Empires, treaties, revolutions and the stories behind them.
About this quiz
This History Quiz spans thousands of years, from the pyramids and Roman emperors to medieval battles, the world wars and the end of the Soviet Union. Expect revolutions on several continents, treaties and peace deals, empires that rose and fell, and the politics behind it all: ideologies, parliaments and the leaders who founded new states.
Between the big dates sit stranger stories: an unusual army recruit, the true history of the Pony Express and a tiny territory that two neighbors ruled together for a century. Play 10 questions against a 20-second clock and read the fact after each one to see how the pieces fit.
Try a few questions
Tap an answer to check it, or open the answer underneath.
At Christmas 1914, soldiers along parts of the Western Front briefly did what?
- Climbed out of the trenches and met the enemy
- Refused to eat their rations
- Burned their uniforms
- Marched home without orders
Answer: Climbed out of the trenches and met the enemy
Did you know? Men swapped tobacco and buttons, sang carols and buried their dead in no man's land, and in places kicked a football about. Commanders on both sides made sure it never happened on that scale again.
The 1918 pandemic is called 'Spanish flu' for what reason?
- A Spanish doctor first described it
- It began in Madrid
- Spanish troops carried it to France
- Spain reported it openly while countries at war censored the news
Answer: Spain reported it openly while countries at war censored the news
Did you know? Spain was neutral, so its newspapers printed the death tolls that Britain, France and Germany were suppressing for morale. The virus most likely began elsewhere, with Kansas and northern France among the candidates.
Which country did Iraq invade in August 1990, triggering the Gulf War?
- Jordan
- Saudi Arabia
- Kuwait
- Iran
Answer: Kuwait
Did you know? Saddam Hussein's forces overran Kuwait within days and annexed it. A US-led coalition authorised by the United Nations drove the Iraqi army out in early 1991 in Operation Desert Storm.
In the Cod Wars with Britain (1958–76), what was the Icelandic coastguard's signature weapon?
- Submarines that shadowed trawlers
- Fighter jets that buzzed trawlers
- Sea mines laid on the fishing banks
- Cutters that sliced trawlers' nets
Answer: Cutters that sliced trawlers' nets
Did you know? Brought in during the 1972–73 dispute, the cutters were towed behind patrol vessels to sever the trawl wires of foreign boats, sending costly nets and catches to the seabed. Ships also rammed each other, yet only one death was confirmed, and in the end Iceland won the wide fishing zone it had claimed.
Which US president signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964?
- Dwight Eisenhower
- Richard Nixon
- Lyndon B. Johnson
- John F. Kennedy
Answer: Lyndon B. Johnson
Did you know? Johnson, a Texan who had previously opposed civil rights measures, pushed the landmark act through Congress as a tribute to the assassinated JFK, famously declaring he was handing the South to Republicans for a generation.
The term 'pork barrel politics' refers to what?
- Cross-party compromise deals
- Spending directed at a politician's district to gain votes
- Lobbying by agricultural interests
- Corruption in the meat industry
Answer: Spending directed at a politician's district to gain votes
Did you know? The term dates to pre-Civil War America, when salt pork stored in barrels was doled out to enslaved people; politicians later borrowed the image to describe government funds dispensed to favored constituents.