100 World History Trivia Questions (1)

[A] Sobekneferu | Sobekneferu ruled as pharaoh around 1800 BCE and legitimized her rule with male royal titles, long before Hatshepsut or Cleopatra.

[B] Sumerian | Mesopotamia’s Sumerians developed cities, writing, and law codes millennia before other Bronze Age cultures.

[A] Athens and Sparta | The decades‑long conflict pitted democratic Athens against militaristic Sparta, reshaping Greek power balances.

[B] Egypt | The famed library in Alexandria, Egypt, sought to collect all knowledge, drawing scholars like Euclid and Archimedes.

[C] Iraq | Babylon’s ruins lie near modern‑day Hillah in Iraq along the Euphrates River, not far from Baghdad.

[D] Papyrus | Egyptians pressed reeds from the Nile into papyrus sheets centuries before animal‑skin parchment became common.

[A] China | Qin Shi Huang’s massive clay army buried in Xi’an reflects China’s first imperial dynasty and obsessive quest for immortality.

[B] Code of Hammurabi | Babylonian king Hammurabi’s code inscribed 282 laws around 1750 BCE, predating Rome’s Twelve Tables by a millennium.

[D] Egypt | Built circa 2560 BCE for Pharaoh Khufu, the Great Pyramid is the only surviving ancient wonder located near Cairo.

[D] 776 BCE | Ancient Greeks staged the first recorded Olympics at Olympia in 776 BCE, inspiring the modern games millennia later.

[A] Zhang Heng | Chinese polymath Zhang Heng designed a bronze earthquake sensor in 132 CE that used balls and dragons to detect tremors.

[C] Wall Street Crash | The stock market collapse on Black Tuesday triggered a global economic downturn lasting through the 1930s.

[C] Yuri Gagarin | Soviet cosmonaut Gagarin orbited Earth on 12 April 1961, beating the American Mercury program to the milestone.

[D] Berlin | The fall of the Berlin Wall symbolized the end of Cold War divisions and paved the way for German reunification.

[D] 1986 | A reactor explosion in April 1986 released radiation across Europe, leading to evacuations and renewed safety protocols.

[B] Tunisia | Mohamed Bouazizi’s self‑immolation in Tunisia sparked protests that toppled long‑time leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

[C] Nelson Mandela | Mandela’s election ended decades of apartheid and inspired global movements for equality and reconciliation.

[D] Sri Lanka | Sirimavo Bandaranaike became the world’s first female prime minister in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) after her husband’s assassination.

[A] Netherlands | Dutch legislation in 2001 made the Netherlands the pioneer in marriage equality, inspiring reforms across Europe.

[D] Mesopotamia | Mesopotamia’s fertile crescent fostered agriculture, cuneiform writing, and the first cities like Uruk and Babylon.

[C] Tutankhamun | Tutankhamun ascended at around age nine and his tomb’s treasures captivated modern archaeologists after 1922.

[D] Socrates | Accused of corrupting youth, Socrates embraced his death in 399 BCE, inspiring dialogues by his student Plato.

[A] Qin | Qin Shi Huang’s dynasty connected earthen fortifications, a precursor to the Ming dynasty’s stone sections.

[C] Sparta | Sparta’s militaristic society emphasized discipline and martial skill, contrasting Athens’s democratic culture.

[C] Before Christ and Anno Domini | Western dating conventions label years relative to Christ’s birth (Anno Domini meaning “in the year of the Lord”).

[A] Central America | Mayan city‑states arose in modern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and Honduras, excelling in astronomy and mathematics.

[A] Hades | Hades, brother of Zeus and Poseidon, presided over the realm of the dead in ancient Greek religion.

[D] Rome | Rome’s Flavian amphitheater hosted gladiator contests and public spectacles during the Roman Empire.

[C] Homo habilis | Homo habilis fossils show tool‑making abilities that marked a step toward modern Homo sapiens.

[D] Gupta Empire | The Gupta period (4th–6th century CE) saw advances in science, mathematics, art, and literature, including the concept of zero.