Historical Figures Trivia Questions
Total Questions: 264
Who, now believed to be innocent, was executed by the French as part of a military coverup?
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mata hari
What classic language, besides Greek, could the ambidextrous Garfield write in at the same time?
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latin
Which Union general, known for his distinctive facial hair, declared himself incompetent when given command during the Civil War?
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ambrose burnside
Who was the head of the FBI during Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency?
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j. edgar hoover
Which Italian leader, known for leading the 'Redshirts', was offered a command in the Union Army by Abraham Lincoln but declined?
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giuseppe garibaldi
To which university did Samuel Pepys leave his library when he passed it on to his alma mater, Magdalene College?
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cambridge
What title was given to the Mongol chief Temujin when he was proclaimed supreme ruler?
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genghis khan
Who headed mechanical engineering for the Board of Economic Warfare during WWII and later invented the Geodesic Dome?
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buckminster fuller
In which country was Mohammed Reza Pahlavi the last monarch?
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iran
In 1873, under a tree in Africa, whose heart was buried as he was both a doctor and missionary?
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david livingstone
Who became the first woman doctor in the USA after losing sight in one eye, which prevented her from performing surgery?
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elizabeth blackwell
Who is the Louisiana Territory explorer that some people want exhumed to determine if he committed suicide?
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meriwether lewis
Who was the Washington attorney detained aboard a British ship on the night of September 13-14, 1814?
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francis scott key
On which Hawaiian island was Father Damien initially buried before his remains were moved to Belgium in 1936?
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molokai
Who was the first president of Indonesia and the son of a Javanese school teacher and his Balinese wife?
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sukarno
What country did Bernardo O'Higgins help liberate, and later live his last years exiled from?
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chile
Which American Revolutionary War general, known by such nicknames as 'The Tornado' and 'The Chief Who Never Sleeps', had a nickname that implies anger?
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anthony wayne
Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis is the final resting place of three Vice Presidents and which notorious Public Enemy No. 1?
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john dillinger
Who was the oldest of Colonel John Dandridge's eight children?
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martha washington
Who is the perennial Democratic nominee who also served as Woodrow Wilson's Secretary of State?
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william jennings bryan
In a letter to his daughter, who mentioned that 'Traveller is my only companion; I may say my only pleasure' during the Civil War?
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robert e. lee
Which organization, abbreviated as NEA, did Ella Flagg Young become the first woman president of?
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national education association
Which scientist is said to have seen a published copy of his work 'On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres' for the first time on the day he died?
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nicolaus copernicus
Who was the President of Cuba from 1952 to 1959?
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fulgencio batista
In a World Book photo, what is Carry Nation holding alongside a Bible?
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hatchet
Which Russian leader was warned by spy Richard Sorge about Germany's WWII invasion but chose to ignore the warning?
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joseph stalin
Who was 36 years old when he delivered the 'Cross of Gold' speech at the 1896 Democratic National Convention?
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william jennings bryan
Who was appointed head of a U.S. Army commission in Havana to study yellow fever in 1900?
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walter reed
To which Socialist society did Beatrice Webb and G.B. Shaw both belong?
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fabian society
How many of Henry VIII's wives were executed by beheading?
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2
Which Dutch Jewish teenager wrote a widely read WWII diary that is particularly popular among young Japanese girls?
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anne frank
Which 6 foot 2, blue-eyed pilot was named Time's Man of the Year in 1927?
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charles lindbergh
Which military officer and author of 'Ben-Hur' is represented in Indiana's statue in the National Statuary Hall?
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lew wallace
Which famous queen of ancient Egypt was married to both of her brothers, each named Ptolemy?
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cleopatra
Who stepped down as head of the Missionaries of Charity for health reasons?
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mother teresa
Who was the English diarist that left his famous diary to a nephew when he died in 1703?
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samuel pepys
Who became the first black associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court in October 1967?
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thurgood marshall
During many of his survey expeditions, John C. Fremont was accompanied by which Kentucky-born guide and Indian agent?
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kit carson
Who is the geodesic dome designer who worked as a meat lugger for Armour & Co. in his 20s?
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buckminster fuller
Which famous female aviator married publisher George P. Putnam in 1931?
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amelia earhart
What queen did Julius Caesar infuriate the Romans by placing a gold statue of in the temple of Venus Genetrix?
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cleopatra
Which orator was forced to flee to Canada after being accused of conspiring with John Brown?
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frederick douglass
Which prominent religious position did Celestine V abdicate from after just five months in 1294?
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pope
What name links an English empirical philosopher and the author of 'The Star-Spangled Banner'?
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locke & key
Who was crowned Emperor of the Romans on December 25, 800, and is sometimes called the Father of Europe?
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charlemagne
Who was honored by a Boston monument in 1888, along with four others, for dying in the Boston Massacre?
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crispus attucks
Who was executed when Elizabeth I was just 2 years and 8 months old?
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anne boleyn
Which city was Marco Polo returning to after 24 years when he found it at war with Genoa and was captured?
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venice
Which Dean served as Secretary of State during the 1960s?
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rusk
Who held the office of Astronomer Royal from 1720-1742 and was a friend and financier of Newton?
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edmond halley
In which country was Sultan Abdul-Hamid II deposed in 1909, having 370 women and 127 eunuchs in his harem?
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turkey
Which hero of Spain, who died in 1099, had a horse named Babieca that no one was allowed to ride after his death?
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el cid
In which country did Gandhi live during the Boer War and serve the British as a medical volunteer?
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south africa
Who was the educator born in Massachusetts in 1796 that helped create the United States' first state board of education?
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horace mann
Who was the educator that founded the National Negro Business League in 1900?
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booker t. washington
Who was the editor of 'The Lily', a 19th-century newspaper focused on women's issues, and known for her advocacy for women's fashion reform?
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amelia bloomer
Which future first lady was adopted in her teens by Dr. Loyal Davis after her mother married him?
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nancy reagan
Who is referred to as 'The Lady with the Lamp'?
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florence nightingale
Who was born near Gzhatsk in 1934, promoted to major in 1961 shortly before liftoff, and died in 1968?
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yuri gagarin
Who co-founded the New England Woman Suffrage Association in 1868 and is known for writing 'The Battle Hymn of the Republic'?
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julia ward howe