History Quiz Questions and Answers

50 history questions with answers: ancient worlds, great thinkers, inventions and firsts from every continent.

50 questions · tap “Show answer” under each one · Answer key

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History Quiz for KidsHistory · Worldwide · 10 questions

Which civilization's calendar famously ended a long cycle in 2012?
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The Maya
Some people wrongly read it as a prediction of the end of the world. Source
Which empire built a road network over 30,000 km long in the Andes?
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The Inca
It's called the Qhapaq Ñan. Source
Which Greek philosopher taught Alexander the Great?
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Aristotle
Aristotle had been a student of Plato. Source
Which ancient Greek is called the 'father of medicine'?
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Hippocrates
Doctors' Hippocratic Oath is named after him. Source
Who is said to have shouted 'Eureka!' in his bath?
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Archimedes
'Eureka' means 'I have found it' in Greek. Source
What was the Hanseatic League?
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A league of trading cities
It linked ports around the Baltic and North Seas. Source
What is the city once called Constantinople called today?
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Istanbul
It stands on both sides of the Bosphorus strait. Source
What was the Black Death of the 1300s?
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A plague pandemic
It killed between a third and a half of Europe's people. Source
Which ancient people made the giant Nazca Lines in Peru?
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The Nazca
Many of the drawings are best seen from the air. Source
What was the name of the first mammal cloned from an adult cell, in 1996?
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Dolly
Dolly was a sheep, born in Scotland. Source
Who was the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, in 2004?
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Wangari Maathai
The Kenyan's Green Belt Movement planted over 50 million trees. Source
Who was the first woman to earn a medical degree in the US, in 1849?
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Elizabeth Blackwell
She later opened a hospital for women and children in New York. Source

What was the Code of Hammurabi, from ancient Babylon?
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A set of laws
It was carved on a stone pillar about 3,700 years ago. Source
Which Chinese thinker's sayings are collected in the 'Analects'?
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Confucius
His followers wrote the sayings down after his death. Source
Persepolis was a capital of which ancient empire?
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The Persian Empire
Its ruins are in southern Iran. Source
On which ship did Charles Darwin sail around the world?
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HMS Beagle
The voyage, from 1831 to 1836, shaped his ideas on evolution. Source
Which inventor is known for alternating current and the Tesla coil?
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Nikola Tesla
The SI unit of magnetic flux density is named after him. Source
What did Louis Pasteur develop to make milk safer to drink?
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Pasteurization
Heating milk briefly kills most harmful germs. Source
Which city hosted the first Olympic Games in Asia, in 1964?
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Tokyo
Tokyo hosted the Summer Olympics again in 2021. Source
Which city hosted the first Olympic Games in South America, in 2016?
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Rio de Janeiro
More than 11,000 athletes took part. Source
What was Concorde?
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A supersonic passenger jet
It could fly from London to New York in about three and a half hours. Source
Which country opened the first high-speed 'bullet train' line, in 1964?
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Japan
The Shinkansen linked Tokyo and Osaka. Source
The ancient city of Carthage is in which present-day country?
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Tunisia
Its ruins lie near the capital, Tunis. Source
Which city in Mali was a famous center of learning with great libraries?
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Timbuktu
Its old manuscripts number in the hundreds of thousands. Source
The ancient city of Aksum, with its giant stone obelisks, is in which country?
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Ethiopia
Aksum was the center of a powerful trading kingdom. Source

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Which ancient kingdom built pyramids in present-day Sudan?
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Kush
Its rulers once also ruled Egypt as pharaohs. Source
The Gupta Empire's time is often called India's what?
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Golden Age
Science, maths and the arts flourished then. Source
Which Indian mathematician calculated pi to four decimal places around 499?
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Aryabhata
India's first satellite, launched in 1975, was named after him. Source
Which self-taught Indian mathematician worked with G. H. Hardy at Cambridge?
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Srinivasa Ramanujan
1729 is called the Hardy–Ramanujan number. Source
Which Indian physicist won the 1930 Nobel Prize for discovering how light scatters?
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C. V. Raman
India celebrates National Science Day on the date of his discovery. Source
Who was the first African to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, in 1986?
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Wole Soyinka
The Nigerian is a playwright, poet and novelist. Source
Which people built Angkor Wat?
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The Khmer
Its towers appear on Cambodia's flag. Source
Who was the first Roman emperor?
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Augustus
Julius Caesar was never officially emperor. Source
What were Viking ships called?
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Longships
Their shallow hulls could sail up rivers. Source
In which city is the Forbidden City palace?
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Beijing
It was home to China's emperors for about 500 years. Source
What did the Inca use to keep records?
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Knotted strings
These strings are called quipu. Source
Which ancient wonder was the tallest building in the world for nearly 4,000 years?
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The Great Pyramid of Giza
It was about 146 m tall when built. Source

Which empire built the city of Hampi in southern India?
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The Vijayanagara Empire
Its ruins are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Source
Which ancient people created an alphabet that many later alphabets grew from?
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The Phoenicians
The Greek and Latin alphabets grew from it. Source
Which ancient kingdom in present-day Turkey made some of the first coins?
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Lydia
Its coins were made of electrum, a mix of gold and silver. Source
The famous Gold Rush of 1849 took place in which US state?
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California
The gold seekers were called 'forty-niners'. Source
Which Persian scholar wrote 'The Canon of Medicine'?
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Avicenna (Ibn Sina)
It was used to teach medicine for about 500 years. Source
Whose name gave us the word 'algorithm'?
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Al-Khwarizmi
The word 'algebra' comes from the title of his book. Source
Which Italian mathematician helped bring Hindu-Arabic numerals to Europe in 1202?
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Fibonacci
The Fibonacci sequence is named after him. Source
Which ancient Greek mathematician is called the 'father of geometry'?
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Euclid
His book 'Elements' was used to teach maths for over 2,000 years. Source
Which Chinese invention was first used in fireworks?
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Gunpowder
Chinese alchemists discovered it around the 800s. Source
In which city were the first Paralympic Games held, in 1960?
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Rome
About 400 athletes from 23 countries took part. Source
Who was the first woman to climb Mount Everest, in 1975?
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Junko Tabei
The Japanese climber later reached the highest peak on every continent. Source
What is often called the oldest great work of literature, from Mesopotamia?
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The Epic of Gilgamesh
Parts of it were written on clay tablets. Source
Which Chinese dynasty built most of the Great Wall we see today?
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The Ming
The Ming rebuilt it in brick and stone. Source

Answer key

The Maya
The Inca
Aristotle
Hippocrates
Archimedes
A league of trading cities
Istanbul
A plague pandemic
The Nazca
Dolly
Wangari Maathai
Elizabeth Blackwell
A set of laws
Confucius
The Persian Empire
HMS Beagle
Nikola Tesla
Pasteurization
Tokyo
Rio de Janeiro
A supersonic passenger jet
Japan
Tunisia
Timbuktu
Ethiopia
Kush
Golden Age
Aryabhata
Srinivasa Ramanujan
C. V. Raman
Wole Soyinka
The Khmer
Augustus
Longships
Beijing
Knotted strings
The Great Pyramid of Giza
The Vijayanagara Empire
The Phoenicians
Lydia
California
Avicenna (Ibn Sina)
Al-Khwarizmi
Fibonacci
Euclid
Gunpowder
Rome
Junko Tabei
The Epic of Gilgamesh
The Ming