Medium General Knowledge Trivia Questions

33 medium general knowledge trivia questions with answers

1. Which planet is known as the Red Planet?

   Answer: Mars Iron oxide dust in the soil gives the surface its rusty colour.Why?

2. Who painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel?

   Answer: Michelangelo He worked on it for roughly four years and considered himself a sculptor first.Why?

3. What is the tallest mountain above sea level?

   Answer: Mount Everest Measured from base to summit instead, Hawaii's Mauna Kea is far taller.

4. How many strings does a standard violin have?

   Answer: Four They are tuned in fifths: G, D, A and E.Why?

5. Which country hosted the first modern Olympic Games?

   Answer: Greece Athens, 1896.Why?

6. What is the study of earthquakes called?

   Answer: Seismology The instrument that records the shaking is a seismograph.Why?

7. Which vitamin does the body make from sunlight?

   Answer: Vitamin D Ultraviolet B light triggers its production in the skin.Why?

8. In which city is the Colosseum?

   Answer: Rome It could seat tens of thousands and had a retractable awning for shade.Why?

9. The Statue of Liberty holds a torch in one hand and what in the other?

   Answer: A tablet The tablet is inscribed with the date of American independence.

10. Which instrument measures atmospheric pressure?

    Answer: Barometer Falling pressure usually signals unsettled weather ahead.Why?

11. Rubies and sapphires are both gem varieties of which mineral?

    Answer: Corundum Trace chromium turns corundum red; iron and titanium turn it blue.

12. In Greek mythology, who was the messenger of the gods?

    Answer: Hermes The Romans called the same figure Mercury.

13. The Morse code signal for distress consists of which letters?

    Answer: SOS It was chosen for being easy to tap and hear, not as an abbreviation.

14. Which blood vessels carry blood away from the heart?

    Answer: Arteries Veins return it, helped by one-way valves in the limbs.Why?

15. Which artist painted the Mona Lisa?

    Answer: Leonardo da Vinci It has hung in the Louvre since the French Revolution, apart from wartime moves and a theft in 1911.

16. Which civilisation built Machu Picchu?

    Answer: Inca It was built around 1450 high in the Peruvian Andes and abandoned within about a century.

17. Which river flows through Paris?

    Answer: Seine The city grew from an island in the river, the Île de la Cité.

18. The Summer Olympic Games are normally held every how many years?

    Answer: Four Summer and Winter Games alternate, so one or the other happens every two years.

19. Which composer wrote the piece nicknamed the 'Moonlight Sonata'?

    Answer: Ludwig van Beethoven The nickname was coined by a critic after the composer's death, not by Beethoven himself.

20. What does the 'www' in a web address stand for?

    Answer: World Wide Web The system was proposed by Tim Berners-Lee at CERN in 1989.

21. Which British queen reigned for more than sixty years from 1837?

    Answer: Queen Victoria Her 63-year reign gave its name to an entire era of British history.

22. The word 'kindergarten' comes from which language?

    Answer: German It literally means 'children's garden' and was coined by Friedrich Fröbel in 1840.

23. In which sport is the Stanley Cup awarded?

    Answer: Ice hockey First awarded in 1893, it is the oldest trophy still contested by professional teams in North America.

24. Which is the largest hot desert in the world?

    Answer: Sahara Antarctica is technically the largest desert overall, which is why the word 'hot' matters.

25. Who wrote the novel 'Pride and Prejudice'?

    Answer: Jane Austen It was published in 1813 and opens with one of the most quoted first lines in English.

26. According to legend, Rome was founded by which twins?

    Answer: Romulus and Remus The story has them suckled by a she-wolf before Romulus killed his brother and named the city after himself.

27. Apart from the king, which chess piece is given the highest value in standard piece counting?

    Answer: Queen The queen counts as nine points against five for a rook and three for the minor pieces.

28. Which strait separates Europe from Africa at its narrowest point?

    Answer: Strait of Gibraltar At its narrowest the two continents are only about 14 kilometres apart.

29. A sonnet traditionally has how many lines?

    Answer: Fourteen Shakespeare's version splits them into three quatrains and a closing couplet.

30. Which metal is liquid at room temperature?

    Answer: Mercury Its low melting point made it the working fluid of thermometers for centuries.

31. Which of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World was a giant lighthouse?

    Answer: The Lighthouse of Alexandria It stood on the island of Pharos, which is why 'pharos' means lighthouse in several languages.

32. How many squares are there on a chessboard?

    Answer: 64 Eight ranks by eight files, alternating light and dark.

33. Which Italian city is famous for its canals and gondolas?

    Answer: Venice The city is built on more than a hundred small islands in a lagoon.