50 best pub quiz questions to steal for your next quiz night

Finding good pub quiz questions is harder than it looks. You want questions that make people think, spark a bit of debate, and give everyone a chance to contribute. After running dozens of quiz nights (and attending even more), here's a list of 50 questions that consistently work well.

These aren't trick questions or obscure facts that only one person in the room might know. They're proper quiz questions that reward general knowledge while keeping things fun.

General Knowledge Round

Let's start with the bread and butter of any quiz night.

1What is the capital city of Australia?

Answer:Canberra (not Sydney)(click to reveal)

2How many sides does a heptagon have?

Answer:Seven(click to reveal)

3In what year did the Titanic sink?

Answer:1912(click to reveal)

4What is the chemical symbol for gold?

Answer:Au(click to reveal)

5Which planet is known as the Red Planet?

Answer:Mars(click to reveal)

6What is the largest ocean on Earth?

Answer:Pacific Ocean(click to reveal)

7Who wrote the Harry Potter series?

Answer:J.K. Rowling(click to reveal)

8What is the smallest country in the world by area?

Answer:Vatican City(click to reveal)

9How many players are on a football team on the pitch?

Answer:11(click to reveal)

10What year did the Berlin Wall fall?

Answer:1989(click to reveal)

Geography Round

Geography questions are brilliant because they often trigger memories of holidays, documentaries, or that one fact someone learned years ago and has been waiting to use.

11What is the longest river in the world?

Answer:The Nile (though the Amazon is close)(click to reveal)

12Which country has the most natural lakes?

Answer:Canada(click to reveal)

13In which city would you find the Sagrada Familia?

Answer:Barcelona(click to reveal)

14What is the driest continent on Earth?

Answer:Antarctica (surprisingly)(click to reveal)

15Which two countries share the longest international border?

Answer:Canada and the United States(click to reveal)

16What is the capital of New Zealand?

Answer:Wellington (not Auckland)(click to reveal)

17The Great Barrier Reef is located off the coast of which country?

Answer:Australia(click to reveal)

18What is the smallest US state by area?

Answer:Rhode Island(click to reveal)

19Which European country has the longest coastline?

Answer:Norway (thanks to all those fjords)(click to reveal)

20What is the only country to border both the Atlantic and Indian Oceans?

Answer:South Africa(click to reveal)

Entertainment Round

This is where your younger and older team members can both shine. Mix up the decades and you'll see different people contributing.

21What was the first feature-length animated film ever released?

Answer:Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)(click to reveal)

22Which band had members called John, Paul, George and Ringo?

Answer:The Beatles(click to reveal)

23In the TV show Friends, what is the name of Ross's first wife?

Answer:Carol(click to reveal)

24What 1994 film stars Tom Hanks as a man who accidentally influences several historical events?

Answer:Forrest Gump(click to reveal)

25Which artist painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel?

Answer:Michelangelo(click to reveal)

26What is the highest-grossing film of all time (not adjusted for inflation)?

Answer:Avatar (2009)(click to reveal)

27In what year was the first iPhone released?

Answer:2007(click to reveal)

28Who played Jack in the 1997 film Titanic?

Answer:Leonardo DiCaprio(click to reveal)

29What Netflix series features a character called Eleven?

Answer:Stranger Things(click to reveal)

30Which British band released the album 'A Rush of Blood to the Head'?

Answer:Coldplay(click to reveal)

Science and Nature Round

Science questions can be tricky to pitch right. Too easy and they're boring, too hard and you lose everyone. These hit the sweet spot.

31What is the hardest natural substance on Earth?

Answer:Diamond(click to reveal)

32How many bones are in the adult human body?

Answer:206(click to reveal)

33What gas do plants absorb from the atmosphere?

Answer:Carbon dioxide(click to reveal)

34What is the largest mammal in the world?

Answer:Blue whale(click to reveal)

35At what temperature are Celsius and Fahrenheit equal?

Answer:-40 degrees(click to reveal)

36What is the powerhouse of the cell?

Answer:Mitochondria (yes, everyone remembers this one)(click to reveal)

37How long does it take for light from the Sun to reach Earth?

Answer:About 8 minutes(click to reveal)

38What is the most abundant gas in Earth's atmosphere?

Answer:Nitrogen (about 78%)(click to reveal)

39Which organ in the human body produces insulin?

Answer:Pancreas(click to reveal)

40What is the chemical formula for water?

Answer:H2O(click to reveal)

History Round

History questions work best when they connect to things people have actually heard of.

41In what century did Christopher Columbus first voyage to the Americas?

Answer:15th century (1492)(click to reveal)

42Who was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize?

Answer:Marie Curie (1903)(click to reveal)

43Which war was fought between the North and South regions of the United States?

Answer:The American Civil War(click to reveal)

44In what year did World War II end?

Answer:1945(click to reveal)

45Who was the first person to set foot on the Moon?

Answer:Neil Armstrong(click to reveal)

46What ship carried the Pilgrims to America in 1620?

Answer:The Mayflower(click to reveal)

47Which empire was ruled by Genghis Khan?

Answer:The Mongol Empire(click to reveal)

48In what decade did women gain equal voting rights in the UK?

Answer:1920s (1928 specifically)(click to reveal)

49Who was the British Prime Minister at the start of World War II?

Answer:Neville Chamberlain (not Churchill, who took over in 1940)(click to reveal)

50What ancient wonder was located in Alexandria, Egypt?

Answer:The Lighthouse of Alexandria (or Pharos)(click to reveal)

Using These Questions

Feel free to mix and match these questions into your own rounds. A few suggestions:

Don't read them in order. Mix up the difficulty so teams don't get discouraged by a run of tough questions or bored by easy ones.

Add some local flavour. Throw in a question or two about your town, your venue, or something topical that week. It makes the quiz feel personal.

Watch the room. If everyone's struggling, maybe throw in an easier bonus question. If they're flying through, add a tiebreaker.

The best quiz hosts adapt to their audience. These 50 questions are a solid foundation, but the magic happens when you make it your own.