1. Guy Fawkes, Sir Walter Raleigh, Alfred Dreyfus, John Brown, and Philippe Pétain were all convicted at one time or another of what high crime?
 Answer: Treason
Interesting Information:
Some other well-known individuals that were convicted of treason include Louis XVI, Adolf Hitler, and Thomas Paine.
Difficulty: Very Easy.
Some incorrect choices:
Murder, Public Indecency, Blasphemy
2. What were an estimated 8,000 deaths in the Vietnam War and also the deaths of Pat Tillman and Stonewall Jackson attributed to?
Answer: Friendly Fire
Interesting Information:Friendly fire is when an ally or one of your own military accidentally hits another ally or fellow-countryman in combat. Friendly fire is also called non-hostile fire, fratricide and 'blue on blue'.
Difficulty: Easy.
Some incorrect choices:
Agent Orange, Proximity Mines, Lead Poisoning
3. What aspiring actor unfortunately agreed to drop off a pair of eyeglasses to a condo located at 875 South Bundy Drive, Los Angeles, on June 12, 1994?
Answer: Ronald Goldman
Interesting Information:The other answer choices are actually the names of three mass murderers. Ronald Goldman was murdered the same night as Nicole Brown Simpson. Although he was widely believed as the perpetrator, O. J. Simpson was found not guilty of both murders in October 1995.
Difficulty: Easy.
Some incorrect choices:
Edmund Kemper, John Justin Bunting, Dennis Nilsen
4. What future Soviet dictator was training to be a priest when he got turned on to Marxism?
Answer: Joseph Stalin
Interesting Information:Stalin was born on 18 December 1878 in Gori, Georgia. At sixteen, he received a scholarship to a Georgian Orthodox seminary, where he wrote poetry and rebelled against being forced to speak Russian. Though he performed well, he was expelled shortly before his final exams because he was unable to pay his tuition fees.
Difficulty: Average.
Some incorrect choices:
Karl Marx, Leonid Brezhnev, Nikita Khrushchev
5. Whose last words, "Sophie dear, don't die! Stay alive for our children!", were spoken after being shot in a car traveling on Franz Joseph street?
Answer: Franz Ferdinand
Interesting Information:Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sophie were assassinated on June 28, 1914 in Sarajevo. Ferdinand's assassination prompted Austria-Hungary to declare war on Serbia. The allies of these respective nations declared war on their enemies as well, thus beginning World War I.
Difficulty: Easy.
Some incorrect choices:
Wilhelm II, Georges Clemenceau, John F. Kennedy
6. The Wars of the Roses were fought to control which country's throne?
Answer: England
Interesting Information:These periodic wars, between the Houses of Lancaster and York, were fought between 1455 and 1485, though some historians extend the period to 1487.
Difficulty: Very Easy.
Some incorrect choices:
Scotland, Russia, Ireland
7. What is the fiery name given to the famous Civil War General Sherman's military tactics?
Answer: Scorched earth
Interesting Information:In the American CIvil War, in 1864, General Sherman used this tactic in his "March to the Sea." He went from Atlanta to the coast where he conquered Savannah on December 21.
Difficulty: Easy.
Some incorrect choices:
Vertical envelopment, Massed howitzer fire, Pride's purge
8. By which name was the American World War 2 Medium tank 'M4' better known?
Answer: Sherman
Interesting Information:Over 50,000 Shermans were produced, some heavily modified to suit different tasks such as mine clearing, tank recovery and self-propelled artillery. Some were even converted to be amphibious with the use of a waterproof canvas floatation screen and two propellers.
The tank was named after the Union General William Tecumseh Sherman.
Difficulty: Easy.
Some incorrect choices:
Pershing, Grant, Tiger
9. What is the name given to the spot in Massachusetts where the Pilgrims are said to have landed?
Answer: Plymouth Rock
Interesting Information:Plymouth Rock still exists, with a carved "1620" on it. Nearby is Plymouth Plantation, the authentically reconstructed village of Plymouth, complete with costumed guides who give visitors a history of the area.
Difficulty: Very Easy.
Some incorrect choices:
New Jersey, Boston, Nantucket Island
10. The Camp David Peace Accords, signed by Anwar El Sadat and Menachem Begin in 1978, led to a peace treaty between which two nations in 1979?
Answer: Israel and Egypt
Interesting Information:Begin and Sadat signed the two agreements after twelve days of negotiations chaired by then US President, Jimmy Carter. Their efforts were rewarded not only with peace between the two nations, formalised in a treaty a year later, but also by the award of the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1978 to both leaders.
Difficulty: Very Easy.
Some incorrect choices:
USA and Israel, Iran and Iraq, Russia and Afghanistan
11. Launched in 1973, what was the first space station owned and operated by NASA?
Answer: Skylab
Interesting Information:Skylab orbited Earth from May 14, 1973, to July 11, 1979. Of that time, it was occupied for a total of 171 days by three separate three-man crews.
Difficulty: Easy.
Some incorrect choices:
Salyut, Mir, International Space Station
12. What important role did Bletchley Park play in WWII?
Answer: main British code-breaking station
Interesting Information:The Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) moved into the Bletchley Park estate on 15 August 1939, and by 1943 it housed the Colossus code-breaking machine, arguably the world's first programmable, digital, electronic, computing device. This was used to crack the codes produced by the German Enigma and Lorenz machines, and is believed by many to have shortened the war. Bletchley Park is now a museum.
Difficulty: Average.
Some incorrect choices:
RAF fighter base, major radar station, secret Allied weapons development station
13. What grand-nephew of Julius Caesar was the first emperor of Rome?
Answer: Augustus
Interesting Information:Although most people believe that Augustus was Julius Caesar's son, he was actually his grand nephew that was adopted in the will of Julius Caesar, in other words, after Caesar died.
Difficulty: Easy.
Some incorrect choices:
Mark Antony, Pompey, Ajax the Lesser
14. The US and Russia have deployed their own manned spacecraft for decades. In 2003, what nation was the third to have their own manned spaceflight?
Answer: China
Interesting Information:China launched the Shenzhou 5 on October 15, 2003. The pilot was Yang Liwei.
Difficulty: Hard.
Some incorrect choices:
India, Great Britain, Japan
15. Where was the document signed which begins "When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve ..."?
Answer: Philadelphia
Interesting Information:The document was, of course, the U.S. Declaration of Independence. It seems that it was signed in the Pennsylvania State House. It had fifty-six signatures by August 1776. Thomas Jefferson was selected to compose it. Like any good writer, he had at least one complete rough draft.
Difficulty: Easy.
Some incorrect choices:
Boston, New York City, Richmond
16. What is the name given to the collection of ancient Egyptian texts that are concerned with the journey to the 'afterlife'?
Answer: The Book of the Dead
Interesting Information:"The Book of the Dead" is a collection of ancient writings that described the Egyptian concept of death and the afterlife. It contained prayers, magic spells and instructions concerning the safe transition through death to the afterlife. It was customary to bury mummies with copies of the text, or parts of it.
Difficulty: Hard.
Some incorrect choices:
The Dead Sea Scrolls, The Papyrus of Osiris, The Hieroglyphs
17. The Baader-Meinhof gang were a group of terrorists in which country?
Answer: West Germany
Interesting Information:The gang of around 60 people terrorised West Germany in the 1970s killing 34 people - mainly bankers, government officials, their chauffeurs and bodyguards. Attacks continued on a smaller scale in the 1980s but the fall of the Berlin Wall weakened the group considerably. They officially disbanded in 1998.
Difficulty: Average.
Some incorrect choices:
Austria, South Africa, Belgium
18. What industry was centred around the Stannaries of Cornwall, from the 2nd millennium BC to the end of the 20th Century?
Answer: Tin mining
Interesting Information:The last working Cornish mine closed in 1998. Metal traders from the Mediterranean visited the area from around 2150BC.
The name 'stannary' derives from stannic, the adjective relating to the Latin for tin. The chemical symbol for tin is Sn.
Difficulty: Hard.
Some incorrect choices:
Pasty making, Weaving, Cucumber growing
19. In which European city was Checkpoint Charlie?
Answer: Berlin
Interesting Information:Checkpoint Charlie was the name given to a crossing point between East and West Berlin during the Cold War. The name was given by the Western Allies. It is now the Checkpoint Charlie Museum.
Difficulty: Very Easy.
Some incorrect choices:
Amsterdam, Oslo, Munich
20. What natural disaster that occurred in 1883 created a shock wave that reverberated around the globe seven times in total?
Answer: Krakatoa Eruption
Interesting Information:The Krakatoa eruption (in Indonesia) was heard over 4,500 kilometers away and the blast was equal to the detonation of over 21,000 atomic bombs. The final death toll was estimated at 36,417.
Difficulty: Average.
Some incorrect choices:
San Francisco Earthquake, Tunguska Meteor Explosion, Shaanxi Earthquake
21. Which famous product of a village in Somerset, England, was first recorded as being purchased by King Henry II in 1179 at "a farthing a pound"?
Answer: Cheddar cheese
Interesting Information:Cheddar is by far the most popular cheese sold in the UK today, but is around 1600 times more expensive than it was in King Henry's day.
To be genuine "West Country Cheddar" the cheese must be made within 30 miles of the cathedral in the city of Wells.
In 2007, more than 1.5 million people logged onto a webcam to watch the maturation of a 44lb Cheddar affectionately known as Weginald.
Difficulty: Hard.
Some incorrect choices:
Bath buns, Axminster carpet, Eccles cakes
22. When the mummy of Rameses the Great had to go from Egypt to France for restoration work, how was his occupation listed on his passport?
Answer: King (deceased)
Interesting Information:The mummy was received with the full military honours due to a monarch, and successfully treated for a fungal infection, before being returned to Egypt and displayed in the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities in Cairo.
Difficulty: Average.
Some incorrect choices:
Mr. Ram Eses, R. E. Seas, Egyptian Dead Guy
23. Israel unleashed the "Operation Wrath of God" as a response to what atrocity?
Answer: 1972 Munich Summer Olympics Massacre
Interesting Information:Operation Wrath of God was a covert operation conducted by the Israeli intelligence group Mossad; the operations objective was to assassinate individuals alleged to have been involved in the 1972 Munich massacre. The main targets were members of the Palestinian terrorist group Black September, the group responsible for the Munich attack. The operation, which commenced in 1972, may have run for 20 years, during which time assassination units killed dozens of Palestinians and Arabs.
Difficulty: Average.
Some incorrect choices:
Yom Kippur War, Invasion of Kuwait, 1972 El Al Israel Airlines Bombing
24. Which Italian Ocean Liner collided with the MS Stockholm and sank in July 1956, becoming one of history's most famous maritime disasters?
Answer: Andrea Doria
Interesting Information:Forty-six people died as a result of the collision. However, thanks to improvements in communications after the sinking of the Titanic, 1,660 passengers and crew were saved.
Difficulty: Average.
Some incorrect choices:
Titanic, Andria Gale, Flying Dutchman
25. Who was the first Briton to walk in space?
Answer: Michael Foale
Interesting Information:Michael Foale was born in 1952 in England to an English father and an American mother and was educated in Canterbury. He is the first Briton to walk in space and has stayed in Mir and the International Space Station.
Difficulty: Very Easy.
Some incorrect choices:
Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Yuri Gagarin
26. In which Swiss city did the League of Nations have its headquarters?
Answer: Geneva
Interesting Information:The League of Nations was created in 1919 thanks to an international wish for lasting peace. Although there were 42 founding members of the League who met annually in the Geneva headquarters, the USA was never a member thus crucially undermining the League. Moreover, Germany was not admitted to the League till 1926 and Hitler pulled the country out again in 1933.
Difficulty: Very Easy.
Some incorrect choices:
Bern, Basel, Zürich
27. What was discovered by an Arabic shepherd boy nicknamed 'Muhammad the Wolf' in caves near Qumran in the winter of 1946-47?
Answer: The Dead Sea Scrolls
Interesting Information:The boy's real name was Muhammad Ahmed al-Hamed, but his nickname was Muhammad edh-Dhib (Muhammad the Wolf) and the caves were discovered by his cousin Jum'a Muhammad. Muhammad the Wolf later fell into one of the caves and discovered the first of the scrolls. For a fascinating book about the controversy they engendered, try 'The Dead Sea Scrolls Deception'.
Difficulty: Easy.
Some incorrect choices:
The Rosetta Stone, Oil, Ancient paintings
28. He was a general during the Civil War. What is the name of the 18th US president?
Answer: Ulysses Grant
Interesting Information:Grant served two terms. He had four children, and one of them named after himself: Ulysses S. Grant Jr.
Difficulty: Very Easy.
Some incorrect choices:
George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt
29. You find something called a coprolite when working on an archaeological dig on the site of a Viking town house. What exactly is a coprolite?
Answer: A fossilized lump of animal dung.
Interesting Information:Coprolites are frequently found at archaeological sites, and can be the fossilized faeces of both humans and domestic animals. Palaeontologists have also found coprolites of many extinct species, especially dinosaurs. Analysis of coprolites shows what the animal or human had been eating, which is valuable scientific knowledge, particularly for extinct species. Coprolites can also indicate whether the animal or human that produced them was healthy or not.
Difficulty: Hard.
Some incorrect choices:
A small piece of unsmelted copper ore, A wood fragment used to send messages, A small brooch used to fasten cloaks.
30. With which empire would you associate the letters SPQR?
Answer: The Roman Empire
Interesting Information:SPQR, which stood for "Senatus Populusque Romanus" (The Senate and the People of Rome), was the motto of the city of Rome and represented the government of the empire. As such it appeared on coins, official documents and legionary standards. The inscription can still be found today on the city of Rome's coat of arms and on some public buildings.
Difficulty: Average.
Some incorrect choices:
The British Empire, The Mongol Empire, The Hellenistic Empire
31. In December of 2003, the US Army's 4th Infantry Division is often credited with playing the dominant role in the capture of what infamous person?
Answer: Saddam Hussein
Interesting Information:Saddam Hussein, the ousted leader of Iraq, was found hiding in a spider hole outside his hometown of Tikrit on 13 December, 2003. Elements of the 4th Infantry Division, with US Air Force air cover and troops from a special operations task force participated in the raid of Objectives Wolverine I, II, and III in Operation Red Dawn. He was later tried by an Iraqi court, found guilty of multiple charges, and executed in 2006.
Difficulty: Easy.
Some incorrect choices:
Benito Mussolini, Abu Musab al Zarqawi, Theodore Kaczynski
32. On May 18th, 1980, what event followed this frantic radio warning: "Vancouver, Vancouver, this is it!"?
Answer: Eruption of Mount St. Helens
Interesting Information:Those were the last words of U.S. volcanologist, 30 year old David Johnston, working with the U.S. Geological Survey team on the mountain, before he and 56 others were killed in the catastrophic eruption of Mount St. Helens. If it had not been for the work of David and the team monitoring the mountain, the death toll would have been very much higher.
Difficulty: Easy.
Some incorrect choices:
Earthquake, Aircraft disaster, Oil spill
33. After the 1972 Munich Massacre, Israel launched a covert operation to assassinate those involved with the massacre. What was this operation called?
Answer: Operation Wrath of God
Interesting Information:Their targets were all members of the Palestinian extremist group Black September. This operation also gave rise to a sub-operation, Operation Spring of Youth, in which Mossad agents went to Lebanon to assassinate several prominent members of the Palestinian Liberation Organization. The film "Munich", directed by Steven Spielberg, was based on these events.
Difficulty: Easy.
Some incorrect choices:
Operation Magic Carpet, Operation Defensive Shield, Operation Determined Path
34. Which German kingdom, under the political leadership of Bismarck, was responsible for the unification of Germany as the German Empire in 1871?
Answer: Prussia
Interesting Information:Under the political leadership of Bismarck, Prussia fought three wars against Denmark, Austria and finally France during the years of 1864 to 1871. Victory in these wars secured Prussia's position as the leading military power in Europe and led to the formation of the German Empire in the Palace of Versailles on January 19, 1871.
Difficulty: Average.
Some incorrect choices:
Bavaria, Austria, Saxony
35. What was the highest religious rank in Ancient Rome?
Answer: Pontifex Maximus
Interesting Information:Pontifex Maximus was the highest priest in Ancient Rome and was later adopted by the Papacy.
Difficulty: Hard.
Some incorrect choices:
Consul, Praetor, Aedile
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