Trivia by topic

History: 50 questions from around the world

Empires, independence days, inventors and turning points. Each question says which country it is about.

Ukraine
Who wrote the book of poems Kobzar, published in 1840?
1. A. Taras Shevchenko
2. B. Lesya Ukrainka
3. C. Ivan Franko
4. D. Mykola Leontovych
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Taras Shevchenko. Taras Shevchenko, a poet and painter born into a family of serfs, published Kobzar in 1840. Mykola Leontovych was a composer.
Israel
Israel became a member of the United Nations in 1949.
True or false?
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True. True. Israel joined the United Nations on 11 May 1949 as its 59th member.
Ghana
Ghana became independent from France in 1957.
True or false?
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False. False. Ghana became independent from Britain. Its neighbours Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Togo were once French territories.
Hungary
Buda, Óbuda and Pest were officially united into one city called Budapest in 1873.
True or false?
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True. True. The three towns on the two banks of the Danube were united in 1873 and given the new name Budapest.
Austria
Austria was proclaimed a republic in November 1918, at the end of the First World War.
True or false?
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True. True. The republic was proclaimed in Vienna on 12 November 1918, the day after Emperor Karl I gave up his part in government.
Cuba
In which year did Christopher Columbus first reach Cuba?
1. A. 1492
2. B. 1511
3. C. 1519
4. D. 1588
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1492. Columbus sighted Cuba on 27 October 1492, during his first voyage, and landed the next day. Baracoa was founded in 1511 and Havana moved to its present site in 1519.
Slovakia
Alexander Dubček, the leader of the 1968 Prague Spring, was a Czech from Prague.
True or false?
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False. False. Dubček was a Slovak. He led Czechoslovakia's communist party and promised 'socialism with a human face' until the Warsaw Pact invasion of August 1968.
Bangladesh
On which date in 1971 did Pakistan's forces surrender in Dhaka, ending the Liberation War?
1. A. 26 March
2. B. 16 December
3. C. 21 February
4. D. 15 August
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16 December. Pakistan's forces surrendered in Dhaka on 16 December 1971, celebrated as Victory Day. Independence had been declared on 26 March 1971, and 21 February remembers the Language Movement of 1952.
North Macedonia
During the Ilinden Uprising of 1903, rebels declared a short-lived republic in which town?
1. A. Kruševo
2. B. Ohrid
3. C. Tetovo
4. D. Strumica
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Kruševo. The Kruševo Republic lasted from 3 to 13 August 1903, before Ottoman troops retook the town.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
On which day are the victims of the Srebrenica genocide remembered every year?
1. A. 11 July
2. B. 6 April
3. C. 1 March
4. D. 25 November
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11 July. 11 July. Since 2024 the United Nations also marks 11 July as an international day of remembrance for the Srebrenica genocide.
Sri Lanka
Under the Donoughmore Constitution of 1931, adult men and women in Ceylon were given the right to vote.
True or false?
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True. True. The 1931 constitution introduced universal adult suffrage; before it only about 4 percent of the population could vote.
India
In 2023 India became the first country to land a spacecraft on the Moon.
True or false?
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False. False. India was the fourth country to land softly on the Moon, but the first to land near its south pole, with Chandrayaan-3 on 23 August 2023.
Greece
Where were the first modern Olympic Games held, in 1896?
1. A. Olympia
2. B. Athens
3. C. Paris
4. D. London
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Athens. The 1896 Games took place in Athens, with the Panathenaic Stadium as the main venue. The ancient Games had been held at Olympia.
Italy
Rome was already part of the Kingdom of Italy when the kingdom was proclaimed in 1861.
True or false?
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False. False. Rome belonged to the Papal States until 1870. It joined the kingdom that year and became the capital in 1871.
China
The oldest known large body of Chinese writing, from about 1250 BC, was carved on what?
1. A. Ox bones and turtle shells
2. B. Bamboo strips
3. C. Silk scrolls
4. D. Clay tablets
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Ox bones and turtle shells. It was carved on ox bones and turtle shells. Shang kings used these oracle bones to ask questions of their ancestors, and many of the characters are still in use.
Türkiye
Which day do Australians and New Zealanders keep as Anzac Day, the anniversary of the Gallipoli landings of 1915?
1. A. 25 April
2. B. 11 November
3. C. 29 October
4. D. 6 June
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25 April. 25 April: Allied troops, including Australians and New Zealanders, landed at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915. 11 November is Armistice Day, 29 October is Turkish Republic Day and 6 June is D-Day.
New Zealand
Which city was the capital of New Zealand from 1841 until 1865?
1. A. Auckland
2. B. Christchurch
3. C. Dunedin
4. D. Nelson
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Auckland. Auckland was the capital from 1841. In 1865 Parliament moved to Wellington, which was more central.
Thailand
ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, was founded in Bangkok in 1967.
True or false?
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True. True. Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore signed the Bangkok Declaration on 8 August 1967.
Sweden
Sweden's National Day, 6 June, remembers which event?
1. A. Gustav Vasa's election as king in 1523
2. B. The founding of Stockholm in 1252
3. C. The end of the union with Norway in 1905
4. D. Sweden joining the European Union in 1995
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Gustav Vasa's election as king in 1523. Gustav Vasa's election as king in 1523, on 6 June, which ended Sweden's part in the Kalmar Union. The day also marks the constitutions adopted on 6 June 1809 and 1974.
Malaysia
Brunei joined Malaysia when it was formed in 1963.
True or false?
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False. False. Brunei took part in the talks but decided not to join, so Malaysia was formed from Malaya, Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak.
Dominican Republic
The United States occupied the Dominican Republic from 1916 to 1934.
True or false?
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False. False. The US occupation lasted from 1916 to 1924.
Oman
Which country bought the port of Gwadar from Oman in 1958?
1. A. Pakistan
2. B. India
3. C. Iran
4. D. The United Kingdom
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Pakistan. Pakistan bought Gwadar on 8 September 1958, after almost two centuries of rule from Muscat.
Ireland
What destroyed the potato crop and caused the Great Famine of 1845 to 1852?
1. A. Potato blight, a plant disease
2. B. A long drought
3. C. A plague of locusts
4. D. A great earthquake
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Potato blight, a plant disease. Potato blight, a plant disease, rotted the potato crop year after year. About one million people died and more than a million emigrated.
Algeria
Tamazight was recognised as a national language in 2002, before it became an official language.
True or false?
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True. True. Tamazight became a national language in 2002 and an official language, alongside Arabic, in 2016.
Morocco
The Treaty of Fes of 1912 made most of Morocco a protectorate of which country?
1. A. France
2. B. Britain
3. C. Italy
4. D. Germany
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France. France took control of most of Morocco under the Treaty of Fes, and later in 1912 Spain received a zone in the north. The French moved the capital to Rabat.
Slovenia
The war that followed Slovenia's declaration of independence lasted about three years.
True or false?
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False. False. It is called the Ten-Day War because it lasted only about ten days, from 27 June to 7 July 1991.
Finland
Women in Finland first won the right to vote after independence in 1917.
True or false?
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False. False. Women won the vote in 1906, while Finland was still a Grand Duchy. It was the first place in Europe where all adult women could vote, and 19 women were elected to parliament in 1907.
Poland
At the Battle of Grunwald in 1410, Poland and Lithuania defeated which enemy?
1. A. The Teutonic Knights
2. B. The Ottoman Empire
3. C. The Swedish army
4. D. The Mongols
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The Teutonic Knights. The Teutonic Knights were crushed at Grunwald on 15 July 1410 by King Władysław II Jagiełło and Grand Duke Vytautas. The Order never recovered its former power.
Uganda
In 1972 Idi Amin ordered Uganda's Asian minority to leave the country within 90 days.
True or false?
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True. True. In August 1972 Amin gave Uganda's Asians, most of them of Indian origin, 90 days to leave. Many settled in Britain, and some families returned years later.
Uruguay
Who is honoured in Uruguay as the national hero and Father of the Nation?
1. A. José Gervasio Artigas
2. B. José Batlle y Ordóñez
3. C. Juan Díaz de Solís
4. D. Bruno Mauricio de Zabala
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José Gervasio Artigas. José Gervasio Artigas led the fight against Spanish rule and is called the Father of the Nation. His remains lie under his statue in Plaza Independencia.
Ecuador
The government set up in Quito on 10 August 1809 lasted for about twenty years.
True or false?
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False. False. It lasted only about two months, but it inspired the independence movements of Spanish America.
Zimbabwe
The Kariba Dam was built across the Limpopo River.
True or false?
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False. False. The Kariba Dam stands on the Zambezi, on the border with Zambia. The Limpopo forms the border with South Africa.
Mexico
Maximilian, who reigned as Emperor of Mexico from 1864 to 1867, belonged to which European royal family?
1. A. The Bourbons
2. B. The Bonapartes
3. C. The Habsburgs
4. D. The Tudors
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The Habsburgs. Maximilian belonged to the Habsburgs, the ruling family of Austria: he was an archduke and the younger brother of Emperor Franz Joseph. France's Napoleon III helped put him on the throne, but Maximilian was not a Bonaparte.
Bulgaria
Bulgaria's national holiday on 3 March marks the Treaty of San Stefano of 1878.
True or false?
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True. True. The Treaty of San Stefano, signed on 3 March 1878 after the Russo-Turkish War, created a Bulgarian principality. The day is now Liberation Day.
Tunisia
Which treaty made Tunisia a French protectorate in 1881?
1. A. The Treaty of Bardo
2. B. The Treaty of Fes
3. C. The Treaty of Versailles
4. D. The Treaty of Utrecht
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The Treaty of Bardo. The Treaty of Bardo, signed on 12 May 1881 by the bey Muhammad as-Sadiq, made Tunisia a French protectorate. The Treaty of Fes did the same for Morocco in 1912.
Brazil
Brazil was an empire, with its own emperors, until 1889.
True or false?
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True. True. After independence Brazil was an empire under Pedro I and Pedro II. On 15 November 1889 a military coup deposed Pedro II and Brazil became a republic.
Norway
In the referendum of August 1905, a large majority of Norwegian voters supported ending the union with Sweden.
True or false?
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True. True. 368,208 voted yes and only 184 voted no, and Sweden accepted the separation peacefully.
Armenia
According to tradition, who converted King Tiridates III to Christianity?
1. A. Gregory the Illuminator
2. B. Mesrop Mashtots
3. C. Vardan Mamikonian
4. D. Argishti I
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Gregory the Illuminator. Gregory the Illuminator converted the king, after being held, as tradition says, for 13 years in a pit at Khor Virap. He is Armenia's patron saint.
Germany
In which city did Johannes Gutenberg print his famous Bible in the 1450s?
1. A. Mainz
2. B. Wittenberg
3. C. Leipzig
4. D. Hamburg
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Mainz. Gutenberg printed his Bible with movable metal type in Mainz, and the first copies were ready by 1455.
Peru
Peru's national holiday, Fiestas Patrias, is celebrated on 28 and 29 July.
True or false?
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True. True. It remembers 28 July 1821, when José de San Martín declared Peru's independence in Lima.
Georgia
Which king founded Gelati Monastery and won the Battle of Didgori?
1. A. David IV
2. B. Bagrat III
3. C. Heraclius II
4. D. Vakhtang I
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David IV. David IV, known as David the Builder, founded Gelati in 1106 and defeated the Seljuks at Didgori in 1121.
South Africa
What were the school students of Soweto marching against on 16 June 1976?
1. A. Being forced to learn in Afrikaans
2. B. Higher bus fares
3. C. The closing of the gold mines
4. D. A ban on football matches
Show the answer
Being forced to learn in Afrikaans. They were marching against being forced to learn in Afrikaans. Police opened fire, and 16 June is now Youth Day.
Costa Rica
How was the building of the National Theatre in San José paid for?
1. A. With a tax on coffee
2. B. With gold from Spanish mines
3. C. With a gift from the King of Spain
4. D. With money from the Panama Canal
Show the answer
With a tax on coffee. The theatre was paid for with a tax on coffee, the country's main export at the time. It opened on 21 October 1897.
France
The 2024 Games were the first Summer Olympics ever held in Paris.
True or false?
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False. False. Paris had already hosted the Summer Olympics in 1900 and 1924, so 2024 was its third time.
Pakistan
Who became prime minister of Pakistan in 1988, the first woman elected to head a democratic government in a Muslim-majority country?
1. A. Fatima Jinnah
2. B. Benazir Bhutto
3. C. Malala Yousafzai
4. D. Indira Gandhi
Show the answer
Benazir Bhutto. Benazir Bhutto became prime minister in 1988 at 35 and served twice. Indira Gandhi led India, and Fatima Jinnah, the founder's sister, never held that office.
Senegal
In 1677 France captured the island of Gorée from which country?
1. A. The Netherlands
2. B. Spain
3. C. Denmark
4. D. Sweden
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The Netherlands. The Netherlands. A French fleet took Gorée from the Dutch in 1677. Apart from a few periods of British occupation, it stayed French until independence.
Colombia
What set off the Bogotazo riots of 9 April 1948?
1. A. The murder of the Liberal leader Jorge Eliécer Gaitán
2. B. The separation of Panama
3. C. An earthquake in Bogotá
4. D. The death of Simón Bolívar
Show the answer
The murder of the Liberal leader Jorge Eliécer Gaitán. The murder of the Liberal leader Jorge Eliécer Gaitán in Bogotá set off the riots, which destroyed much of the city centre.
Australia
The 1967 referendum gave Aboriginal people the right to vote in federal elections.
True or false?
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False. False, although this is often said. All Aboriginal people could already choose to vote in federal elections from 1962. The 1967 referendum, approved by 90.77 percent of voters, let the federal Parliament make laws for Aboriginal people and counted them in the national population.
Vietnam
How did Ngô Quyền destroy the Southern Han fleet at the Bạch Đằng River in 938?
1. A. With iron-tipped stakes hidden in the riverbed
2. B. With a fleet of war elephants on rafts
3. C. By blocking the river with a stone dam
4. D. By waiting for a typhoon to sink the ships
Show the answer
With iron-tipped stakes hidden in the riverbed. With iron-tipped stakes hidden in the riverbed: when the tide fell, the ships were caught on them. The victory ended about a thousand years of Chinese rule.
Serbia
Serbia's Statehood Day, 15 February, recalls the first Serbian constitution of 1835.
True or false?
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True. True. The first constitution was adopted in Kragujevac on 15 February 1835. Statehood Day also marks the start of the First Serbian Uprising on the same date in 1804.