100 Fun History Trivia Questions
Playing trivia is a great icebreaker game because even if you don't know the answer, it's always fun to guess - not to mention you can learn a lot by simply playing. These History trivia questions have been hand-selected and all serve as a great way to start getting into trivia.
If are a huge trivia fan and can't ever get enough, try challenging your friends or co-workers online. The multiple-choice format of trivia will let you just dive right in and start playing in seconds; no sign-up is required and is completely free. There's a wide range of categories and difficulties for you to choose from, so there's something for the beginner and veteran alike.
History Trivia Questions
Are you a fan of history trivia? Fancy yourself a bit of a history buff? Is your head filled with dates, names, and historical events that others have long forgotten? It's your time to shine, with our History Trivia questions.
The easiest way to host a History trivia quiz is through Trivia on Brightful. It's free, works on any device and there are no downloads necessary.
There's a scorekeeping system and it even keeps track of time for you. Try it out for free!
US History Trivia Questions
1. Q: TRUE or FALSE - The United States was a member of the League of Nations.
A: FALSE
2. Q: In what year did the North American Video Game Crash occur?
A: 1983
3. Q: TRUE or FALSE - United States President John F. Kennedy was assassinated during his presidential motorcade in Atlanta, Georgia on November 22nd, 1963.
A: FALSE
4. Q: What year was the United States Declaration of Independence signed?
A: 1776
5. Q: What was the bloodiest single-day battle during the American Civil War?
A: The Battle of Antietam
6. Q: The Fallingwater House, located in Pennsylvania, was designed by which architect?
A: Frank Lloyd Wright
7. Q: In what year did Kentucky become the 15th state to join the union?
A: 1792
8. Q: What was the original name of New York City?
A: New Amsterdam
9. Q: In 1961, an American B-52 aircraft crashed and nearly detonated two 4mt nuclear bombs over which US city?
A: Goldsboro, North Carolina
10. Q: In what year did Texas secede from Mexico?
A: 1836
11. Q: Which U.S. president took part in the Potsdam Conference, where the Allies reached a peace settlement with Germany?
A: Harry S. Truman
12. Q: What year was Barack Obama elected President of the United States?
A: 2008
13. Q: TRUE or FALSE - The man that shot Alexander Hamilton was named Aaron Burr.
A: TRUE
14. Q: Where was civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. born?
A: Atlanta, Georgia
15. Q: When did the Battle of Gettysburg take place?
A: July 1-3 1863
16. Q: What year was George H.W Bush elected president?
A: 1988
17. Q: What do the stripes on the American flag represent?
A: The 13 original colonies
18 .Q: Which state is the Liberty Bell located in?
A: Pennsylvania
19. Q: Which US president’s face is on the $1 (USD) bill?
A: George Washington
20. Q: True or false: US President Thomas Jefferson bought the state of Louisiana from France in 1803.
A: True
21. Q: What series of laws and labour agreements temporarily brought Mexican farmworkers to assist in the US war effort during the Second World War?
A: Bracero Program/Act
22. Q: What group of immigrants from England settled in the United States following their decision to break away from the Church of England?
A: Puritans
23. Q: True or False? Prohibition, which lasted between 1920-1933, was a nationwide ban on the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages.
A: True
24. Q: Which U.S President famously told Gorbachev to “tear down this wall.”?
A: Ronald Reagan
25. Q: True or false: Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company, created the world’s first-ever automobile: the Model T.
A: False
26. Q: Who served as president for the Confederacy (Confederate States)?
A: Jefferson Davis
27. Q: Which founding father of the United States has a critically acclaimed and famous Broadway musical about him? (Hint: Lin Manuel Miranda created the screenplay)
A: Alexander Hamilton
28. Q: What was the route across the US continent that many Americans used to travel to the West Coast during the 19th century?
A: The Oregon Trail
29. Q: What famous music festival took place in New York from August 15-18, 1969?
A: Woodstock
European History Trivia Questions
- Q: Where and when was the first cardboard box made for industrial use?
A: England, 1817
2. Q: Bohdan Khmelnytsky was which of the following?
A: Leader of the Ukrainian Cossacks
3. Q: When was the city of Rome, Italy founded?
A: 753 BCE
4. Q: In what year did the Berlin Wall fall?
A: 1989
5. Q: Which country was Josef Stalin born in?
A: Georgia
6. Q: What did the abbreviation RMS stand for in the RMS Titanic in 1912?
A: Royal Mail Ship
7. Q: Who was the first Chancellor of a united Germany in 1871?
A: Otto Von Bismark
8. Q: During the Wars of the Roses (1455 - 1487) which Englishman was dubbed the Kingmaker?
A: Richard Neville
9. Q: When did the Berlin Wall fall down?
A: 1994
10. Q: What year was the European Union founded?
A: 1993
11. Q: Which country had an Orange Revolution between 2004 and 2005?
A: Ukraine
12. Q: What prison did revolutionaries taking part in the French Revolution storm in 1789?
A: The Bastille
13. Q: What event led to the fall of the Russian monarchy and rise of Leninism?
A: The Russian Revolution
14. Q: What was the name of the constitutional republic that governed Germany post WW1, from 1919-1933?
A: Weimar Republic
15. Q: What is the birthplace of Napoleon?
A: Corsica
16. What city was destroyed by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius?
A: Pompeii
17. Q: Who was the first emperor of Rome?
A: Augustus Octavian
18. Q: A period of the French Revolution saw an unprecedented number of mass-executions in response to "revolutionary fervour, anticlerical sentiment, and accusations of treason" among the French population. What was this period (between 1793-94) called?
A: Reign of Terror
19. Q: During the Middle Ages, which group of people were considered the 'working class' and worked for lords who owned the land they lived on?
A: Peasants
20. Q: Between 1346 to 1353, a deadly virus known as Yersinia Pestis swept across parts of Eurasia, North Africa, and the European continent. What was this pandemic commonly referred to?
A: Black Death/The Plague
Ancient History Trivia Questions
- Q: Which American civilization is the source of the belief that the world would end or drastically change on December 21st, 2012?
A: The Mayans
2. Q: When Christopher Columbus sailed to America, what was the first region he arrived in?
A: The Bahamas Archipelago
3. Q: When was the People's Republic of China founded?
A: 1872
4. Q: What was the name commonly given to the ancient trade routes that connected the East and West of Eurasia?
A: Silk Road
5. Q: The Herero genocide was perpetrated in Africa by which of the following colonial nations?
A: Germany
6. Q: When did Canada leave the confederation to become their own nation?
A: July 1st, 1867
7. Q: What number does the Roman numeral D stand for?
A: 500
8. Q: What is the name of the ancient region in southwest Asia that is referred to today as the Middle East?
A: Mesopotamia
9. Q: What was the name of the military government that ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868?
A: Tokugawa [Edo] Shogunate
10. Q: When was Roman dictator Julius Caesar assasinated?
A: 15 March, 44 B.C
Modern History Trivia Questions
- Q: In which year did the Tokyo Subway Sarin Attack occur?
A: 1995
2. Q: What was the first sport to have been played on the moon?
A: Golf
3. Q: When did Jamaica receive its independence from England?
A: 1962
4. Q: How many manned moon landings have there been?
A: 6
5. Q: What year did the Cuban Missile Crisis occur?
A: 1962
6. Q: When was the supersonic jet Concorde retired fromall commercial flights?
A: October 24, 2003
7. Q: When did Hong Kong’s Chek Lap Kok International Airport open for service?
A: July 6, 1998
8. Q: What was the name of the conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for 20 years?
A: The Troubles
9. Q: What year saw the launch of the Nintendo Wii?
A: 2006
10. Q: Which World Cup did France host in 2007?
A: Rugby World Cup
11. Q: Which city hosted the 2008 summer Olympics?
A: Beijing
12. Q: What year was the Euro currency adopted by the European Union?
A: 2002
13. Q: What supercomputer defeated professional Chess player Garry Kasparov in 1997?
A: Deep Blue
14. Q: Between what years did Australia's 'Stolen Generations' occur?
A: 1905-1970
15. Q: When was the Ottman Empire officially dissolved?
A: November 1, 1922
War History Trivia Questions
- Q: Adolf Hitler was born on which date?
A: -3906
2. Q: What year did the Vietnam War end?
A: 1975
3. Q: Which countries were part of the Axis Powers in WW2?
A: Germany, Japan, and Italy
4. Q: Which countries represented the Allied Powers in WW2?
A: United States, United Kingdom, and Australia
5. Q: What event arguably led to the start of WWI?
A: Assasination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
6. Q: Which naval battle was considered the turning point of the Pacific Ocean Theater during World War 2?
A: Battle of Midway
7. Q: What historical event was Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture referencing?
A: The Napoleonic Wars
8. Q: Which one of these tanks was designed and operated by the United Kingdom?
A: Tog II
9. Q: During the Wars of the Roses (1455 - 1487) which Englishman was dubbed the Kingmaker?
A: Richard Neville
10. Q: What year did the Japanese armed forces attack Pearl Harbor?
A: 1941
11. Q: What year did HMS Dreadnought enter service under the Royal Navy?
A: 1906
12. Q: What First World War peace treaty was signed on June 28, 1919?
A: Treaty of Versailles
13. Q: When was the League of Nations founded, following the end of the First World War?
A: January 10, 1920
14. Q: Which popular children’s book author also penned political cartoons during WW2?
A: Dr. Seuss
15. Q: When was Poland invaded by Adolf Hitler?
A: September 1, 1939
16. Q: When did the Axis Powers surrender to the Allied Powers, marking the end of WW2?
A: May 7, 1945
17. Q: What was the codename for the project that led to the creation of the atomic bomb, two of which would be dropped on Japan in 1945?
A: Manhattan Project
18. Q: True or False: The Battle of the Coral Sea in 1942 prevented Japan from invading Australia
A: True
19. Q: When is Anzac Day celebrated in Australia and New Zealand?
A: April 25
20. Q: Which U.S President declared the Pearl Harbor attack a 'date which will live in infamy'?
A: Franklin D. Roosevelt
Slavery History Trivia Questions
- Q: Which US President officially declared that slavery in the United States was illegal?
A: Abraham Lincoln
2. Q: Which amendment in the US Constitution officially abolished slavery in the entire country?
A: The 13th Amendment
3. Q: Which African American woman laid the foundation for the ‘Underground Railroad’?
A: Harriet Tubman
4. Q: Which former slave stole a Confederate boat to escape slavery during the Civil War and went on to serve five terms in Congress as a representative of South Carolina?
A: Robert Smalls
5. Q: Between what years did the Civil War last?
A: 1861-1865
6. Q: True or False? The ‘Underground Railroad’ was an actual railway in operation when Slavery was legal.
A: False
7. Q: What was the name of the proclamation issued by President Lincoln in 1863, that officially declared all slaves were to be legally freed?
A: Emancipation Proclamation
8. Q: What was the name of the novel that former slave Solomon Northup wrote, describing his kidnapping and being forced into slavery in Louisiana?
A: Twelve Years a Slave
9. Q: Where did most of the slave population originate prior to their arrival in America?
A: Western Africa
10. Q: Approximately how many slaves were freed at the end of the Civil War?
A: 3.9 million
11. Q: When was the Slavery Abolition Act passed in Britain, freeing all slaves held in the country?
A: 1833
12. Q: Which country began trafficking African slaves as far back as the 1440s?
A: Portugal
13. Q: When was the 13th Amendment officially ratified into the U.S constitution?
A: January 31, 1865
14. Q: Which industry in the United States relied signficantly on slave labor?
A: Cotton Industry
15. Q: During President Lincoln's term, several Southern states seceded from the Union due to opposing views towards slavery. What were these independent states known as?
A: Confederate States of America
Further Reading
If you would like to read about some more trivia ideas, have a look at our other trivia blog posts below!
Hard General Knowledge Trivia Questions
Geography Trivia Questions
Trivia Categories - Questions and Answers