TouchéGet the appHistory trivia questions
Ten questions to try. Pick an answer to see why.
01Which inventor is best known for creating dynamite?Try itHide
Answer: Alfred Nobel
WhyNobel found a way to make the unstable explosive nitroglycerin safe to handle. He patented dynamite in 1867, and it transformed mining and construction. The fortune it earned him funded the Nobel Prizes.
02Who patented the telephone in 1876?Try itHide
Answer: Alexander Graham Bell
WhyBell's mother and his wife were both deaf, and his work on speech and hearing is what led him to the telephone. He patented it in 1876. Edison, Tesla and Marconi are each linked to other inventions.
03Julius Caesar was a famous ruler of which ancient civilization?Try itHide
Answer: Rome
WhyCaesar rose to power as a general and statesman, eventually becoming dictator of Rome. His assassination in 44 BC triggered the civil wars that ended the Republic. The month of July is named after him.
04Which civil rights leader gave the "I Have a Dream" speech?Try itHide
Answer: Martin Luther King Jr.
WhyThe best-known part of the speech was not in the script. Near the end, the gospel singer Mahalia Jackson called out, "Tell 'em about the dream, Martin!" and King began improvising on the theme.
05Who was Rome's first emperor?Try itHide
Answer: Augustus
WhyThe month of August is named for him. Augustus took power after the civil wars that followed the assassination of his great-uncle, Julius Caesar, and ruled for over 40 years.
06Which ancient Greek is called the Father of Medicine?Try itHide
Answer: Hippocrates
Why"First, do no harm" is not in the Hippocratic Oath. The original swears by the healing gods and asks the new doctor to avoid harm and wrongdoing. Scholars think Hippocrates did not write the oath at all.
07Which US president completed the Louisiana Purchase in 1803?Try itHide
Answer: Thomas Jefferson
WhyJefferson doubled the size of the United States for about three cents an acre, buying land from a cash-strapped Napoleon. He then sent Lewis and Clark to explore the new territory.
08Who created the first vaccine, using cowpox to fight smallpox?Try itHide
Answer: Edward Jenner
WhyJenner noticed that milkmaids who caught cowpox rarely got the deadly smallpox. In 1796 he tested his idea on a young boy, and it worked. The word "vaccine" comes from the Latin word for cow.
09Which emperor beat Italy at the Battle of Adwa in 1896?Try itHide
Answer: Menelik II
WhyMenelik II's forces routed an invading Italian army, forcing Italy to recognize Ethiopian independence. It was one of the few African victories over a European colonial power during the entire colonial era.
10Which of these is the oldest?Try itHide
Answer: Oxford University
WhyOxford University. Teaching there goes back to at least 1096. Tenochtitlan was founded in 1325, and the Aztec Empire itself only formed in 1428.
That was 10 of 241.
The rest are in the app, each with the story behind the answer.