History Quiz

Journey through time with questions about civilizations and pivotal moments.

From Persia’s renaming in 1935 to Magellan’s crossing and the Cold War arms race. European history is present but does not dominate: the theme is global and spans antiquity to the twentieth century.

1000+ questions in this theme

20 of them, with the answers

The questions, with answers

1. Which country was known as Persia until 1935?

   AnswerIran

2. Which English king was born in Pembroke Castle, Wales in 1457?

   AnswerHenry VII

3. World War one broke out in 1914 but the US did not enter the war as a belligerent until what year?

   Answer1917

4. Franklin Sousley, Harlon Block, and Michael Strank, who were immortalized in an iconic photo by Joe Rosenthal, were killed during what WWII battle?

   AnswerBattle of Iwo Jima

5. Edo was an important Japanese city and capital of the Tokugawa shogunate. Under what name is it known nowadays?

   AnswerTokyo

6. Cardinal Richelieu, the bad guy in many of the works of Dumas, was a brilliant minister for which king?

   AnswerLouis XIII

7. What did the Byzantine empresses do in the Purple Chamber?

   AnswerGive Birth

8. What was the first attack in the Pacific Campaign, launched by the US forces on an island occupied by the Japanese?

   AnswerThe Battle of Guadalcanal

9. How long was the Hundred Years War?

   Answer116 years

10. King Edward VIII abdicated the English throne for the woman I love. He later became the Gouverneur of what land?

    AnswerThe Bahamas

11. What city-state was the primary rival of Athens during the Peloponnesian war of 431 BC?

    AnswerSparta

12. Who was the Seleucid king who fought against the Ptolemies over control of Judea in the Maccabean revolt?

    AnswerAntiochus IV Epiphanes

13. What war did the Treaty of Paris, signed in 1763, end?

    AnswerThe Seven Years War

14. What was the name of the alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria?

    AnswerThe Central Powers

15. What was Mata Hari’s birth name?

    AnswerMargaretha Gertruida Zelle

16. Which of Alexander the Great’s generals became ruler of Egypt after Alexander’s death and took the title of pharaoh?

    AnswerPtolemy

17. The actual building of the Titanic took place at what shipyard?

    AnswerHarland and Wolff

18. Under what ruler was Christianity officially acknowledged in the Roman Empire?

    AnswerConstantine I

19. How many workers were recruited to build the Taj Mahal?

    AnswerAbout 20,000 workers

20. Which Greek god was the god of the Sun?

    AnswerHelios