Quiz Category · History
History
Ancient civilizations through to the modern era.
Travel through time with questions on major events, figures, and turning points across world history.
The history catalogue is mostly world history. Ancient civilisations (Egypt, Greece, Rome, Mesopotamia, the Maya), the medieval world, the Renaissance and the age of exploration, the American, French and Russian revolutions, the two World Wars and the Cold War make up the bulk of it. Indian history appears, but only in a small share of questions; for Indian history as exam practice, the competitive exams category covers it in more depth. Easy rounds ask for the names and dates a school textbook puts in bold. Medium rounds expect a sense of cause and consequence: what a treaty settled, what a battle decided. Hard rounds get more specific, with emperors, dynasties, battles and less famous turning points. The sample questions below come with a short note on each answer.
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10 questions per round23 history questions with answers
Across easy, medium and hard · reveal each answer to check yourself-
01 Who was the first President of the United States? easy
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The correct answer is B. George Washington.
George Washington, inaugurated in 1789 and serving two terms. His decision to step down rather than continue set the two-term precedent that held until Franklin Roosevelt, and was later written into the 22nd Amendment.
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02 In which year did Christopher Columbus discover America? easy
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The correct answer is A. 1492.
Columbus reached the Caribbean in 1492 — though 'discover' overstates it. The Americas had been populated for millennia, and Norse settlers under Leif Erikson reached Newfoundland around the year 1000, roughly five centuries earlier.
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03 What ancient wonder was located in Egypt? easy
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The correct answer is C. Great Pyramid of Giza.
The Great Pyramid of Giza, built around 2560 BC. It is the oldest of the seven ancient wonders and the only one still standing.
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04 Who was known as the 'Iron Lady'? easy
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The correct answer is B. Margaret Thatcher.
Margaret Thatcher, British Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990. The nickname came from a Soviet newspaper intending it as an insult; she adopted it deliberately.
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05 What year did World War I begin? easy
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The correct answer is B. 1914.
1914, following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo that June. A web of alliances turned a regional crisis into a continental war within about five weeks.
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06 Who built the famous Taj Mahal? easy
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The correct answer is B. Shah Jahan.
The Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, as a mausoleum for his wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died in 1631. Construction took roughly two decades, and he was later deposed by his own son and imprisoned within sight of it.
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07 What was the name of the ship that brought the Pilgrims to America? easy
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The correct answer is B. Mayflower.
The Mayflower, which crossed in 1620 with about 102 passengers. It was aiming for the Hudson River and missed, landing instead at Cape Cod.
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08 Which empire was ruled by Julius Caesar? easy
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The correct answer is B. Roman Empire.
Rome — though strictly Caesar never ruled an empire. He was dictator of the Roman Republic; the Empire proper began under his adopted heir Augustus, after Caesar's assassination in 44 BC.
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09 What was the name of the treaty that ended World War I? medium
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The correct answer is A. Treaty of Versailles.
The Treaty of Versailles, signed in 1919. Its reparations terms are widely argued to have destabilised Germany's economy and contributed to the conditions that produced the next war.
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10 What year did the French Revolution begin? medium
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The correct answer is B. 1789.
1789, conventionally dated from the storming of the Bastille on 14 July — a prison holding only seven inmates at the time, but a potent symbol of royal authority.
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11 Who was the Egyptian queen famous for her relationship with Julius Caesar? medium
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The correct answer is C. Cleopatra.
Cleopatra VII, the last active ruler of Ptolemaic Egypt. She was Macedonian Greek by descent rather than Egyptian, and reportedly the first of her dynasty to learn the Egyptian language.
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12 What was the name of the period of European history between ancient and modern times? medium
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The correct answer is B. Middle Ages.
The Middle Ages, roughly the 5th to the 15th century. The term was coined later by Renaissance scholars who saw themselves as reviving antiquity after an interruption.
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13 Who invented the printing press? medium
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The correct answer is B. Johannes Gutenberg.
Johannes Gutenberg, around 1440. Movable type already existed in China and Korea; Gutenberg's advance was the combination of metal type, oil-based ink and a screw press adapted from winemaking.
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14 What empire was Genghis Khan the founder of? medium
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The correct answer is B. Mongol Empire.
The Mongol Empire, which by the time of his death in 1227 was expanding toward what would become the largest contiguous land empire in history.
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15 In which battle did Napoleon suffer his final defeat? medium
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The correct answer is C. Battle of Waterloo.
Waterloo, in June 1815, against British and Prussian forces under Wellington and Blücher. It ended the Hundred Days that followed his escape from exile on Elba.
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16 What year did the Battle of Hastings take place? hard
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The correct answer is A. 1066.
1066. William of Normandy's victory over Harold Godwinson replaced England's ruling class within a generation and pushed thousands of French words into English.
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17 Who was the Byzantine Emperor during the Nika Riots? hard
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The correct answer is B. Justinian I.
Justinian I, in 532. The riots nearly ended his reign — he was reportedly preparing to flee before Empress Theodora talked him out of it — and the destruction cleared the way for building the Hagia Sophia.
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18 What was the name of the treaty that divided the New World between Spain and Portugal? hard
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The correct answer is A. Treaty of Tordesillas.
The Treaty of Tordesillas, 1494, which drew a meridian through the Atlantic. It is why Brazil speaks Portuguese while the rest of South America speaks Spanish.
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19 Who was the first Holy Roman Emperor? hard
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The correct answer is B. Charlemagne.
Charlemagne, crowned by Pope Leo III on Christmas Day in the year 800. His contemporaries called it a restoration of the Roman Empire in the west.
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20 What year did the Opium Wars begin in China? hard
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The correct answer is A. 1839.
1839, when Qing officials destroyed British opium stocks at Canton. The resulting defeat forced open Chinese ports and ceded Hong Kong to Britain.
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21 Who led the Meiji Restoration in Japan? hard
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The correct answer is A. Emperor Meiji.
Emperor Meiji, whose accession in 1868 returned power from the Tokugawa shogunate to the imperial court and began a rapid programme of industrialisation and Western-style reform.
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22 What was the name of the Athenian statesman who led during the Golden Age? hard
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The correct answer is B. Pericles.
Pericles, dominant in Athens from around 461 to 429 BC. He expanded democratic participation and commissioned the building programme that produced the Parthenon.
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23 Which dynasty built the Forbidden City in China? hard
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The correct answer is C. Ming Dynasty.
The Ming, who completed it in 1420 under the Yongle Emperor. It housed twenty-four emperors across the Ming and Qing dynasties before the last one left in 1924.
The full history pool runs to 323 questions — 101–114 questions per difficulty across easy, medium and hard. Each round you play is shuffled fresh, so the same ten never come up twice in a row. Pick a difficulty above to start a timed round, or scroll on for related categories.
Frequently asked questions
About the history quiz- What time periods does the history quiz cover?
- From ancient civilisations through the medieval and early modern periods to the 20th century. The World Wars, revolutions and major empires feature most.
- Is the history quiz India-focused or global?
- Mostly global. Indian history appears in a small share of questions; the competitive exams category has more on it.
- Are dates the focus, or events and figures?
- Both. Landmark dates appear, but many questions ask about the people, causes and outcomes of events instead.
- Is it useful for exam preparation?
- As general revision, yes. It isn't written to any syllabus, so pair it with your course materials.