100 general knowledge quiz questions and answers

Looking for general knowledge quiz questions with answers? Here are 100 of them, sorted by topic and roughly by difficulty, with each round starting gentle and getting trickier. There are five bonus tiebreakers at the end for when two teams finish level.

They work as a UK pub quiz or a US trivia night: pick a few rounds, read them out, and mark as you go. If you'd rather pick by difficulty, the next section points you to easier and harder sets. Want it on a big screen with a scoreboard? Paste them into our free quiz creator.

Easy, medium or hard?

Each round here mixes levels. If you need a quiz pitched at one level, these are better fits:

• Easy quiz questions for families, beginners and warm-ups
• Hard quiz questions for regulars who've seen it all
• Funny quiz questions for office parties and relaxed nights
• Kids quiz questions for younger players

Geography quiz questions and answers

Capitals, rivers, mountains and a few places people mix up. For a bigger set, see our geography quiz questions.

1What is the capital city of France?Use in quizUse

Answer:Paris(click to reveal)

2Which river flows through London?Use in quizUse

Answer:The Thames(click to reveal)

3What is the largest continent by area?Use in quizUse

Answer:Asia(click to reveal)

4What is the largest country in the world by area?Use in quizUse

Answer:Russia(click to reveal)

5What ocean lies between Africa and Australia?Use in quizUse

Answer:Indian Ocean(click to reveal)

6In which mountain range would you find Mount Everest?Use in quizUse

Answer:The Himalayas(click to reveal)

7What is the capital of Canada?Use in quizUse

Answer:Ottawa (not Toronto)(click to reveal)

8What is the largest country in South America?Use in quizUse

Answer:Brazil(click to reveal)

9What is the capital of Iceland?Use in quizUse

Answer:Reykjavik(click to reveal)

10Machu Picchu, the ancient Inca citadel, is in which country?Use in quizUse

Answer:Peru(click to reveal)

11Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa, is in which country?Use in quizUse

Answer:Tanzania(click to reveal)

12What is the only country in the world whose name starts with the letter O?Use in quizUse

Answer:Oman(click to reveal)

13What is the capital of Mongolia?Use in quizUse

Answer:Ulaanbaatar(click to reveal)

14What is the deepest lake in the world?Use in quizUse

Answer:Lake Baikal (Russia)(click to reveal)

15What is the only sea with no coastline?Use in quizUse

Answer:The Sargasso Sea(click to reveal)

It's defined by ocean currents rather than land. Wikipedia has the details.

History general knowledge questions

From the Tudors to the Moon landing. More in our history quiz questions.

16Who was the first President of the United States?Use in quizUse

Answer:George Washington(click to reveal)

17Which ship sank on its maiden voyage in 1912?Use in quizUse

Answer:Titanic(click to reveal)

18In which year did World War II end?Use in quizUse

Answer:1945(click to reveal)

19Who was the first person to walk on the Moon?Use in quizUse

Answer:Neil Armstrong(click to reveal)

20What was the name of Henry VIII's first wife?Use in quizUse

Answer:Catherine of Aragon(click to reveal)

21Which ancient civilisation built the pyramids at Giza?Use in quizUse

Answer:The Ancient Egyptians(click to reveal)

22Who led Britain as Prime Minister for most of the Second World War?Use in quizUse

Answer:Winston Churchill(click to reveal)

23Which British monarch reigned for 63 years until her death in 1901?Use in quizUse

Answer:Queen Victoria(click to reveal)

24In what year did the Berlin Wall fall?Use in quizUse

Answer:1989(click to reveal)

25Which French emperor was exiled to the island of St Helena after Waterloo?Use in quizUse

Answer:Napoleon Bonaparte(click to reveal)

26What year did the American Civil War end?Use in quizUse

Answer:1865(click to reveal)

27Which wall did the Romans build across the north of England?Use in quizUse

Answer:Hadrian's Wall(click to reveal)

28What was the code name for the Allied invasion of Normandy in 1944?Use in quizUse

Answer:Operation Overlord(click to reveal)

29Who was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic?Use in quizUse

Answer:Amelia Earhart(click to reveal)

30In what year was the Magna Carta sealed?Use in quizUse

Answer:1215(click to reveal)

Science and nature quiz questions

Biology, chemistry, space and the human body. There's a longer set in our science quiz questions.

31What planet is known as the Red Planet?Use in quizUse

Answer:Mars(click to reveal)

32How many legs does a spider have?Use in quizUse

Answer:Eight(click to reveal)

33What is the chemical symbol for water?Use in quizUse

Answer:H2O(click to reveal)

34What gas do plants absorb from the air?Use in quizUse

Answer:Carbon dioxide(click to reveal)

35What is the largest mammal in the world?Use in quizUse

Answer:Blue whale(click to reveal)

36What is the largest planet in our solar system?Use in quizUse

Answer:Jupiter(click to reveal)

37What is the largest organ in the human body?Use in quizUse

Answer:Skin(click to reveal)

38What is the hardest natural substance on Earth?Use in quizUse

Answer:Diamond(click to reveal)

39How many bones are in the adult human body?Use in quizUse

Answer:206(click to reveal)

40Which planet is the hottest in our solar system?Use in quizUse

Answer:Venus (hotter than Mercury, thanks to its thick atmosphere)(click to reveal)

41What is the chemical symbol for gold?Use in quizUse

Answer:Au(click to reveal)

It comes from the Latin "aurum".

42Which type of blood cell carries oxygen around the body?Use in quizUse

Answer:Red blood cells(click to reveal)

43What gas makes up about 78% of Earth's atmosphere?Use in quizUse

Answer:Nitrogen(click to reveal)

44What does DNA stand for?Use in quizUse

Answer:Deoxyribonucleic acid(click to reveal)

45How many hearts does an octopus have?Use in quizUse

Answer:Three(click to reveal)

46What is the only metal that is liquid at room temperature?Use in quizUse

Answer:Mercury(click to reveal)

47What was the name of the ship Charles Darwin sailed on to the Galapagos Islands?Use in quizUse

Answer:HMS Beagle(click to reveal)

48What is the most abundant element in the universe?Use in quizUse

Answer:Hydrogen(click to reveal)

49At what temperature are Celsius and Fahrenheit equal?Use in quizUse

Answer:-40 degrees(click to reveal)

50What is the smallest bone in the human body?Use in quizUse

Answer:The stapes(click to reveal)

It's one of three tiny bones in the ear.

Entertainment quiz questions and answers

Film, music, books, TV and games.

51Who wrote the Harry Potter series?Use in quizUse

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

52What is the name of Mickey Mouse's girlfriend?Use in quizUse

Answer:Minnie Mouse(click to reveal)

53Which Disney film features the song "Let It Go"?Use in quizUse

Answer:Frozen(click to reveal)

54What band was Freddie Mercury the lead singer of?Use in quizUse

Answer:Queen(click to reveal)

55Who painted the Mona Lisa?Use in quizUse

Answer:Leonardo da Vinci(click to reveal)

56What streaming service produces Stranger Things?Use in quizUse

Answer:Netflix(click to reveal)

57Which singer is often called the Queen of Pop?Use in quizUse

Answer:Madonna(click to reveal)

58Which playwright wrote Hamlet?Use in quizUse

Answer:William Shakespeare(click to reveal)

59In which decade was the first iPhone released?Use in quizUse

Answer:The 2000s (2007, to be exact)(click to reveal)

60Disney's first full-length animated feature, released in 1937, was about which fairy-tale princess?Use in quizUse

Answer:Snow White(click to reveal)

61Which TV series follows a chemistry teacher called Walter White?Use in quizUse

Answer:Breaking Bad(click to reveal)

62What year did The Simpsons first air as a series?Use in quizUse

Answer:1989(click to reveal)

63Who wrote the novel Pride and Prejudice?Use in quizUse

Answer:Jane Austen(click to reveal)

64What was the first James Bond film?Use in quizUse

Answer:Dr. No (1962)(click to reveal)

65Who directed Citizen Kane?Use in quizUse

Answer:Orson Welles(click to reveal)

66Which novel begins with "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times"?Use in quizUse

Answer:A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens(click to reveal)

67Who composed The Four Seasons?Use in quizUse

Answer:Antonio Vivaldi(click to reveal)

68What is the best-selling video game of all time?Use in quizUse

Answer:Minecraft(click to reveal)

69What is the highest-grossing film franchise of all time?Use in quizUse

Answer:The Marvel Cinematic Universe(click to reveal)

70What was the first music video shown on MTV?Use in quizUse

Answer:Video Killed the Radio Star by The Buggles(click to reveal)

Sport general knowledge questions

A quick round for the sports fans. Want more? Try our sports quiz questions.

71Which sport uses a shuttlecock?Use in quizUse

Answer:Badminton(click to reveal)

72In which sport would you score a slam dunk?Use in quizUse

Answer:Basketball(click to reveal)

73How many holes are played in a full round of golf?Use in quizUse

Answer:18(click to reveal)

74How many players does a rugby union team have on the pitch?Use in quizUse

Answer:15(click to reveal)

75How often are the Summer Olympic Games held?Use in quizUse

Answer:Every four years(click to reveal)

76What colour jersey is worn by the leader of the Tour de France?Use in quizUse

Answer:Yellow(click to reveal)

77Which of the four tennis Grand Slams is played on grass?Use in quizUse

Answer:Wimbledon(click to reveal)

78Which city hosted the 2012 Summer Olympics?Use in quizUse

Answer:London(click to reveal)

79Which country won the men's FIFA World Cup in 2022?Use in quizUse

Answer:Argentina(click to reveal)

Food, language, maths and everything else

A mix of everything left over.

80What colour do you get when you mix red and blue?Use in quizUse

Answer:Purple(click to reveal)

81What is the currency of Japan?Use in quizUse

Answer:Yen(click to reveal)

82How many sides does a hexagon have?Use in quizUse

Answer:Six(click to reveal)

83What is the main ingredient in guacamole?Use in quizUse

Answer:Avocado(click to reveal)

84Which cheese is traditionally used on a Margherita pizza?Use in quizUse

Answer:Mozzarella(click to reveal)

85What is the fear of spiders called?Use in quizUse

Answer:Arachnophobia(click to reveal)

86What is the main ingredient in hummus?Use in quizUse

Answer:Chickpeas(click to reveal)

87How many keys does a standard piano have?Use in quizUse

Answer:88(click to reveal)

88What is the Roman numeral for 50?Use in quizUse

Answer:L(click to reveal)

89How many days are there in a leap year?Use in quizUse

Answer:366(click to reveal)

90What is the square root of 144?Use in quizUse

Answer:12(click to reveal)

91What is the smallest prime number?Use in quizUse

Answer:2(click to reveal)

92How many dots are on a pair of standard dice, in total?Use in quizUse

Answer:42(click to reveal)

Each die has 21.

93What does the Richter scale measure?Use in quizUse

Answer:Earthquake magnitude(click to reveal)

94What language has the most native speakers worldwide?Use in quizUse

Answer:Mandarin Chinese(click to reveal)

95What is the national animal of Scotland?Use in quizUse

Answer:The unicorn(click to reveal)

96What year was Wikipedia launched?Use in quizUse

Answer:2001(click to reveal)

97What animal's fingerprints are almost indistinguishable from human fingerprints?Use in quizUse

Answer:The koala(click to reveal)

98What is the only letter that doesn't appear in any US state name?Use in quizUse

Answer:Q(click to reveal)

99How many time zones does Russia have?Use in quizUse

Answer:11(click to reveal)

See Time in Russia.

100In what year did the euro become a currency?Use in quizUse

Answer:1999 (for electronic payments; notes and coins followed in 2002)(click to reveal)

Bonus tiebreaker questions

These all have a number for an answer, so the closest guess wins.

101In what year was the first email sent?Use in quizUse

Answer:1971(click to reveal)

102In what year did Google launch?Use in quizUse

Answer:1998(click to reveal)

103In what year was the first Harry Potter book published?Use in quizUse

Answer:1997(click to reveal)

104How many member states does the United Nations have?Use in quizUse

Answer:193 (UN member states)(click to reveal)

105What is the official height of Mount Everest in metres, to the nearest whole metre?Use in quizUse

Answer:8,849 metres(click to reveal)

Nepal and China agreed the figure in 2020. Wikipedia has the full story.

Using these general knowledge questions

Mix the difficulties. Don't put all the easy ones in round one. Every round should have some gimmes and a couple of toughies, so weaker teams stay in it and stronger teams still get tested.

Know your audience. For a work quiz, swap in a round about your industry. For a family quiz, lean on the entertainment and sport rounds.

Don't take it too seriously. Add commentary, celebrate good answers and accept sensible alternatives. For more on running the night, see how to run a great pub quiz.