Historical Figures Trivia Questions
Total Questions: 239
Which settlement house did Jane Addams establish after being inspired by a visit to Toynbee Hall in England?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
hull house
Which conquistador was offered a roomful of gold by the Incan ruler Atahualpa in exchange for his freedom?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
francisco pizarro
Who is known for using a lamp to light her way on rounds in the Scutari Hospital wards during the Crimean War?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
florence nightingale
Which extravagant first lady was reportedly rescued from falling to her death on a ship by Sarah Bernhardt?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
mary todd lincoln
Which Norwegian explorer reached Nome in 1906 after completing a voyage through the Northwest Passage?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
roald amundsen
Which prominent physicist was born on March 14, 1879, in Ulm, Germany, and passed away on April 18, 1955, in Princeton, New Jersey?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
albert einstein
Who was named honorary president of what became Planned Parenthood Federation of America in 1939?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
margaret sanger
Which slave, who was 30 years younger than Thomas Jefferson, is believed by some biographers to have had several children with him?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
sally hemings
Which country had King Harold III, who was the half-brother of St. Olaf?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
norway
Who became the first citizen of the Soviet Union to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1975?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
andrei sakharov
Who took control of Cuba on March 10, 1952, and remained in power until being deposed on January 1, 1959?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
fulgencio batista
Who was known as the 'One-Legged Governor' of New Netherland?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
peter stuyvesant
Who was named 'the aviatrix of the decade' in 1950 and became the first woman to break the sound barrier in 1953?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
jacqueline cochran
In which country did Theodoros Pangalos declare himself dictator in January of 1926 before being deposed in August?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
greece
Which labor leader, born in 1850, joined the cigarmakers' union at the age of 14?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
samuel gompers
Which British prime minister, who served from 1830 to 1834, has a type of tea named after him?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
earl grey
Who was suspended by the AEC as a possible security risk on April 12, 1954, and is known as the 'Father of the Atomic Bomb'?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
j. robert oppenheimer
Who spent part of 1869 in Indianapolis getting a divorce while awaiting a permit to look for Troy?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
heinrich schliemann
Which 'Venerable' monk authored 'Ecclesiastical History' that narrates English history before the 8th century?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
bede
Who founded the New York Evening Post as a Federalist newspaper in 1801?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
alexander hamilton
Who became the first lawmaker in space in 1985 and is from Utah?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
jake garn
Which Danish astronomer was abducted by his uncle as a child and raised in a castle during the 16th century?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
tycho brahe
Which 20th-century tenor vowed never to sing in Naples again after a poor reception there in 1901 and kept his promise?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
enrico caruso
Who was the son of an Irish immigrant that resigned as Chile's supreme director in January 1823?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
bernardo o'higgins
Who was the woman that sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott and later worked as a congressional assistant?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
rosa parks
Who was married to Adolf Hitler in a Berlin air raid shelter on April 29, 1945, and committed suicide the next day?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
eva braun
Which religious dissenter is honored with a national memorial at the site in Rhode Island where he settled in the 17th century?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
roger williams
Who sent General Harrison the message 'We have met the enemy, and they are ours' in September 1813?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
oliver hazard perry
What was the name of the Communist leader, originally named Lev Davidovich Bronstein, who was banished from Russia in 1929?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
leon trotsky
Who became Cleveland's first black mayor after initially dropping out of high school and then returning to school after WWII?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
carl stokes
Which cartoonist created the GIs Willie & Joe during World War II?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
bill mauldin
Who was the abolitionist and founder of 'The Liberator' who was once jailed for libeling a slave trader?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
william lloyd garrison
Which American gave up baseball in 1891 to become a YMCA worker and began conducting religious revivals five years later?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
billy sunday
Which French explorer did not find the Northwest Passage but established France's claim to Canada?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
jacques cartier
Who became the first honorary president of the Girl Scouts in 1917?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
edith wilson
Who was the first African American elected as mayor of a major U.S. city, serving as mayor of Cleveland and passing away in 1996?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
carl stokes
Which medieval Muslim sultan of Egypt is symbolized by the eagle on Egypt's flag and coat-of-arms?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
saladin
Which former first lady was declared insane by a jury in 1875 and declared sane by another jury in 1876?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
mary todd lincoln
Which 19th-century female author, known for smoking cigars and wearing men's clothes, was suggested by a French newspaper in 1848 to run for office?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
george sand
Which female activist, who was one of the FBI's 'Ten Most Wanted' in 1970, was acquitted of all charges in 1972?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
angela davis
Which historical figure requested to be buried next to Wild Bill Hickok in Deadwood, South Dakota?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
calamity jane
Who was famous for his 1942 raid on Tokyo and was named Aviator of the Decade in 1950?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
jimmy doolittle
Which former Chilean leader was arrested in London in 1998 in connection with human rights abuses?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
augusto pinochet
Who referred to the Gunpowder Plot by stating, 'A desperate disease requires a dangerous remedy'?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
guy fawkes
Who is the network anchorwoman, who passed away in 1983, and is the subject of the biography 'Golden Girl'?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
jessica savitch
Who was the woman who acted as copilot and navigator on many of Charles A. Lindbergh's flights?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
anne morrow lindbergh
Who was the first woman to run for president and was known for advocating both free love and suffrage?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
victoria woodhull
Who was the British lexicographer that apologized in the preface to his 1747 dictionary for potentially missing any words?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
samuel johnson
What was the nickname of Walter Tyler, who led a rebellion in 1381 in England?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
wat tyler
Who was the most widely read astrologer of the Renaissance, known for his prophecies that are still read today?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
nostradamus
Which political figure wrote the personal account 'Years of Upheaval' about foreign affairs during President Nixon's second term?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
henry kissinger
Who had his sentence commuted to 8 years by Jimmy Carter in April 1977, allowing for his parole later that year?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
g. gordon liddy
Which legendary highwayman was hanged in York in 1739 for horse theft?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
dick turpin
Which historical figure, after her famous ride, founded the Benedictine abbey around which Coventry grew with her husband?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
lady godiva
Which American woman earned a degree in geology in 1898 and later became a First Lady?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
lou henry hoover
Which poet, renowned for his quatrains, served as the Astronomer Royal to the Seljuk Sultan Malik Shah?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
omar khayyam
Who was tried as Widow Capet by French revolutionaries and executed 9 months after her husband?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
marie antoinette
Who was the second lord protector of England, known for his timidity and nicknamed 'Queen Dick'?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
richard cromwell
Who organized the Boston Tea Party and is nicknamed 'The Father of the American Revolution'?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
samuel adams
Which notable figure wrote the pamphlet 'On Monastic Vows' in 1521 while hiding at Wartburg Castle?
Very Hard
Click to reveal answer
martin luther