History Around the World 13 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Ho Chi Minh

Born Nguyễn Sinh Côn in 1890 in the village of Kim Liên in Nghệ An Province in north central Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh became Vietnam's first President of September 2, 1945. He subsequently became the first President of the newly established North Vietnam in 1954, a position he retained until his death from heart failure at the age of 79 on the 24th anniversary of his Presidentship.

Answer: 1831

Born in a palace in central Germany in 1790, the youngest son of Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, the 40-year old Leopold I became the first King of the Belgians on July 21, 1831. His issue include King Leopold II of Belgium and Empress Charlotte of Mexico.
The House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha still effectively reigns in Belgium, although the name was changed there (as it was in Britain) due to anti-German sentiment during WWI. Leopold I remained on the Belgian throne until his death just before his 75th birthday in December 1865.

Answer: Muammar

He was born Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi sometime around 1942 in the village of Qasr Abu Hadi on the north coast of what was then Italian Libya.
Known as Colonel Gaddafi, he led a military coup in 1969 against the unpopular government of King Idris, who was in Turkey for a medical treatment at the time.
Chairman of the "Revolutionary Command Council of Libya", Gaddafi appointed himself as Prime Minister in 1970.
He effectively ruled Libya and dominated North African politics for the next 42 years, until his death during the 2011 Libyan Civil War.

Answer: Harold Macmillan

Sir Anthony Eden (Prime Minister from 1955-57), born in 1897, and he was therefore the last Prime Minister to be born during the reign of Queen Victoria. Harold Macmillan, although he was born before Eden, in 1894, was the last Victorian-born person to hold the office of British PM -- he followed Eden in office, serving from 1957-1963. Churchill was born before either of them (in 1874) but also served his two terms in office before either of them. Sir Alec-Douglas Home, who followed Macmillan in office, was born in 1903 and is thus the only PM born during the reign of King Edward VII.

Answer: St. John's, Newfoundland

St John's, the capital and largest city in the Canadian province of Newfoundland & Labrador, is the oldest settlement in North America to hold city status. Year-round settlement here began sometime before 1620 and seasonal settlement long before that. St. John's was incorporated as a city in 1621.
Although Jamestown VA was founded sometime around 1607, it was abandoned in 160 and then again after 1699.
Founded in 1565, St Augustine FL is the oldest continuously-occupied European-established settlement and port in the continental United States, but it was founded by the Spanish. Founded in 1620, the municipality of Plymouth MA has never held city status.

Answer: Kabul, Afghanistan

He was born Zahir-ud-din Muhammad Babur in 1483 in the city of Andijan at the extreme eastern end of modern-day Uzbekistan, near the border with Kyrgyzstan. In 1504, Babur crossed the snowy Hindu Kush mountains and captured the city of Kabul, establishing it as the capital of empire.

He officially founded the Mughal Empire and became its first Emperor on April 30, 1526, just four years before his death.

Answer: Argentina

Carlos Saúl Menem was born in 1930 in the village of Anillaco in La Rioja Province in northwestern Argentina. Briefly imprisoned after the overthrow of Juan Peron's regime in 1955, Menem was three times elected as governor of La Rioja Province during the 1970s and 1980s. He was elected as President of Argentina on May 14, 1989, a position he would hold until December 10, 1999, a record for any Argentine President.

Answer: Liberia

Now a city of almost 1 million, Monrovia, the capital and largest city in the West African country of Liberia, was founded in 1822 and named for the U.S. President at the time, James Monroe. Of the alternatives, Guyana is one of three countries (Cayman Islands and Ascension Island are the other two) with a capital called Georgetown.

They were all named after a British king rather than a U.S. President. Jamestown, the capital of Saint Helena, was named for the Duke of York and the future King James II of England.

The capital of Antigua and Barbuda, St John's, is not named after any of the US Presidents with that name.

Answer: Malawi

Nicknamed "The Warm Heart of Africa", Malawi is a landlocked country bordering Zambia, Tanzania and Mozambique. With an area of 118,500 square miles, it is a similar size to North Korea and is slightly larger than the U.S. state of Arizona.
Originally settled in the 10th Century, Malawi was colonized by Britain in 1891. Granted independence in 1964, Malawians celebrate their Independence Day annually on July 6.
Of the alternatives, Botswana is the former British colony of Bechuanaland; Zambia was formerly Northern Rhodesia; and Namibia was once German South-West Africa.

Answer: Marseilles

Cave painting discovered in the region show that humans have occupied the area around Marseilles for some 30,000 years. The first city, established here around 600 BC and called Massalia, was established by Greek settlers from Phocaea, on the Aegean coast of Asia Minor (now in modern Turkey). A family of main-belt asteroids (the "Massalia family") are now known by the Greek name for the city.
With a population of more than 850,000 at the time of the 2011 Census, it was the second-largest city in France (after Paris) and its metropolitan area was smaller only than Paris and Lyon.