Historical Figures Trivia Questions
Total Questions: 1307
Who was the chief whose death in 1618 led to his brother Opitchapam succeeding him and was also Pocahontas' father?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
powhatan
Which historical figure was not allowed to be seen in public with Adolf Hitler?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
eva braun
Who became a government inspector of schools in Italy in 1922?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
maria montessori
In 1975, which swimmer who crossed the English Channel had a New Jersey park named after her?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
gertrude ederle
In 1889, who constructed the first library in the U.S. located in Braddock, PA?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
andrew carnegie
Who is known as 'The Hero of Lake Erie'?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
oliver hazard perry
Which historical figure not only opened U.S. trade with Japan but also helped found Liberia as a haven for free blacks?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
matthew perry
Who opened her first 'casa dei bambini' in 1907, a school for the children of a Roman slum?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
maria montessori
In a 1974 taped message, which woman declared 'I have chosen to stay and fight' and mentioned that she had been given the name Tania?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
patty hearst
Which historic woman used proceeds from selling souvenir hatchets to fund a home for the wives of alcoholics?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
carrie nation
After losing the American Revolution, Gen. Cornwallis became Governor-General of which Asian country?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
india
Who is estimated to have preached over 40,000 sermons and is the founder of Methodism?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
john wesley
Who served as press director for Burma's interim government after it voted for independence and later became a United Nations Secretary-General?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
u thant
Who was the first king of Israel and the father of Ishbosheth?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
saul
Which actress and orange-seller was famously favored by Charles II?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
nell gwyn
Which 91-year-old industrialist was pardoned by George Bush for his illegal contributions to Nixon's campaign?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
armand hammer
Which country did Prince William of Denmark become king of in 1863, taking the name King George I?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
greece
Who became Kenya's first prime minister when the country gained its independence from Britain on December 12, 1963?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
jomo kenyatta
Which famous inventor's father created a phonetic 'visible speech' system for teaching the deaf?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
alexander graham bell
Who began publishing the New York Tribune on April 10, 1841?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
horace greeley
What is the name of the 'Lady' whose father, the Duke of Suffolk, made her challenge Mary Tudor for the throne?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
lady jane grey
Who was the former First Lady who served as president of the Dramatic Club at the Girls' Latin School in Chicago?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
nancy reagan
In 1952, who told the House Un-American Activities Committee, 'I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this year's fashions'?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
lillian hellman
Who was the First Lady of the United States when Marie Antoinette was executed?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
martha washington
Who, now believed to be innocent, was executed by the French as part of a military coverup?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
mata hari
What classic language, besides Greek, could the ambidextrous Garfield write in at the same time?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
latin
Which Union general, known for his distinctive facial hair, declared himself incompetent when given command during the Civil War?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
ambrose burnside
Who was the head of the FBI during Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
j. edgar hoover
Which Italian leader, known for leading the 'Redshirts', was offered a command in the Union Army by Abraham Lincoln but declined?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
giuseppe garibaldi
To which university did Samuel Pepys leave his library when he passed it on to his alma mater, Magdalene College?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
cambridge
What title was given to the Mongol chief Temujin when he was proclaimed supreme ruler?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
genghis khan
Who headed mechanical engineering for the Board of Economic Warfare during WWII and later invented the Geodesic Dome?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
buckminster fuller
In which country was Mohammed Reza Pahlavi the last monarch?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
iran
In 1873, under a tree in Africa, whose heart was buried as he was both a doctor and missionary?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
david livingstone
Who became the first woman doctor in the USA after losing sight in one eye, which prevented her from performing surgery?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
elizabeth blackwell
Who is the Louisiana Territory explorer that some people want exhumed to determine if he committed suicide?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
meriwether lewis
Who was the Washington attorney detained aboard a British ship on the night of September 13-14, 1814?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
francis scott key
On which Hawaiian island was Father Damien initially buried before his remains were moved to Belgium in 1936?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
molokai
Who was the first president of Indonesia and the son of a Javanese school teacher and his Balinese wife?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
sukarno
What country did Bernardo O'Higgins help liberate, and later live his last years exiled from?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
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?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
anthony wayne
Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis is the final resting place of three Vice Presidents and which notorious Public Enemy No. 1?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
john dillinger
Who was the oldest of Colonel John Dandridge's eight children?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
martha washington
Who is the perennial Democratic nominee who also served as Woodrow Wilson's Secretary of State?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
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?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
robert e. lee
Which organization, abbreviated as NEA, did Ella Flagg Young become the first woman president of?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
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?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
nicolaus copernicus
Who was the President of Cuba from 1952 to 1959?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
fulgencio batista
In a World Book photo, what is Carry Nation holding alongside a Bible?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
hatchet
Which Russian leader was warned by spy Richard Sorge about Germany's WWII invasion but chose to ignore the warning?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
joseph stalin
Who was 36 years old when he delivered the 'Cross of Gold' speech at the 1896 Democratic National Convention?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
william jennings bryan
Who was appointed head of a U.S. Army commission in Havana to study yellow fever in 1900?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
walter reed
To which Socialist society did Beatrice Webb and G.B. Shaw both belong?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
fabian society
How many of Henry VIII's wives were executed by beheading?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
2
Which Dutch Jewish teenager wrote a widely read WWII diary that is particularly popular among young Japanese girls?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
anne frank
Which 6 foot 2, blue-eyed pilot was named Time's Man of the Year in 1927?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
charles lindbergh
Which military officer and author of 'Ben-Hur' is represented in Indiana's statue in the National Statuary Hall?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
lew wallace
Which famous queen of ancient Egypt was married to both of her brothers, each named Ptolemy?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
cleopatra
Who stepped down as head of the Missionaries of Charity for health reasons?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
mother teresa
Who was the English diarist that left his famous diary to a nephew when he died in 1703?
Hard
Click to reveal answer
samuel pepys