History Trivia

**George Washington.** He served from 1789 to 1797 and is often called the "Father of His Country."

**1945.** Germany surrendered in May, and Japan surrendered in September after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

**The Great Pyramid of Giza.** It was built around 2560 BCE for Pharaoh Khufu.

**Alexander Fleming.** He accidentally discovered it in 1928 when mold contaminated a petri dish in his lab.

**The Roman Empire.** Caesar was a military general and statesman who played a critical role in the events that led to the demise of the Roman Republic.

**1989.** The fall of the Berlin Wall symbolized the end of the Cold War and the reunification of Germany.

**Neil Armstrong.** He stepped onto the lunar surface on July 20, 1969, during the Apollo 11 mission.

**HMS Beagle.** The voyage lasted from 1831 to 1836 and inspired his theory of evolution by natural selection.

**The Inca Empire.** It was built in the 15th century and later abandoned during the Spanish Conquest.

**The Magna Carta.** It established the principle that everyone, including the king, was subject to the law.

**Thomas Jefferson.** It was adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776.

**Delaware.** It ratified the Constitution on December 7, 1787.

**Andrew Johnson.** The purchase was negotiated by Secretary of State William Seward in 1867.

**The Mayflower.** It landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620.

**Amelia Earhart.** She completed the flight in 1932.

**Slavery and states' rights.** The secession of Southern states was driven primarily by the issue of slavery.

**1929.** Black Tuesday was October 29, 1929.

**The 13th Amendment.** It was ratified in 1865.

**Woodrow Wilson.** He led the U.S. from 1913 to 1921.

**The Manhattan Project.** It ran from 1942 to 1946.

**Augustus (Octavian).** He became emperor in 27 BCE after the fall of the Roman Republic.

**A bubonic plague pandemic.** It devastated Europe in the mid-14th century, killing an estimated 25–30 million people.

**Genghis Khan.** He united the Mongol tribes and created the largest contiguous land empire in history.

**The Inca Empire.** It was built in the 15th century in modern-day Peru.

**HMS Beagle.** The voyage lasted from 1831 to 1836.

**Nicholas II.** He abdicated in 1917 and was executed with his family in 1918.

**An ancient network of trade routes.** It connected the East and West from China to the Mediterranean.

**Michelangelo.** (Also an art question — acceptable overlap.)

**The Treaty of Versailles.** It was signed on June 28, 1919.

**Alexander Fleming.** (Also a history question — acceptable overlap.)

**Zeus.** He ruled from Mount Olympus and controlled thunder and lightning.

**Mjölnir.** It was said to be capable of leveling mountains.

**Athena.** She was also the goddess of warfare and handicraft.

**The Minotaur.** It lived in the Labyrinth built by Daedalus.

**Osiris.** He was judge of the dead and lord of the underworld.

**It had no specific name.** It was simply referred to as the wooden horse or Trojan Horse.

**Jupiter.** The Romans adopted and renamed many Greek gods.

**Cerberus.** He prevented the dead from leaving.

**Loki.** He was a shape-shifter and known for causing trouble among the gods.

**Excalibur.** In some versions, he pulled it from a stone; in others, it was given by the Lady of the Lake.