Weekly History Quiz

Ancient and Modern History Trivia for April 13, 2026

Mon, 13 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +1200

Test yourself with today's history quiz questions. Visit the quiz page once you're ready to take the challenge. Good luck!

When was the first digital-based voicemail system, known as the Speech Filing System (SFS), invented?
1. 1980
2. 1961
3. 2000
4. 1973

The emperor who took the name Quetzalcoatl ruled which ancient people in Mexico in the 10th century CE?
1. Toltecs
2. Aztecs
3. Safesecs
4. Pygmies

How did Hannibal die in 183 BC?
1. Killed in battle at Metauras
2. Crushed by an elephant
3. Froze to death in the Alps
4. Committed suicide

In 2025 Japan set which political record?
1. Closing Parliament completely for 6 months
2. Appointing the first Ainu as Speaker of the House of Representatives
3. Signing up to a 7-way coalition in Parliament
4. Having the first female Prime Minister, and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)

What date was the US Transcontinental Railroad completed?
1. May 10, 1869
2. June 22, 1899
3. December 25, 1910
4. July 4, 1850

Around 1050 CE there was a major building boom in the middle Mississippi area of what is now the USA to form a city which is now referred to as what?
1. Aztalan
2. The Cahokia Mounds
3. Spiro
4. Crystal River

What US policy introduced in 1823, that efforts by European governments to colonise land or interfere with states in the Americas would be viewed by the USA as acts of aggression requiring US intervention, became one of the longest-standing tenets of US foreign policy?
1. Gettysburg Address
2. The Monroe Doctrine
3. The Domino Theory
4. Charters of Freedom

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Ancient and Modern History Trivia for April 6, 2026

Mon, 06 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +1200

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Felipe Calderón became President of which country on 1 December 2006?
1. Venezuela
2. Mexico
3. Colombia
4. Ecuador

On 15 February 1990 the United Kingdom restored diplomatic relations after 8 years, with which country?
1. Israel
2. Spain
3. Argentina
4. Lebanon

Which cocktail ingredient was invented in Venezuela in 1824 as a tonic?
1. Tequila
2. Angostura bitters
3. Vermouth
4. Absinthe

Who became King of England and Lord of Ireland after defeating Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field?
1. Richard IV
2. Henry V
3. Charles II
4. Henry VII

John Calvin, 16th century French theologian, was the autocrat of which city for 23 years, established it as a theocracy, provided harsh punishments for moral transgressions and transformed the city into a principal centre in the Protestant Reformation?
1. Rouen
2. Avignon
3. Basle
4. Geneva

The current continuing eruption period of which Italian volcano started in November 2022?
1. Mt Etna
2. Monte Amiata
3. Cimini
4. Vulture

The "Missouri Compromise" allowed which state to join the USA in 1820 to balance the admission of Missouri?
1. Maryland
2. Minnesota
3. Maine
4. Mississippi

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Ancient and Modern History Trivia for March 30, 2026

Mon, 30 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +1300

Test yourself with today's history quiz questions. Visit the quiz page once you're ready to take the challenge. Good luck!

Which of these was not one of the "Three Fates" (or "Parcae") in Roman mythology?
1. Morta
2. Nona
3. Decima
4. Portia

The military action popularly known as "The Charge of the Light Brigade" took place in which war?
1. Crimean War
2. World War I
3. Boer War
4. War of the Roses

What is the oldest surviving book printed using movable metal type?
1. The Auspicious Tantra of All-Reaching Union, China, sometime 1139-93 AD
2. Gutenberg's Bible, Germany, 1455 AD
3. Records of Jingde County, China, 1298 AD
4. The Jikji, Korea, 1377 AD

What was the first propeller driven iron-hulled ship to cross the Atlantic?
1. Titanic
2. Great Britain
3. Mauretania
4. Great Eastern

According to Greek legend, what was the 9 headed monster from the Lerna marshes killed by Hercules?
1. Minotaur
2. Hydra
3. Harpy
4. Valkyrie

The last of a series of uprisings against the Roman republic, ending in 71 BCE and led (among others) by Spartacus, were rebellions by which people?
1. Disaffected soldiers
2. Peasants
3. Slaves
4. Bakers

What appeared in a newspaper for the first time, in France's "L'Illustration", the issue of 1-7 July 1848?
1. The photo finish of a horse race
2. Times New Roman typeface
3. Pictures of entertainers, not just politicians
4. A photograph

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Ancient and Modern History Trivia for March 23, 2026

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +1300

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What purpose was the rear-view mirror intended to serve in cars when it was first suggested in 1906 by Dorothy Levitt and later patented (in 1921) and installed?
1. Somewhere to hang personal items and accessories
2. As an aid to arrange make up and hair
3. To facilitate face-to-face conversation with rear passengers
4. A quick means of seeing following and surrounding traffic

Swiss legendary hero William Tell was instrumental in rescuing his land from the tyranny of which country in 1307?
1. Mongolia
2. Turkey
3. Austria
4. Japan

Which state of the USA, initially called New Connecticut, declared independence in 1777, issued its own coinage 1785-1788, exchanged ambassadors with France, the Netherlands and the USA, and in 1791 joined the US Federal union as the 14th state?
1. California
2. Vermont
3. Pennsylvania
4. Tennessee

When "The Titanic" set out on her maiden voyage, she had enough lifeboats for what percentage of the passengers and crew that were on board?
1. 50
2. 75
3. 100
4. 25

Leo Joseph Ryan Jr., the first US congressman to be killed in the line of duty, was murdered where?
1. Guyana
2. Venezuela
3. Philippines
4. Berlin

Which city was hit by a magnitude 6.2 earthquake about 5 kilometres below its centre at 12:29 a.m. 23 December 1972, killing around 5,000 of the 400,000 population, injuring 20,000 and leaving over 250,000 homeless?
1. Guatemala City, Guatemala.
2. Managua, Nicaragua
3. Haiyuan, Ningxia-Gansu, China
4. Sarajevo, Yugoslavia

Between 1570 and 1582, the Imam Al Aqib restored the three great mosques Djingareyber, Sankore and Sidi Yahia of which important 15th and 16th century centre for the diffusion of Islamic culture?
1. Timbuktu
2. Benin
3. Cordoba
4. Baghdad

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Ancient and Modern History Trivia for March 16, 2026

Mon, 16 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +1300

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In 1965 after several years of debate Canada officially adopted a new what?
1. Flag
2. Constitution
3. Time zone
4. National food

The Treaty of Versailles signed in 1871 marked another step in what for the signatories?
1. End of the first British Empire
2. France's and Vietnam's agreement to military support in exchange for trade advantages
3. Founding of the German Empire
4. Establishment of monarchy in united Italy

In 1936, Anastasio Somoza became the dictator of which country?
1. Honduras
2. Nicaragua
3. El Salvador
4. Guatemala

In 1977, Hamida Djandoubi was involved in what act that was special in French history?
1. He tried to assassinate the President
2. He set off a bomb that destroyed a large shopping mall in Paris
3. He was the last person to be guillotined
4. He was the first Frenchman to swim the English Channel

What was the first known contact by Europeans with the people of the islands known at one time as New Hebrides?
1. Martinique trader Peter Dillon in 1825
2. British explorer James Cook in 1774
3. French explorer Louis Antoine de Bougainville in 1768
4. Portuguese explorer Pedro Fernandes de Queirós in 1606

Which changed as a result of the Treaty of Maastricht signed in 1992?
1. Andorra
2. European Communities
3. Luxembourg
4. North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

What was the confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union that was at its peak in October 1962?
1. The Berlin Airlift
2. The building of the Berlin Wall
3. The Cuban Missile Crisis
4. Results of the Olympic 10,000 metre race

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Ancient and Modern History Trivia for March 9, 2026

Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +1300

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Once the most famous clipper and the fastest, and profitable because of that speed, the UK's Cutty Sark, for over a decade from 1883 accelerated a major trade for Australia in what commodity?
1. Wool
2. Tea
3. Aluminium
4. Botanical specimens

Scottish physician James Young Simpson (1811-1870) was the first to do what?
1. Prescribe cocaine as a cough medicine
2. Use disinfected surgical gloves
3. Introduce ether, and then chloroform, as anaesthesia for childbirth
4. Establish formal clinic hours for patients to visit

To end The War of 1812, the USA and Great Britain signed which treaty on 24 December 1814?
1. Treaty of Waitangi
2. Treaty of Utrecht
3. Treaty of Rome
4. Treaty of Ghent

Where was the industrial accident on 2-3 December 1984 that caused the deaths of 3,000 to 16,000 people, for which 7 ex-employees were convicted in June 2010 and sentenced to 2 years imprisonment & a fine of about US$2,000 each?
1. Chernobyl, Ukraine
2. Bhopal, India
3. Greenham Common, England
4. Pasadena, Texas, USA

The ruling dynasty founded in 1270 CE in the Ethiopian Empire which lasted until its last Emperor Haile Selassie was overthrown in 1974, claimed to be descended from the son of the Queen of Sheba and which biblical king?
1. Balthasar
2. Nebuchadnezzar
3. Solomon
4. Mithridates

When the lighthouse marking the Royal Sovereign sandbank in Eastbourne, UK, was built in 1970 it was positioned on an offshore platform supported by a telescopic column. What did it replace?
1. An old onshore lighthouse
2. An onshore beacon
3. A lighted buoy
4. A light ship

From before the 12th century until the 17th when it was abandoned, what walled stone city in southern Africa served as the capital of a kingdom thought to cover around 50,000 km² (19,000 sq mi)?
1. Marrakesh
2. Gao
3. Benin City
4. Great Zimbabwe

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Ancient and Modern History Trivia for March 2, 2026

Mon, 02 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +1300

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The Boston Tea Party, where tea was tipped into the harbour to protest taxation, precipitated what historical event?
1. American Revolution
2. American Civil War
3. Vietnam War
4. Assassination of John F Kennedy

What type of battle was the Battle of Trafalgar?
1. Airborne landing
2. Land battle
3. Air battle
4. Sea battle

Which country was divided at the 17th parallel by an agreement made in 1954 in Geneva?
1. Korea
2. Vietnam
3. Crete
4. Timor

When Annie Edson Taylor became the first person to survive jumping off Niagara Falls, what was she "sailing"?
1. A paddle pool
2. A barrel
3. Nothing, she dived unaided
4. A log

One of the notable and authoritative works of Abu Nasr Muhammad al-Farabi (ca 870 - ca 950), renowned philosopher and jurist, regarded as one of the pre-eminent thinkers of mediaeval Islam, was “Musiqi al-Kabir”. What did the book discuss?
1. Music theory, Iranian musical instruments and precise scales and intervals
2. Performance of Iranian court music
3. The role of music in administering justice
4. The music of the stars

Which of these is a legendary creature, supposedly the offspring of a griffin and a mare?
1. Manticore
2. Hippogryph
3. Wyvern
4. Phoenix

How many sons of Philip IV of France became King?
1. 3
2. 4
3. 2
4. 5

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Ancient and Modern History Trivia for February 23, 2026

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +1300

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In 1907, an assembly of clergy, governement officials and prominent families of which country chose a hereditary king?
1. Siam (now Thailand)
2. Tibet
3. Nepal
4. Bhutan

If clergy, using the old Roman names, were travelling in the 11th century from Hibernia to Caledonia where, in present terms, would they be travelling from to?
1. Scotland to Ireland
2. Ireland to Scotland
3. Spain to France
4. Switzerland to Scotland

What happened on 28 December 1908 in Sicily and Calabria, southern Italy, to cause destruction of two major cities and an estimated 120,000 deaths?
1. An earthquake
2. Emergence, and eruption, of a volcano between them
3. An oil tanker capsized in Messina and the oil spill caught fire
4. Landing of a plague of crickets

When Europeans first came to New Zealand, Māori told them that they themselves had come from where?
1. Hawaiki
2. Hawai'i
3. Indonesia
4. Fiji

When was the latest recorded outbreak of black death, or bubonic plague, the pandemic that swept through and ravaged Asia and Europe in the 14th century?
1. 1859 in China
2. 1908 in the USA
3. 1665 in the UK
4. 2017 in Madagascar

Which department store headquartered in Piccadilly, London was founded as a grocery store in 1707?
1. Marks & Spencer
2. Harrods
3. Selfridges
4. Fortnum & Mason

What ancient people, whose major cities were Tyre and Sidon, founded Carthage?
1. Egyptians
2. Phoenicians
3. Philistines
4. Persians

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Ancient and Modern History Trivia for February 16, 2026

Mon, 16 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +1300

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Vercingétorix is celebrated as having united which peoples to oppose the conquests by Roman forces led by Julius Caesar?
1. Lusitanians
2. Teutons
3. Carthaginians
4. Gauls

Who identified "The Four Freedoms" (freedom of speech and expression, freedom of worship, freedom from want, freedom from fear) in a message to the US Congress?
1. George Washington
2. F D Roosevelt
3. Abraham Lincoln
4. George W Bush

During WW II German official policy was developed to eliminate all Jews and all Gypsies, as well as actively eliminate homosexuals and those deemed mentally defective. As well as 6 million Jews it is generally accepted that the Nazi regime was responsible for a further how many deaths under these policies?
1. 1.5 million
2. Half a million
3. 100,000
4. Over 10 million

Mount Fuji is believed to have formed in four distinct phases, the most recent about how many years ago?
1. 500
2. 1,500,000
3. 1,000
4. 10,000

Which English road in Anglo-Saxon times went from Axminster via Bath, Cirencester, Leicester and Newark to Lincoln?
1. Watling Street
2. Fosse Way
3. Iter II
4. Stone Street

A law prior to 1879 regulating the speed of vehicles on the road in the UK required somebody to do what in addition?
1. Walk beside the vehicle to warn horses
2. Install a speedometer
3. Carry a red flag or lantern ahead of the vehicle
4. Install windscreen wipers

Although the position was not officially designated as such for nearly 200 years who was the first person (in 1721) unofficially called the Prime Minister of the British Parliament?
1. Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington
2. Sir Horace Walpole
3. Benjamin Disraeli
4. Sir Robert Walpole

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Ancient and Modern History Trivia for February 9, 2026

Mon, 09 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +1300

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Which was NOT a site of any of the three Punic Wars fought between Rome and Carthage?
1. Sicily
2. Cyprus
3. Italy
4. Carthage

Which ship transported the English Separatists, better known as the Pilgrims, from Southampton and then Plymouth, England, to Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620?
1. Bluebell
2. Sunflower
3. Mayflower
4. Daisy

Emperor Napoleon III commissioned what monument from the sculptor Aimé Millet, which was installed in 1865 in Alise-Sainte-Reine, Burgundy, France?
1. Vercingétorix
2. Napoléon Bonaparte
3. Jeanne d'Arc
4. Emperor Charlemagne

Which country declared war on the British Empire in 1812 due to British restrictions to impede its trade, the forced recruitment of its citizens into the Royal Navy and British support for some of its indigenous people who were fighting them?
1. Spain
2. United States of America
3. Mexico
4. Argentina

What term was popularised in the books "The Gutenberg Galaxy: The Making of Typographic Man" (1962) and "Understanding Media" (1964) by Marshall McLuhan to describe how the instantaneous movement of information from every quarter to every point at the same time has heightened human awareness of responsibility?
1. Earth town
2. Global village
3. World city
4. Moon unit

What forces were involved in the Battle of Omdurman 1898?
1. British and the Sudanese Mahdi
2. British and Egyptian
3. Egyptian and the Sudanese Mahdi
4. British and French

Until 2025, who was the only president of the USA to serve non-consecutive terms?
1. Lyndon Johnson
2. Grover Cleveland
3. Thomas Jefferson
4. Bill Clinton

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Ancient and Modern History Trivia for February 2, 2026

Mon, 02 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +1300

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The Thirty Years War between Catholic and Protestant countries in the Holy Roman Empire, beginning in 1618, altered in 1635 to become a fight between the Hapsburgs and Spain on one side against which new combatant on the other?
1. Italy
2. Greece
3. France
4. Turkey

In which book of the Christian Bible is the story of Lazarus being raised from the dead?
1. Mark
2. Matthew
3. John
4. Luke

Where did Colonel James Bowie and Davy Crockett die fighting Mexican forces?
1. Fort Sumter
2. Little Big Horn
3. Alamo
4. Gettysburg

"Ted" Kaczynski, an American anti-industrialist and mathematical prodigy, became known as what?
1. Unabomber
2. Oklahoma City Bomber
3. Jewish Community Center shooter
4. Beltway sniper

What was the immediate cause, in 1033, of the destruction of the Walls of Jerusalem, many churches, entire villages in Syria, and large parts of Nablus, Acre, Jericho and Ramla?
1. Action by European crusaders
2. An earthquake
3. Fire
4. Military conflict between peoples in the area

The countries who have joined the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change meet annually to measure progress and negotiate multilateral responses to climate change at a conference known as what?
1. POP
2. MOP
3. TOP
4. COP

Which newspaper, established in 1917, expressed the official views of the Soviet government and continued after the collapse of the Soviet Union?
1. The Guardian
2. Associated Press
3. Izvestia
4. TASS

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Ancient and Modern History Trivia for January 26, 2026

Mon, 26 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +1300

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When did Australia build the first fence in its immensely long rabbit-proof fence complex?
1. 1922
2. 1901-1907
3. 1946
4. 1887-1890

What event took place at Yasgur's farm, New York, during 15 to 18 August 1969?
1. Until then, the world's worst plane crash
2. New York World's Fair
3. First public demonstration of the M16 rifle
4. Woodstock Music and Art Fair

What profession was Jean-Paul Marat, noted for his involvement in the French Revolution at the end of the 18th century?
1. Butcher
2. Lawyer
3. Journalist
4. Farmer

In 146 BCE Rome sacked Carthage and what other major city?
1. Corinth
2. Memphis
3. Persepolis
4. Hatra

It was formed in 1885 by followers of the Theosophical Society together with prominent Indian leaders, was a major force in the Indian independence movement and is still a potent political party in India. What is it called?
1. United Progressive Alliance
2. Indian National Congress
3. Indian National Association
4. Janata Party

Panchayat was introduced by a coup d'etat in 1961 and was ended in 1990, with a campaign of demonstrations and strikes, in what country?
1. Nepal
2. India
3. Bhutan
4. Pakistan

The first electric what were installed in 1914 in Ohio, USA?
1. Traffic lights
2. Civil Defence sirens
3. Fire alarms
4. Washing machines

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Ancient and Modern History Trivia for January 19, 2026

Mon, 19 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +1300

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In 55 and 54 BCE Julius Caesar and Roman troops invaded which country?
1. Denmark
2. Britain
3. Russia
4. Egypt

In 2015 Swiss explorers Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg completed what?
1. A voyage by sampan from Vancouver to Vietnam
2. Submarine sailing of the complete length of the mid-Atlantic rift at sea-floor level
3. The first part of the first around the world zero-fuel, solar-powered flight
4. Scaling every mountain peak over 8,000 m

When was the policy known as Perestroika first put into action in the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics)?
1. 1988
2. 1985
3. 1946
4. 1990

In 1997 Bougainville gained autonomy within Papua New Guinea, after negotiations brokered by what country?
1. New Zealand
2. Australia
3. France
4. USA

Marat, Robespierre, Danton are names associated with what event at the end of the 18th century?
1. The French Revolution
2. Founding of the Académie Française
3. The Boston Tea Party
4. The Tulip Era in the Ottoman Empire

Which of these became a popular fashion choice in Europe and then North America during the 1960s and 1970s?
1. Sack dress
2. Shoulder pads
3. Bell-bottom trousers
4. Plus fours

Where was the Maguindanao massacre on 23 November 2009, when 58 victims, including a politician's wife, his two sisters, journalists, lawyers, aides, and motorists who were witnesses, were kidnapped and brutally killed?
1. Ecuador
2. Philippines
3. Madagascar
4. Spain

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Ancient and Modern History Trivia for January 12, 2026

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +1300

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Beginning in 1985 and continuing across the early 1990s, which legal, political and cultural change was enacted?
1. The collapse of the New Democratic Party and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
2. Legislation to open the gates in the Berlin Wall
3. End of apartheid in South Africa
4. Democratic elections for the President of Haiti

In 1961 the World Wildlife Fund was founded with a logo designed by Sir Peter Scott, son of the Antarctic explorer Robert Falcon Scott; what was the logo?
1. A torch
2. A panda
3. A brontosaurus
4. A phoenix

Which was founded in 1966, and operated as a private airline until 2000 in Ecuador, flying routes in North, Central and South America?
1. SAETA
2. LATAM
3. SATENA
4. Atsa

What was a Roman name for France?
1. Lutetia
2. Gallia
3. Franca
4. Francus

What characterises the Holocene Period?
1. Major species extinction, of over 50%
2. Two severe glaciations
3. Relatively stable climate
4. Rise and evolution of the dinosaurs

According to legend, what did Alexander the Great cut with his sword after an oracle said that the person who released it would be master of Asia?
1. Gordian knot
2. The neck of the Minotaur, removing its head
3. The string around Pandora's box
4. The leash holding the Gorgon

In 1848, the USA offered Spain $100 million, equivalent to over $4 billion in present day terms, for the purchase of which area of land?
1. Part of northern Mexico
2. Louisiana
3. Cuba
4. Florida

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Ancient and Modern History Trivia for January 5, 2026

Mon, 05 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +1300

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On 31 May 1910, which of these was created?
1. The Union of Sinners and Saints
2. The Union of North America
3. The Union of South Africa
4. The Union of the Snake

In 1786 a site near Paris was consecrated as the "l'Ossuaire Municipal" for what purpose?
1. To hold remains from existing burials in Paris's overflowing cemeteries
2. To establish a new cemetery
3. To display remains from historic burials of clergy in Paris
4. Research in fossil bones from human remains

Where are the sites of the elaborately planned and sophisticated 4th and 3rd millennia BCE urban settlements of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro?
1. Indus Valley, Pakistan
2. Peru
3. Easter Island
4. Iran

Miners trapped underground in Chile in August 2010 received help and advice from which of these organisations?
1. UNESCO
2. NASA
3. FAO
4. UNICEF

The de facto first Governor-General of India, Warren Hastings, was impeached in 1786 (and acquitted) on his return to England, on what grounds?
1. Poor budgeting
2. Failing to return enough profit to the British Government
3. Misconduct, particularly mismanagement and personal corruption
4. Persistent and flagrant marital infidelities

Which island has belonged to Carthage, Rome, the Saracens, the King of Aragon, the Dukes of Savoy, United Italy under Victor Emmanuel and was granted autonomous government in 1947?
1. Corsica
2. Malta
3. Crete
4. Sardinia

Which of these is a Middle Eastern mythical giant bird?
1. Roc
2. Emu
3. Kiwi
4. Potto

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Ancient and Modern History Trivia for December 29, 2025

Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +1300

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Why did the British parliament pass Acts such as the Dress Act (1746), the Act of Proscription (1746), and the Heritable Jurisdictions Act (1746)?
1. To improve the moral tenor of society
2. To destroy the Scottish clan system
3. To regulate commercial transactions
4. To restore the authority of parliament over the king

In 1497 the English and Spanish royal families betrothed which 11-year-old English Prince of Wales to 12-year-old Princess Catherine of Aragon?
1. Arthur
2. Henry
3. Donald
4. Stephen

In 2015 palaeontologists from Edinburgh and Beijing announced the discovery of the fossil of an almost complete feathered and winged, although almost certainly flightless, theropod which is a close cousin of what?
1. Triceratops
2. Megalosaurus
3. Tyrannosaurus Rex
4. Velociraptor

After twelve men met in his bedroom in 1844, what was founded by Sir George Williams?
1. Salvation Army
2. Pink Triangle
3. Boy Scout movement
4. YMCA

Speculation about the possibility of a southern land mass had been around for at least 2,000 years. When was the first recorded sighting of the Antarctic continent?
1. 1905
2. 1540
3. 1820
4. 1775

The explorer Abel Tasman was the first European to discover New Zealand, in what year?
1. 1815
2. 1492
3. 1066
4. 1642

In February 1982 Greenland held a referendum on what?
1. Separating from Denmark
2. Continued membership of the European Communities (EC)
3. A treaty with Canada
4. Equal pay for women

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Ancient and Modern History Trivia for December 22, 2025

Mon, 22 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +1300

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At the beginning of 2022 a full-scale military invasion was launched into which European country?
1. Ukraine
2. The Shetland Islands
3. Malta
4. Denmark

In July 2025 the International Court of Justice (ICJ) responded to a UN resolution asking about obligations of states to protect the climate and remedy damage to those affected present and future. Which Pacific Island group spearheaded the approach?
1. The Philippines
2. Vanuatu
3. The Marshall Islands
4. New Zealand

What did Pope Paul IV order in 1555 to be set up on the left bank of the Tiber?
1. Religious statue that was not a human form
2. Ghetto
3. Public park containing shrubs and seats but no playing areas
4. Garden of Remembrance

Where was the Peninsular War?
1. South Africa
2. Crimean Peninsula
3. Iberian peninsula
4. Philippines

What purpose did the drooping nose of the supersonic airliner, Concorde, serve in its career until retirement in 2003?
1. To increase ability for fast take-off
2. To reduce turbulence
3. To clear pilot view during taxi-ing, take-off and landing
4. To increase speed

What modern-day country has been ruled since 1902 by Abdulaziz, known in the West as Ibn Saud, and successively by his sons, Saud, Faisal, Khalid, Fahd, Abdullah and Salman?
1. Saudi Arabia
2. Kuwait
3. Palestine
4. Lebanon

The naval Battle of Trafalgar (1805) was part of the confrontation by Britain and its allies with the forces of which supreme military commander?
1. Francis II of Austria
2. King Joseph Bonaparte of Spain
3. Chancellor Otto von Bismarck of Prussia
4. Emperor Napoléon Bonaparte of France

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Ancient and Modern History Trivia for December 15, 2025

Mon, 15 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +1300

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Generals Gallieni, Maunoury, Joffre, French, von Kluck, von Bülow and von Moltke were involved in which battle that stopped the German advance in 1914 during World War I?
1. Battle of the Bulge
2. Battle of Waterloo
3. Battle of Culloden
4. Battle of the Marne

The "Hyksos" was the name given to a people who assumed rule in which country in the second millennium BCE?
1. Palestine
2. Egypt
3. India
4. Persia

When and where was a standardised time system first used?
1. 1886, Japan
2. 1883, Pennsylvania, USA
3. 1909, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
4. 1847, UK

ABBA named a song after which battle?
1. Nile
2. Bosworth Field
3. Trafalgar
4. Waterloo

During World War II, where was the HQ of the British code-cracking unit that worked to decipher the output from the "Enigma" machine?
1. Biggin Hill
2. Northanger Abbey
3. Alexandra Palace
4. Bletchley Park

Which of the following has never been Prime Minister of Great Britain or the United Kingdom?
1. Arthur Wellesley,1st Duke of Wellington
2. Sir Robert Walpole
3. Spencer Perceval
4. William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley

When did Kristallnacht happen?
1. The year before World War I was launched
2. The year World War II was launched
3. The year before World War II was launched
4. The year World War I was launched

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Ancient and Modern History Trivia for December 8, 2025

Mon, 08 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +1300

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What was reportedly first used in battle in 919 CE?
1. Gunpowder
2. Bow and arrows
3. Flag of truce
4. Axes

What did the UK's Mines and Collieries Act 1842 do in relation to underground work?
1. Required breaks of 10 minutes every 5 hours
2. Standardised testing for mine gas
3. Limited shifts to 10 hours
4. Prohibited work by women, girls of any age, and boys under ten

What name were the treaties of: 1763, France ceded all its territories in America east of Mississippi (except New Orleans), in the West Indies and in India to Britain; 1783, recognised USA's independence from Britain; 1898, Spain relinquished almost all of its remaining overseas territories to the USA?
1. Treaties respectively of: Paris, London and Seville
2. Treaty of Paris
3. Treaty of Versailles
4. Treaties respectively of: Vienna, Stockholm and Seville

In 1459, the Battle of Blore Heath in Staffordshire, England, 2 miles east of Market Drayton in Shropshire, was the first major battle of the main part of which campaign?
1. The Seven Years War
2. The Wars of the Roses
3. The English Civil War
4. Jacobite Rebellion

Which US holiday commemorates either a celebration by Spaniards on 8 September 1565 in what is now Saint Augustine, Florida, the arrival of 38 English settlers at Berkeley Hundred on 4 December 1619, or the Pilgrims' activities in Plymouth in 1621?
1. Columbus Day
2. Thanksgiving
3. Halloween
4. Memorial Day

What is the name of the small municipality near Calcutta where the first hollow-nosed rifle bullets were made?
1. Dum Dum
2. Hollow Point
3. Soft Point
4. Cordite

Who was the last Prime Minister of the Fourth Republic of France, and the first President of the Fifth Republic?
1. Félix Gaillard
2. Georges Pompidou
3. Charles de Gaulle
4. Valéry Giscard d'Estaing

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Ancient and Modern History Trivia for December 1, 2025

Mon, 01 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +1300

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What ship, less than a month after her maiden voyage in 1907, had the record for crossing the Atlantic eastbound, and in 1909 had a record time for the westbound crossing that stood for 20 years?
1. Olympic
2. Lusitania
3. Mauretania
4. Gigantic

What or who gained international attention by taking a 24 day break in the middle of filming for a Kleenex television commercial on Benbecula in the Outer Hebrides in August 1980?
1. A sulphur-crested cockatoo
2. A wrestler
3. A bear
4. A drummer

The first phone call from a handheld cellular mobile phone was made on 3 April 1973 on what make of phone?
1. Motorola
2. Bell
3. Samsung
4. Nokia

While the Capital Punishment Amendment Act 1868 in the UK did not put an end to capital punishment it did do what?
1. Made capital punishment a penalty only for third strike offences
2. Ended the penalty of beheading and quartering those executed for treason
3. Established the right to a last cigarette before punishment
4. Ended executions in public

Except for two short breaks from 1494 to 1512 and 1527 to 1530, which merchant family effectively ruled Florence from the 14th century to 1737?
1. Medici
2. Florentine
3. Carpathian
4. Montague

What were Operation Storax, Operation Niblick, Operation Whetstone, Operation Flintlock and Operation Latchkey?
1. Allied operations in World War I
2. Allied operations in World War II
3. Nuclear test series carried out in the USA
4. International Boy Scout Jamborees

Who was the last British monarch to die in battle?
1. Henry V
2. Charles I
3. Richard III
4. Richard I

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Ancient and Modern History Trivia for November 24, 2025

Mon, 24 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +1300

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Who was crowned King of England in Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day, 1066?
1. William II
2. Harold Godwinson
3. Edgar the Atheling
4. William I

Who was the 11th and 12th century ruler of Georgia, celebrated by Georgians as their most successful, leading them out from Turkish domination, reuniting the country, and subsequently being canonised by the Georgian Orthodox Church?
1. Demetrius I
2. George II
3. David IV
4. Tamar the Great

Paro International Airport, commissioned in 1968 (initially as an airstrip), is the first and the only international airport in which country?
1. Tibet
2. Bhutan
3. Suriname
4. Nauru

Which monarch presided in Great Britain over the time of the French Revolution, Britain's loss of its American colonies, and two decisive defeats of the French?
1. Elizabeth I
2. George III
3. Victoria
4. Old King Cole

The version of Magna Carta accepted and authorised by King John of England at Runnymede was annulled shortly afterwards by Pope Innocent III; who then issued the version which survived to become the basis of much of modern Western law?
1. William III
2. Henry II
3. Edward I
4. Henry III

Under the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact what happened to Poland in 1939?
1. It was assimilated into Germany
2. It was partitioned, between Germany and the USSR
3. A caretaker German government was installed
4. It became a Soviet state

In 2023 and 2024 Finland and Sweden joined which international organisation?
1. European Space Agency
2. European Union (EU)
3. United Nations (UN)
4. North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)

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Ancient and Modern History Trivia for November 17, 2025

Mon, 17 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +1300

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When did Māori arrive in New Zealand?
1. 8th century CE
2. late 13th century CE
3. 2nd century BCE
4. 17th century CE

Which castle, when used as a prison for prisoners of war in World War II, was known as Oflag IV C?
1. Colditz
2. Versailles
3. Cassino
4. St Anthony

In 1972, when Ceylon became a republic within the Commonwealth, the name was changed to Sri Lanka. What does "Sri Lanka" mean in Sanskrit?
1. Water all around
2. Little country
3. Outstanding island
4. South of India

What century were the four major eruptions of Krakatoa, heard some 3,000 miles away and changing global weather patterns and temperatures for years?
1. 15th
2. 19th
3. 12th
4. 18th

According to Greek legend, who was the muse of Music?
1. Calliope
2. Clio
3. Euterpe
4. Urania

The Orkneyinga saga, the Flatey Book, the Chronicon Lethrense and the Gesta Danorum are mediaeval (and older) records of myths, legends and history of what land(s)?
1. The Isle of Avalon
2. Valhalla
3. Scandinavia, Iceland and the Orkney Isles
4. Asphodel Meadows

Which government banned the Ainu language, beginning in 1869?
1. Alexander II's government in Russia
2. The Fox government in New Zealand
3. The Folketing in Denmark
4. The Meiji government in Japan

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Ancient and Modern History Trivia for November 10, 2025

Mon, 10 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +1300

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Greek author Athenaeus of Naucratis reported who as using what appears to have been a dry dock in the 3rd century BCE?
1. A Phoenician designer
2. A Venetian ship builder
3. An Egyptian politician
4. A Chinese ship owner

When did the last naturally conceived Pyrenean ibex die, making the species extinct in the wild?
1. 1936
2. 1946
3. 2000
4. 1981

When was critical illness, or trauma, insurance first launched?
1. 1919
2. 1972
3. 1983
4. 1898

The men travelling as whose crew were the first known humans to reach and cross the Antarctic Circle in 1773?
1. Cabot
2. Magellan
3. Captain James Cook
4. Columbus

The Principality, later Kingdom, of Serbia formally became independent in 1878 of ...?
1. Rome
2. Great Britain
3. The Ottoman Empire
4. Russia

Which of these is a tragic heroine in Irish mythology?
1. Ydun
2. Flora
3. Deirdre
4. Demeter

Before the establishment of the World Trade Organisation in 1995, world trade was governed by what agreed rules?
1. GATT
2. APEC
3. ASEAN
4. SITPRO

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Ancient and Modern History Trivia for November 3, 2025

Mon, 03 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +1300

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The first recorded festivals in Japan, now called Hanami, were at the end of the 8th century and were to celebrate what?
1. The first day past midwinter
2. Solar eclipses
3. A new emperor
4. Blossoming

Which king of England was nicknamed Rufus?
1. Henry I
2. William I
3. William II
4. Henry II

On 13 August 1961 which of these was authorised in Europe?
1. Creation of the Central Bank of Iceland
2. The Fouchet Plan
3. Inclusion of a song about same sex love in the Eurovision Song Contest
4. The building of the Berlin Wall

What does a historiographer study?
1. The development in the re-writing of history
2. The writing of history, methods and sources used, and history as academic discipline
3. Qualifications and experience needed for writing reliable history
4. How the understanding of a history changes with changes in political landscape

When did the Holy Roman Empire cease to exist?
1. 1870
2. 1816
3. 1806
4. 1899

Where was the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles held?
1. St Paul's Cathedral
2. Westminster Abbey
3. Windsor Guildhall
4. Buckingham Palace

The first recorded sighting of the Australian mainland and landfall by a European was in 1606 by whom?
1. Arthur Phillip
2. William Dampier
3. James Cook
4. Willem Janszoon

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Ancient and Modern History Trivia for October 27, 2025

Mon, 27 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +1300

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In January 2019, China became the first nation to successfully land a spacecraft where?
1. On the Moon's dark side
2. Near the Moon's north pole
3. On Mars
4. On an asteroid

What did "la Conquête" and the Treaty of Paris in 1763 mean for Canada?
1. Britain ceded any claims over New France in Canada to France
2. France ceded sovereignty over Canada to Britain
3. Inuktitut was declared to be an official language
4. What is now Alaska was ceded to Russia

Glencoe, Praga, Peterloo, Waterloo Creek, and Hue are names given to what?
1. Music festivals
2. Battles
3. Massacres
4. University cities

What post did Gaius Julius Caesar hold at the time of his death?
1. Dictator of the Roman Republic and Consul of the Roman Republic
2. First emperor of Rome
3. Last king of Rome
4. Senior magistrate of the Roman Senate

What name was applied to the Chief Magistrate of the republics of Venice (from the 8th century) and Genoa (from the 14th century) until 1797?
1. Doge
2. Doze
3. Doggo
4. Dope

Vikings ruling East Slavic peoples in the 9th to the 12th centuries were known as what, which led to the name for which present country?
1. The Poles; Poland
2. The Rus; Russia
3. The Bulgurs; Bulgaria
4. The Kaz; Kazakhstan

On 31 May 1961 the government of which country declared it to be a Republic?
1. United Tanganyika and Zanzibar
2. The Dominion of New Zealand
3. Kingdom of Egypt
4. Union of South Africa

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Ancient and Modern History Trivia for October 20, 2025

Mon, 20 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +1300

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Which ship, the largest and fastest in the world, with steam turbine propulsion, then a revolutionary development in ocean liner design, was launched on 20 September 1906?
1. Mauretania
2. Great Britain
3. Titanic
4. Great Eastern

About how many million years ago is it thought that animal life forms evolved from amorphous to ones with front and back, top and bottom?
1. 1,200
2. 2,500
3. 700
4. 500

After about 1000 CE the population of the largely below sea-level Netherlands had grown to the point where, by 1250, people had built what along its shores into a continuous sea defence?
1. Megaliths
2. Henges
3. Dykes
4. Gun carriages

The Great Fire of London swept through the central parts of the English city of London in 1666 for about how long?
1. 3 and a half days
2. 4 hours
3. One week
4. 24 hours

Who was the first President of the French Fifth Republic?
1. Alain Poher
2. Georges Pompidou
3. Charles de Gaulle
4. Michel Debré

Peter Phillips, the only son of Princess Anne, the Princess Royal and her first husband, Captain Mark Phillips, and the eldest grandchild of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, married Autumn Kelly in 2008. Where did they meet?
1. Adelaide, Australia
2. Montreal, Quebec
3. Brands Hatch, England
4. Indianapolis, USA

The first train carrying fare-paying passengers was in 1807 and pulled by a horse along the Oystermouth (later called the Swansea-Mumbles) Railway. The next year saw the first train with fares pulled by what?
1. A steam engine, named Catch Me Who Can
2. A steam engine named Rocket
3. An engine powered by hydrogen
4. A six-horse team

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