Printable Trivia Questions and Answers

All 111 printable trivia questions with answers

1. How many zeros are written in the number one million?

   Answer: SixA billion, in the modern short scale, carries nine.General KnowledgeWhy?

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

   Answer: QueenThe queen counts as nine points against five for a rook and three for the minor pieces.General Knowledge

3. How many feet are there in a mile?

   Answer: 5,280The figure comes from eight furlongs of 660 feet each.General Knowledge

4. The Amazon river empties into which ocean?

   Answer: Atlantic OceanIts fresh water can be detected far out to sea from the Brazilian coast.Geography

5. Lake Victoria is shared by Uganda, Kenya and which other country?

   Answer: TanzaniaIt is Africa's largest lake and the main reservoir of the White Nile.Geography

6. Novosibirsk, Omsk and Irkutsk are cities in which region?

   Answer: SiberiaAll three grew along the Trans-Siberian Railway.Geography

7. Marie Curie is best known for her research into what?

   Answer: RadioactivityShe won Nobel Prizes in both physics and chemistry, still the only person honoured in two different sciences.Science

8. Bronze is an alloy of copper and which other metal?

   Answer: TinCopper mixed with zinc makes brass instead.Science

9. Avogadro's number is approximately what?

   Answer: 6.02 × 10^23It is the number of particles in one mole of any substance.Science

10. Julius Caesar was a leader of which ancient civilisation?

    Answer: RomeHe was assassinated by fellow senators in 44 BC.History

11. Cyrus the Great founded which empire in the sixth century BC?

    Answer: The Persian EmpireHis Achaemenid state stretched from the Aegean to the Indus.History

12. The Battle of Waterloo was fought in what is now which country?

    Answer: BelgiumThe battlefield lies a short way south of Brussels.History

13. In The Wizard of Oz, what colour are Dorothy's slippers in the film?

    Answer: Ruby redThey are silver in the original book; the film changed them for Technicolor.Movie

14. In film production, what is a storyboard?

    Answer: A sequence of drawings planning the shotsStoryboarding was developed at the Disney studio in the early 1930s and spread to live-action films.Movie

15. The 1926 feature The Adventures of Prince Achmed by Lotte Reiniger used which animation technique?

    Answer: Silhouette cut-outsIt is the oldest surviving animated feature film, made in Germany over three years.Movie

16. Taylor Swift's album 1989 is named after what?

    Answer: Her birth yearSwift was born in December 1989 and released the album in 2014.Music

17. In four-four time, how many beats does a semibreve (whole note) last?

    Answer: FourA minim lasts two beats and a crotchet one.Music

18. Sun Records, which made Elvis Presley's first recordings, was based in which city?

    Answer: MemphisSam Phillips founded the label in 1952 and sold Presley's contract to RCA in 1955.Music

19. The dot over a lowercase letter "i" has a name. What is it?

    Answer: TittleIt survives in the phrase "to a T", once "to a tittle", meaning to the smallest detail.Funny

20. A "murmuration" describes a swirling flock of which bird?

    Answer: StarlingsThousands of birds turn together with no leader, each tracking a handful of neighbours.Funny

21. "Defenestration" means throwing something out of what?

    Answer: A windowThe Defenestrations of Prague are real historical events that helped start a war.Funny

22. How many rings are on the Olympic flag?

    Answer: FiveThe five interlocking rings stand for the five inhabited continents.Sports

23. How many players are on a cricket team?

    Answer: ElevenThe twelfth man is a substitute who can field but not bat or bowl.Sports

24. The Fosbury Flop is a technique used in which event?

    Answer: High jumpDick Fosbury's backwards clearance won gold in 1968 and quickly became standard.Sports

25. Which American was the first person to walk on the Moon?

    Answer: Neil ArmstrongApollo 11 landed on July 20, 1969, with Aldrin following him out.US History

26. Nineteenth-century settlers heading west followed which famous overland route?

    Answer: The Oregon TrailIt ran roughly 2,000 miles from Missouri to the Willamette Valley.US History

27. The first shots of the American Revolution were fired in 1775 at which places?

    Answer: Lexington and ConcordEmerson later called it "the shot heard round the world".US History

28. Which is the fastest land animal over a short sprint?

    Answer: CheetahIt can hit around 100 km/h but only holds it for about twenty seconds.AnimalWhy?

29. An adult female horse is called a what?

    Answer: MareA filly is a young female; a colt is a young male.Animal

30. How many chambers does a bird's heart have?

    Answer: FourLike mammals, birds fully separate oxygenated and deoxygenated blood.AnimalWhy?

31. Which dairy product is made by churning cream?

    Answer: ButterChurning breaks the fat globules so they clump and separate from buttermilk.Food and Drink

32. Ceviche, raw fish cured in citrus juice, is most associated with which country?

    Answer: PeruThe acid firms the flesh in much the same way heat would.Food and Drink

33. Sous vide cooking involves what?

    Answer: Sealing food and cooking it in precisely controlled warm waterHolding a low temperature means the centre can never overshoot.Food and Drink

34. What is 15 squared?

    Answer: 225Any number ending in five squares to something ending in 25.MathWhy?

35. In a right triangle, which side is the hypotenuse?

    Answer: The longest side, opposite the right angleIt is always opposite the largest angle, which in a right triangle is the right angle.Math

36. Roughly what is the value of the golden ratio?

    Answer: 1.618It is the positive solution of x squared equals x plus one.Math

37. The Berlin Wall was opened in which year?

    Answer: 1989Crossings opened on the night of 9 November 1989 after a confused press briefing.80s

38. John Lennon was killed in New York in which year?

    Answer: 1980He died in December, weeks after releasing the album Double Fantasy.80s

39. Ridley Scott's 1982 science fiction film Blade Runner was adapted from a novel by which author?

    Answer: Philip K. DickThe source book was Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, published in 1968.80s

40. Toy Story, the first feature film animated entirely by computer, came from which studio?

    Answer: PixarIt was released in 1995 after four years of production.90s

41. Google was founded in 1998 by which pair?

    Answer: Larry Page and Sergey BrinThey built the first version as a research project while at Stanford.90s

42. The Channel Tunnel between England and France opened in which year?

    Answer: 1994The two boring machines had met beneath the seabed back in 1990.90s

43. The American version of The Office is set at a paper company branch in which town?

    Answer: ScrantonThe British original was set in Slough, and Stamford was a rival branch in the US show.TV

44. Coronation Street is set in which fictional place?

    Answer: WeatherfieldWeatherfield stands in for a working-class district of Greater Manchester.TV

45. Sesame Street first went on air in which year?

    Answer: 1969It was built on research into whether television could teach preschool children.TV

46. The custom of bringing a decorated evergreen tree indoors spread across Europe from which country?

    Answer: GermanyIt reached Britain widely after Prince Albert popularised it in the 1840s.Christmas

47. How many Yule Lads visit Icelandic children in the run-up to Christmas?

    Answer: ThirteenThey arrive one per night over the thirteen nights before Christmas.Christmas

48. In the Netherlands, Sinterklaas traditionally brings gifts on the evening of which date?

    Answer: 5 DecemberDutch families keep the main present-giving separate from Christmas Day itself.Christmas

49. Which colour pairing is traditionally used for Halloween decoration?

    Answer: Orange and blackOrange stands for the harvest and black for the dark half of the year.Halloween

50. Samhain marked the end of which season?

    Answer: The harvestCattle were brought in from summer pasture and stores were counted.Halloween

51. Which 1922 German film was an unauthorised adaptation of Dracula?

    Answer: NosferatuA court ordered the prints destroyed, but copies survived.Halloween

52. What is the capital of Japan?

    Answer: TokyoKyoto held the role until the imperial court moved east in 1868.World CapitalsWhy?

53. What is the capital of Iran?

    Answer: TehranIt sits at the foot of the Alborz mountains.World CapitalsWhy?

54. What is the capital of Liechtenstein?

    Answer: VaduzThe whole country has fewer residents than a mid-sized town.World CapitalsWhy?

55. Which Disney film features a young lion cub named Simba?

    Answer: The Lion KingThe Lion King was released in 1994.Disney

56. Mickey Mouse first appeared in which 1928 short film?

    Answer: Steamboat WilliePlane Crazy was produced earlier but Steamboat Willie was released first, with synchronised sound.Disney

57. Which Disney animated film features the villain Judge Claude Frollo?

    Answer: The Hunchback of Notre DameThe 1996 film adapts Victor Hugo's novel.Disney

58. Which school does Harry Potter attend?

    Answer: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and WizardryBeauxbatons and Durmstrang are the visiting schools in the fourth book.Harry Potter

59. What is the name of the Weasley twins?

    Answer: Fred and GeorgeThey leave school to open a joke shop in Diagon Alley.Harry Potter

60. Which dark wizard did Dumbledore defeat in a famous duel in 1945?

    Answer: Gellert GrindelwaldGrindelwald was afterwards imprisoned in Nurmengard.Harry Potter

61. Which Marvel hero uses a bow and arrow?

    Answer: HawkeyeClint Barton began in the comics as a villain before joining the Avengers.Marvel

62. Which actor played Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

    Answer: Chris HemsworthTom Hiddleston plays Loki in the same films.Marvel

63. Which actor played T'Challa in the 2018 film Black Panther?

    Answer: Chadwick BosemanMichael B. Jordan played the antagonist Killmonger in the same film.Marvel

64. Which garden is the setting of the opening story of Genesis?

    Answer: The Garden of EdenGethsemane appears much later, in the Gospel accounts.Bible

65. Which book of the Bible comes last in the Christian canon?

    Answer: RevelationMalachi closes the Old Testament in Christian arrangements.Bible

66. Which English Bible translation was published in 1611 under a Stuart king?

    Answer: The King James VersionThe Geneva Bible was the leading English version before it.Bible

67. Which Nintendo console, released in 2006, was built around motion controls?

    Answer: WiiIts remote used infrared sensing and accelerometers.2000s

68. Ridley Scott's Gladiator won Best Picture for which year?

    Answer: 2000Russell Crowe took Best Actor for the same film.2000s

69. Martin Scorsese won his first Best Director Oscar for which film?

    Answer: The DepartedThe win came at the 2007 ceremony.2000s

70. Which city hosted the 1972 Summer Olympics?

    Answer: MunichThe Games were overshadowed by an attack on the Israeli team.70s

71. Songs in the Key of Life, released in 1976, was recorded by whom?

    Answer: Stevie WonderIt was his third consecutive album to win the Grammy for Album of the Year.70s

72. The 1974 album Autobahn was released by which German group?

    Answer: KraftwerkIts long title track was edited down for a surprise hit single.70s

73. Which Indigenous nation took part in the 1621 harvest gathering?

    Answer: WampanoagTheir homeland covered much of present-day southeastern Massachusetts.Thanksgiving

74. In which year was the Plymouth harvest feast held?

    Answer: 1621It came a year after the settlers landed.Thanksgiving

75. The Plymouth colonists became widely known as Pilgrims mainly during which century?

    Answer: The 19thThe label spread as New England writers built up the founding story.Thanksgiving

76. Which bird is used as a symbol of faithful pairing on Valentine's cards?

    Answer: DoveDoves were associated with Venus in Roman art.Valentine's Day

77. In which country is White Day, on 14 March, a return-gift occasion?

    Answer: JapanWomen give chocolate in February and receive gifts a month later.Valentine's Day

78. In Ghana, 14 February is also promoted as a national day celebrating which product?

    Answer: ChocolateThe country is one of the world's major cocoa growers.Valentine's Day

79. The Miami Dolphins play in which state?

    Answer: FloridaFlorida also hosts franchises in Jacksonville and Tampa Bay.NFL

80. Cleveland's franchise relocated in 1996 and was renamed what?

    Answer: Baltimore RavensCleveland kept the Browns name, colors and records for a new team in 1999.NFL

81. The 1967 NFL Championship known as the Ice Bowl was contested by which two teams?

    Answer: Packers and CowboysKickoff temperature in Green Bay was around minus thirteen Fahrenheit.NFL

82. What does a yellow card indicate?

    Answer: A formal cautionThe player's name is recorded, which is why it is called being booked.Soccer

83. Bayern Munich compete in which country's league?

    Answer: GermanyMunich is the capital of Bavaria.Soccer

84. The San Siro stadium in Milan is shared by which two clubs?

    Answer: AC Milan and Inter MilanInter officially call the ground the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium.Soccer

85. What name is given to the four-year period between Games?

    Answer: An OlympiadThe ancient Greeks used Olympiads as a way of counting years.Olympics

86. In which Olympic combat sport does a scoring throw called an ippon end the bout?

    Answer: JudoAn ippon is a full point and wins immediately.Olympics

87. What is the Olympic Charter?

    Answer: The rulebook governing the Olympic MovementIt sets out the principles, the role of the IOC and the conditions for the Games.Olympics

88. What is the Sunday before Easter called?

    Answer: Palm SundayIt recalls the entry into Jerusalem, when palm branches were laid down.Easter

89. How is the date of Easter calculated?

    Answer: The first Sunday after the first full moon on or after March 21The full moon used is a calculated church moon, not the astronomical one.Easter

90. Simnel cake, topped with marzipan balls, is an Easter tradition in which country?

    Answer: The United KingdomThe balls are usually eleven, standing for the apostles minus Judas.Easter

91. Ross and Rachel's daughter is named what?

    Answer: EmmaEmma is born at the end of season eight; Erica is the name of the baby Monica and Chandler adopt.Friends

92. Friends was created by David Crane and which writing partner?

    Answer: Marta KauffmanCrane and Kauffman created the show with Kevin Bright as the third executive producer.Friends

93. Jack Geller was played by which actor?

    Answer: Elliott GouldRon Leibman played Rachel's father, Dr. Leonard Green.Friends

94. Pam Beesly was played by which actress?

    Answer: Jenna FischerFischer played Pam from the receptionist's desk in season one through to the finale.The Office

95. Andy's a cappella group from his university days is called what?

    Answer: Here Comes TrebleHe mentions Cornell and the group at every opportunity, which becomes a joke in itself.The Office

96. Idris Elba played which corporate figure sent to run the Scranton branch?

    Answer: Charles MinerCharles Miner is the humourless vice president whose arrival prompts Michael to resign.The Office

97. The 1977 Star Wars film was written and directed by whom?

    Answer: George LucasLucas directed the first film and later both the opening and closing prequel instalments.Star Wars

98. Emperor Palpatine's Sith name is what?

    Answer: Darth SidiousDarth Tyranus is Count Dooku's Sith name, not the Emperor's.Star Wars

99. Rey was played by which actress?

    Answer: Daisy RidleyRidley led the three sequel-trilogy films.Star Wars

100. Legolas, a member of the Fellowship, belongs to which people?

     Answer: ElvesHe is the son of Thranduil, king of the Woodland Realm.Lord of the Rings

101. Elrond's refuge, where the Council is held, is called what?

     Answer: RivendellIts Elvish name is Imladris, and Bilbo retires there.Lord of the Rings

102. Éowyn was played by which actress in the films?

     Answer: Miranda OttoLiv Tyler played Arwen and Cate Blanchett played Galadriel.Lord of the Rings

103. Miami's NBA franchise is called the what?

     Answer: HeatThe club joined the league as an expansion team in 1988.NBA

104. Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles was previously known by what name?

     Answer: Staples CenterThe building opened as Staples Center in 1999 and was renamed in 2021.NBA

105. How long is a regulation NBA court?

     Answer: 94 feetThe court is fifty feet wide; high school courts are typically ten feet shorter.NBA

106. How many fielders does a team put on the field on defense?

     Answer: NinePitcher, catcher, four infielders and three outfielders make up the nine.Baseball

107. How many hitters are in a standard batting order?

     Answer: NineThe order runs continuously, so after the ninth batter it returns to the top.Baseball

108. In traditional scorekeeping notation, which position is numbered 6?

     Answer: ShortstopThe numbering runs from the pitcher at one round to the right fielder at nine.Baseball

109. The Lone Star State is which state?

     Answer: TexasThe single star comes from its flag as an independent republic in the 1830s.US States

110. Most of Yellowstone National Park lies within which state?

     Answer: WyomingSmall slivers of the park extend into Montana and Idaho.US States

111. Montpelier is the capital of which state?

     Answer: VermontIt is the least populous state capital in the country.US States