History quiz questions and answers

Free history questions with answers from the ancient world to the twentieth century, pitched so the round is not won by whoever did the A-level.

Last reviewed 14 September 2026

How to use this round

History is the round most likely to feel like school, and that is a writing problem rather than a subject problem. A history round built from things people have actually encountered, such as wars, monarchs and famous firsts, plays completely differently from one built from a syllabus.

Mix the periods. Ancient, medieval and twentieth century in the same round means no table is shut out by not knowing one era.

Dates are the hardest part of the category for most rooms. Two date questions in a round of ten is plenty, and a nearest-wins format for those two is kinder than a straight answer.

Easy

Events and people almost every table will have heard of. A history round should always open here.

1
In which year did the Second World War end?
Answer: 1945
2
Who was the first man to walk on the Moon?
Answer: Neil Armstrong
3
Which ancient civilisation built the pyramids at Giza?
Answer: The Egyptians
4
Who was the first Queen Elizabeth's father?
Answer: Henry VIII
5
In which year did the Titanic sink?
Answer: 1912
6
Which wall divided a German city until 1989?
Answer: The Berlin Wall
7
Who was the leader of Nazi Germany?
Answer: Adolf Hitler
8
In which country did the Renaissance begin?
Answer: Italy
9
How many wives did Henry VIII have?
Answer: Six
10
Which empire was ruled from Rome?
Answer: The Roman Empire
11
Who led the Indian independence movement through non-violent resistance?
Answer: Mahatma Gandhi
12
In which century did the French Revolution begin?
Answer: The eighteenth

Medium

The body of a history round: events with a bit more specificity, spread across periods.

13
In which year did the Battle of Hastings take place?
Answer: 1066
14
Who was the first President of the United States?
Answer: George Washington
15
Which treaty formally ended the First World War?
Answer: The Treaty of Versailles
16
Who was the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom?
Answer: Margaret Thatcher
17
In which year did the Chernobyl disaster occur?
Answer: 1986
18
Which civilisation was ruled by Montezuma?
Answer: The Aztecs
19
What was the name of the ship on which Charles Darwin sailed?
Answer: HMS Beagle
20
In which year did the Great Fire of London take place?
Answer: 1666
21
Which country did Simón Bolívar help liberate from Spanish rule?
Answer: Several, including Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia
22
Who was the last Tsar of Russia?
Answer: Nicholas II
23
In which year did India gain independence from Britain?
Answer: 1947
24
Which document did King John seal at Runnymede in 1215?
Answer: Magna Carta

Hard

For a tie-break, or one or two placed late in a round.

25
Which battle in 1815 ended the Napoleonic Wars?
Answer: Waterloo
26
Who was the first Holy Roman Emperor?
Answer: Charlemagne
27
In which year did the Spanish Armada sail against England?
Answer: 1588
28
What was the name of the peace conference that redrew Europe after Napoleon?
Answer: The Congress of Vienna
29
Which Egyptian queen was the last active ruler of the Ptolemaic Kingdom?
Answer: Cleopatra VII
30
In which year was the Magna Carta sealed?
Answer: 1215
31
Which war was fought between 1337 and 1453?
Answer: The Hundred Years' War
32
Who was the Carthaginian general who crossed the Alps with elephants?
Answer: Hannibal
33
What was the name of the first artificial satellite launched into orbit?
Answer: Sputnik 1
34
Which English king was killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field?
Answer: Richard III

Making a history round less like homework

Ask what happened rather than when it happened. 'Which king was killed at Bosworth' is a question about a story; 'in what year was the Battle of Bosworth' is a question about a number, and only one of those is fun to get right.

Use nearest-wins for dates. Every table stays in it, nobody feels stupid, and the answers are more interesting because the near misses are visible.

Local history is the best round you can write

A history round about the town, about the building the pub is in, what the street was called and what closed in 1987, is the single most popular round most venues ever run.

It cannot be looked up quickly, it cannot be bought, and the regulars will argue about it for the rest of the night. It takes an hour in a local library or archive and it is worth every minute.

Write your local history round

Custom packs are where a round like that lives, and they are reusable every year once you have written one.

Start free, no card needed