History Trivia Questions — page 32

On which day did construction start on "The Pentagon", the headquarters for the United States Department of Defense?

• AJanuary 15, 1943
• BSeptember 11, 1941
• CJune 15, 1947
• DSeptember 2, 1962

How many men did Washington have in his attack force during the Battle of Trenton?

• A3500
• B1256
• C2400
• D7000

In the 1940s the USA began the Manhattan Project to build the first Atomic bomb. The first part of this project was to split the atom. It was accomplished by a team led by great Enricco Fermi. Where was it done?

• ALos Arbeles, Arizona.
• BBikini Atoll, Marshall Islands.
• CRoswell, New Mexico.
• DChicago, Illinois.

In this Germanic legend, turned into an operatic tetralogy by Richard Wagner, Attila the Hun appears by the name Etzel.

• AHavamal
• BSong of the Nibelungen
• CSilmarillion
• DThe Poems of Ossian

Why is the timing of monumental construction at Ceibal significant?

• AIt contradicts the hypothesis that the development of monumental construction among the Maya was an internal process.
• BIt contradicts the hypothesis that the monumental construction of the Maya was largely inspired by the Olmec.
• CIt confirms that the Olmec, who built most of the Maya monuments, were inspired by the Egyptians.
• DIt confirms that the residents of Ceibal were inspired by the Olmec to build large platforms.

What soap opera moved from radio to television on June 30, 1952?

• AYoung and the Restless
• BGuiding Light
• CDays of our Lives
• DGeneral Hospital

What was the codename for the amphibious assault on Normandy, France on 6 June 1944?

• ATorch
• BHusky
• CNeptune
• DAvalanche

What was the code name for the Allied invasion of Southern France on August 15th, 1944?

• AOperation Dragoon
• BOperation Torch
• COperation Market Garden
• DOperation Overlord

The Hindenburg Disaster in Lakehurst, New Jersey took place in the same year that the fabric Nylon was invented. What year was that?

• A1937
• B1936
• C1935
• D1940

Which of the following snipers has the highest amount of confirmed kills?

• AChris Kyle
• BVasily Zaytsev
• CCraig Harrison
• DSimo Häyhä

The Younger Dryas was:

• Aa period of glacial retreat between 10,900 and 9,000 years ago.
• Ba period of environmental change that caused humans to temporarily abandon much of northern Europe.
• Ca warming period at the end of the Pleistocene.
• Da period of glacial expansion between 12,900 and 11,600 years ago.

What year did the Holocaust begin?

• A1945
• B1946
• C1929
• D1933

Which of these was the legal successor to the classical Roman Empire?

• AThe Eastern Roman Empire
• BGreece
• CThe Western Roman Empire
• DItaly

Time Magazine made a list of The Ten Best Buzzwords of 2007. The #1 Buzzword was a noun meaning an older woman who romantically pursues younger men. What was Time Magazines # 1 Buzzword in 2007?

• AVixen
• BBadger
• CFox
• DCougar

When did Boniface III, the first Bishop of Rome, begin to bear the title Pope?

• A617 AD
• B601 AD
• C599 AD
• D607 AD

The mean size of a Homo habilis brain is roughly:

• A450 cc.
• B300 cc.
• C700 cc.
• D1200 cc.

What was the name of the famous market place in Athens?

• AAgora
• BAcademia
• CAcropolis
• DLyceum

Which of these events occurred on December 29, 1170 AD?

• AThomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, was slain in his church
• BBlack Plague began in Genoa, Italy
• CDanish ships landed at Greenland and claimed it as a province
• DMongols crossed the Danube river into Hungary

What Eastern philosophy has greatly influenced the Japanese samurai culture?

• ASufism
• BJainism
• CBuddhism
• DZoroastrianism

A more accurate calibration curve and conversion for radiocarbon dating can be derived from:

• Acoins recovered from ancient shipwrecks.
• Ball of the above.
• Cwritten records.
• Ddendrochronology.

When was the first U.S. adhesive postage stamp sold?

• A1690
• B1747
• C1847
• D1790

Charles Lyell argued that the Earth must be extremely old based on the fact that:

• Auniformitarianism can account for significant geological features.
• Bmany processes that can be observed act extremely slowly.
• Cerosion works incredibly slowly.
• DAll of the above.

Which American Indian tribe was predominantly located in North Georgia?

• AIroquois
• BCherokee
• CCreek
• DSeminal

Achilles, Kansas was a thriving town whose heyday ran from the 1870s to approximately 1915. By the year 1930, it was all but defunct. What was responsible for this towns demise?

• AIt was largely devastated by a tornado in late 1915, and never recovered economically.
• BIt became one of the casualties of The Great Depression.
• CIt was requisitioned by the U.S. Army Corp. of Engineers, and slated to be flooded in 1930.
• DIt was bypassed by the railroad.

How long did the Battle of Gettysburg last?

• A3 days
• B2 days
• C7 days
• D4 days

This organization, often referred to as a predecessor of the European Union, was founded after WW II to prevent the outbreak of such conflicts.

• AEuropean Peace Institute
• BEuropean Commission
• CEuropean Anti War Committee
• DEuropean Coal and Steel Community

Who was the first American in space?

• AAlan Shephard
• BJohn Glenn
• CNeil Armstrong
• DJim Lovell

The US became convinced that Soviet nuclear missiles were in Cuba by which of the following?

• Aphotos taken by a U-2 spy plane
• BSoviet announcement of the instillation of nuclear missiles in Cuba
• Ca CIA spys report
• Da Cuban defectors report and pictures of missiles sites

Samurai is a caste of warriors that came into existence when the Japanese shogunate was formed. The translation of the word samurai is those who serve in close attendance to nobility. Samurai warriors that didn't serve any lord were called this.

• AKenin
• BMusha
• CUruwashii
• DRonin

The fossils originally known as Sinanthropus pekinensis or "Peking Man" are now classified as:

• AHomo floresiensis.
• BHomo sapiens.
• CHomo habilis.
• DHomo erectus.

Who was the President of the United States during the signing of the Gadsden Purchase?

• AJames Polk
• BFranklin Pierce
• CAbraham Lincoln
• DAndrew Johnson

Which of the following was NOT a factor in the extinction of the Neandertals?

• AThe Neandertal body type required greater amounts of calories to sustain.
• BThey were specialized for an environment that suddenly changed.
• CThey were unsuited to the hotter climates of the sub-Saharan savanna.
• DTheir tool technology was less advanced.

Which of the following ancient Near Eastern peoples still exists as a modern ethnic group?

• AHittites
• BElamites
• CAssyrians
• DBabylonians

In 1942 there was a terrible ammonium nitrate explosion that killed 20 people. Where did it occur?

• Ain the Atlantic Ocean on a cargo ship
• BLudwig ,Germany
• CCleveland, Ohio
• DTesserendo, Belgium

President Roosevelt met with other Allied leaders several times at several places during WWII. Which is the only leader he met in the White House in Washington?

• ACharles de Gaulle
• BWinston Churchill
• CChiang Kai-shek
• DJoseph Stalin

What American product from the '50s was advertised with roadside signs reading slogans such as: 'The place to pass / On curves / You know / Is only at'?

• AColgate Shave Gel
• BAqua Velva
• CBurma Shave
• DOld Spice
• Ebeauty show?

What is widely considered to be the oldest civilization known to mankind?

• ABabylon
• BPhoenicia
• CAssyria
• DSumeria

When did O, Canada officially become the national anthem?

• A1920
• B1950
• C1980
• D1880

Which foods are included in the triad of plants that provided the subsistence base for indigenous New World civilizations?

• Ayams, maize, and millet
• Bmaize, lentils, and wheat
• Cmaize, beans, and squash
• Drice, beans, and squash

On which continent are most of the Venus figurines found?

• AEurope
• BAustralia
• CAsia
• DAfrica

In 453, Attila the Hun died in his room on the night of his wedding to which woman?

• AGudrun
• BKriemhild
• CIldico
• DHonoria

In the year 1770, the worst ever famine in history struck this region, considered to be one of the most densely populated areas on Earth.

• AIndonesia
• BChina
• CBengal
• DIndia

This Renaissance typographer established the Aldine Press, famous for the introduction of the Italics?

• AHenrich Isaac
• BChristopher Tye
• CCipriano de Rore
• DAldus Manutius

When the ratio of brain size to body size is compared, which species has a proportionally larger brain?

• AHomo erectus
• Bmodern Homo sapiens
• Cpremodern Homo sapiens
• DNeandertals

What is the Aztec word for a spear-throwing device developed in Europe more than 30,000 years ago?

• Aatlatl.
• Bpetroglyph.
• Cchunkey.
• Dburin.

This American general led the invasion of Normandy. He was also an American president from 1953 to 1961.

• AWilliam H. Simpson
• BGeorge S. Patton
• CMacArthur
• DDwight Eisenhower

What was the name of the ancient Greek wrestling school, which was later used for delivering lectures and conducting intellectual conversations?

• Abouleuterion
• Bgymnasium
• Ccorycelum
• Dpalaestra

Where was Napoleon Bonaparte born?

• AParis
• BBrittany
• CCorsica
• DNormandy

What was the name of the first permanent English settlement in America?

• APlymouth
• BNew York
• CJamestown
• DSt. John's

He served as the head of the London Metropolitan Police during the period of the Jack the Ripper Murders.

• ASir Edmund Henderson
• BSir Charles Warren
• CGodfrey Lushington
• DJames Monro