said to have reached North America around the year 1000?

Answer: Leif Erikson

17. What was the name of the series of religious wars fought between the Christians and Muslims over the Holy Land?

Answer: The Crusades

18. What empire conquered Constantinople in 1453?

Answer: The Ottoman Empire

19. What was the dominant social system in medieval Europe called?

Answer: Feudalism

20. What university is considered the oldest university in the English-speaking world?

Answer: Oxford University

Renaissance and Exploration

21. Who painted the Sistine Chapel's ceiling?

Answer: Michelangelo

22. What explorer's expedition completed the first circumnavigation of the globe?

Answer: The expedition of Ferdinand Magellan

23. What was the name of the invention by Johannes Gutenberg that helped spread information across Europe?

Answer: The printing press

24. What artist painted the Mona Lisa?

Answer: Leonardo da Vinci

25. What navigator reached India after sailing around the Cape of Good Hope in 1498?

Answer: Vasco da Gama

26. What movement involved a new interest in classical art and learning in Europe?

Answer: The Renaissance

27. What explorer is credited with reaching the Americas in 1492?

Answer: Christopher Columbus

28. What English playwright wrote Macbeth?

Answer: William Shakespeare

29. What astronomer proposed the Earth revolves around the sun?

Answer: Nicolaus Copernicus

30. What European country initially sponsored Christopher Columbis's voyage?

Answer: Spain

Revolutionary and Civil Wars

31. What year did the American Revolution start?

Answer: 1775

32. Who originally wrote the Declaration of Independence?

Answer: Thomas Jefferson

33. What prison was stormed at the beginning of the French Revolution?

Answer: The Bastille

34. Who became emperor of France after the French revolution?

Answer: Napoleon Bonaparte

35. What slogan is associated with the French Revolution?

Answer: "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity"

36. What war was fought between the North and South of the United States from 1861 to 1865?

Answer: The American Civil War

37. What battle is generally considered the major turning point in the American Civil War?

Answer: The Battle of Gettysburg

38. What document did Abraham Lincoln issue that declared the freedom of enslaved people in Confederate states?

Answer: The Emancipation Proclamation

39. Who was the president of the United States during most of the American Civil War?

Answer: Abraham Lincoln

40. What Haitian revolutionary led the slave revolt that created Haiti?

Answer: Toussaint Louverture

World War I and World War II

41. What event led to World War I in 1914?

Answer: The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

42. Which alliance included Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy prior to World War I?

Answer: The Triple Alliance

43. What treaty marked the end of World War I?

Answer: The Treaty of Versailles

44. Who was the prime minister of the United Kingdom for the majority of World War II?

Answer: Winston Churchill

45. What event brought the United States into World War II?

Answer: The attack on Pearl Harbor

46. What was the codename for the Allied invasion of Normandy in 1944?

Answer: D-Day (Operation Overlord)

47. What dictator led Nazi Germany during World War II?

Answer: Adolf Hitler

48. What two cities were targeted with atomic bombs in 1945?

Answer: Hiroshima and Nagasaki

49. What was the name of the genocide in which six million Jews were murdered during World War II?

Answer: The Holocaust

50. What international organization was founded in 1945 to promote peace and cooperation?

Answer: The United Nations

U.S. History

51. Who was the United States' first president?

Answer: George Washington

52. What 1803 purchase nearly doubled the United States' size?

Answer: The Louisiana Purchase

53. What was the route taken by settlers who moved west in wagons during the 19th century called?

Answer: The Oregon Trail

54. Which amendment to the U.S. Constitution gave women the right to vote?

Answer: The 19th Amendment

55. What economic crisis started with the stock market crash of 1929?

Answer: The Great Depression

56. Who was president of the United States during the majority of the Great Depression and World War II?

Answer: Franklin D. Roosevelt

57. What movement pushed for equal rights for African Americans during the 1950s and '60s?

Answer: The Civil Rights Movement

58. Who gave the "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963?

Answer: Martin Luther King Jr.

59. What U.S. president resigned from office in 1974?

Answer: Richard Nixon

60. What was the 1969 mission that first landed humans on the moon called?

Answer: Apollo 11

The Cold War

61. What two superpowers were rivals during the Cold War?

Answer: The United States and the Soviet Union

62. What divided East and West Berlin from 1961 to 1989?

Answer: The Berlin Wall

63. What conflict from 1950 to 1953 involved North and South Korea?

Answer: The Korean War

64. What is the name of the 1962 situation that brought the United States and the Soviet Union to the brink of nuclear war?

Answer: The Cuban Missile Crisis

65. What Soviet leader introduced reforms known as glasnost and perestroika?

Answer: Mikhail Gorbachev

66. What year did the Berlin Wall fall?

Answer: 1989

67. What war involved the United States and Southeast Asia during the 1960s and '70s?

Answer: The Vietnam War

68. What military alliance was formed between the United States and Western European nations in 1949?

Answer: NATO

69. What country launched the first artificial satellite?

Answer: The Soviet Union

70. What was the name of the competition between the U.S. and Soviet Union that focused on space exploration?

Answer: The Space Race

Ancient and Modern Leaders

71. What queen was the ruler of England during the Spanish Armada's failed invasion in 1588?

Answer: Queen Elizabeth I

72. What South African leader spent 27 years in prison before becoming president?

Answer: Nelson Mandela

73. Who was the United Kingdom's first female prime minister?

Answer: Margaret Thatcher

74. What Indian leader promoted nonviolent resistance against British rule?

Answer: Mahatma Gandhi

75. What was the name of the first emperor of China?

Answer: Qin Shi Huang

76. What was the title of the Russian ruler known as "Peter the Great"?

Answer: Peter I

77. What American president gave the Gettysburg Address?

Answer: Abraham Lincoln

78. What Egyptian pharaoh's tomb was discovered mostly intact in 1922?

Answer: Tutankhamun

79. Who led the Soviet Union during most of World War II?

Answer: Joseph Stalin

80. What Roman general crossed the Rubicon River in 49 BCE?

Answer: Julius Caesar

Inventions, Discoveries, and Culture

81. Who gets credit for inventing the telephone?

Answer: Alexander Graham Bell

82. What duo are credited with building and flying the first successful airplane?

Answer: Orville and Wilbur Wright

83. What famous ship sank on its maiden voyage in 1912?

Answer: The Titanic

84. What scientist discovered the theory of relativity?

Answer: Albert Einstein

85. What was the name of North America's first successful English colony?

Answer: Jamestown

86. What disease was eradicated around the world in 1980?

Answer: Smallpox

87. What invention did Thomas Edison most famously improve for practical use?

Answer: The lightbulb

88. What document starts with the words "We the People"?

Answer: The U.S. Constitution

89. What city hosted the first modern Olympic Games?

Answer: Athens

90. What newspaper headline incorrectly claimed "Dewey Defeats Truman" in 1948?

Answer: The Chicago Tribune

Miscellaneous History Trivia

91. What country gave the Statue of Liberty to the United States?

Answer: France

92. What was the ship that the Pilgrims took to North America in 1620 called?

Answer: The Mayflower

93. Which empire built a vast road network across South America?

Answer: The Inca Empire

94. What ancient civilization is known for creating a calendar and huge pyramids in Mesoamerica?

Answer: The Maya

95. What U.S. state was the last to join the Union?

Answer: Hawaii

96. What was the name of the scandal that led to President Richard Nixon's resignation?

Answer: Watergate

97. Which explorer gave the Pacific Ocean its name?

Answer: Ferdinand Magellan

98. What was the first successful vaccine, developed by Edward Jenner?

Answer: The smallpox vaccine

99. Which amendment prohibited the manufacture and sale of alcohol in the United States?

Answer: The 18th Amendment

100. Which civilization built the city of Tenochtitlán?

Answer: The Aztec civilization

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