100 World History Trivia Questions (2)

[A] Dead Sea | The landlocked Dead Sea is Earth’s saltiest hypersaline lake, lying at the lowest elevation on the planet.

[B] Athens | The legendary messenger’s run inspired the modern marathon, commemorating victory over Persia in 490 BCE.

[D] Venus de Milo | The Hellenistic statue likely portrays Aphrodite and was unearthed on a Cycladic island in 1820.

[A] Emancipation Proclamation | Abraham Lincoln’s wartime measure shifted the Civil War’s focus to emancipation and allowed Black men to join the Union Army.

[B] Bessie Coleman | Coleman earned her pilot’s license in 1921 after training in France, inspiring a generation of Black aviators.

[C] 1775 | Clashes at Lexington and Concord in April 1775 sparked the colonies’ fight for independence from Britain.

[B] Sacagawea | Sacagawea’s language skills and knowledge of the terrain aided the Corps of Discovery’s western expedition.

[D] Richard Nixon | Nixon’s role as vice president (1953–1961) elevated him to national prominence before his own presidency.

[A] Ancestral Puebloans | Known as Anasazi, the Ancestral Puebloans constructed multi‑story stone homes in the cliffs of the American Southwest.

[C] Oregon | In the 19th century, settlers braved 2,000 miles to reach Oregon’s fertile Willamette Valley by covered wagon.

[D] Abigail Adams | In 1776, Abigail Adams wrote to John Adams advocating for women’s rights in the new laws of the United States.

[C] Hammurabi | Hammurabi’s code described harsh punishments based on social status, influencing later legal traditions.

[A] Epic of Gilgamesh | The ancient poem follows King Gilgamesh and his companion Enkidu, making it one of the world’s oldest literary works.

[B] Suez Canal | The Suez Canal shortened trade routes between Europe and Asia, transforming global commerce and colonization.

[B] Helots | Helots were conquered Messenians who farmed Spartan lands and occasionally revolted against their masters.

[A] Pericles | Pericles championed democracy and oversaw construction projects that made Athens a cultural beacon.

[C] Delian League | Headquartered on the island of Delos, the league funded Athens’s navy and eventually fueled imperial ambitions.

[D] Delian and Peloponnesian | Athens’s Delian League clashed with Sparta’s Peloponnesian League for dominance over the Greek world.

[A] Macedonia | The Macedonian king conquered Greece, Persia, and Egypt before his death at 32, spreading Hellenistic culture.

[D] Parthenon | The Parthenon’s Doric columns and friezes epitomize classical Greek architecture and celebrate civic pride.

[C] Fall of the Ming dynasty | Manchu forces captured Beijing in 1644, ending Ming rule and beginning the Qing era that lasted until 1912.

[B] Treaty of Westphalia | Signed in 1648, it introduced the concept of state sovereignty and redrew the religious map of Europe.

[C] James Hargreaves | Hargreaves’s 1764 invention allowed workers to spin multiple threads at once, fueling the Industrial Revolution.

[B] Charles Darwin | Darwin’s 1859 book proposed natural selection as the mechanism of evolution, challenging Victorian beliefs.

[D] Italy | Garibaldi’s Redshirts captured Sicily and Naples, paving the way for the Kingdom of Italy in 1861.

[A] Waterloo | At Waterloo in present‑day Belgium, the Duke of Wellington and Prussian forces ended Napoleon’s comeback.

[A] Union of England and Scotland | The act created the Kingdom of Great Britain, merging parliaments and economy under one crown.

[D] British East India Company | The company wielded quasi‑governmental powers, maintaining armies and negotiating treaties across South Asia.

[B] Shah Abbas I | Safavid Iran reached cultural and economic heights under Abbas I, who built Isfahan’s iconic Naqsh-e Jahan Square.

[C] 1787 | Britain’s First Fleet sailed in 1787, establishing a penal colony at Sydney Cove the following year.