History36 Trivia Questions12 Easy · 17 Medium · 7 Hard

Historical Trivia: 36 Petty Feuds, Royal Blunders & Absurd True Events Your History Teacher Skipped

Skip the dry dates and treaties—explore 36 hilariously petty wars, royal disasters, and verified historical misadventures that actually happened.

Where did two Frenchmen fight a duel over a Paris Opera dancer in May 1808?

Question 1 of 36Medium

1.Where did two Frenchmen fight a duel over a Paris Opera dancer in May 1808?

What malfunction forced the high-tech German submarine U-1206 to surface and sink in 1945?

Question 2 of 36Hard

2.What malfunction forced the high-tech German submarine U-1206 to surface and sink in 1945?

How did President Andrew Jackson finally get rid of the 1,400-pound cheese wheel in the White House?

Question 3 of 36Easy

3.How did President Andrew Jackson finally get rid of the 1,400-pound cheese wheel in the White House?

Why did the Polish Army officially enlist a 440-pound brown bear named Wojtek as a Private in WWII?

Question 4 of 36Medium

4.Why did the Polish Army officially enlist a 440-pound brown bear named Wojtek as a Private in WWII?

Which city's coffeehouses simultaneously hosted Trotsky, Tito, Freud, Stalin, and Hitler in January 1913?

Question 5 of 36Hard

5.Which city's coffeehouses simultaneously hosted Trotsky, Tito, Freud, Stalin, and Hitler in January 1913?

What did conductor Patrick Gilmore wire to his podium for Boston's 1869 Peace Jubilee concert?

Question 6 of 36Easy

6.What did conductor Patrick Gilmore wire to his podium for Boston's 1869 Peace Jubilee concert?

What pet did poet Lord Byron keep in his Cambridge dorm because dogs were banned?

Question 7 of 36Medium

7.What pet did poet Lord Byron keep in his Cambridge dorm because dogs were banned?

Why did the Spanish town of Huéscar sign a peace treaty with Denmark in 1981?

Question 8 of 36Hard

8.Why did the Spanish town of Huéscar sign a peace treaty with Denmark in 1981?

What drove the British army out of Washington, D.C. the day after they burned the White House?

Question 9 of 36Easy

9.What drove the British army out of Washington, D.C. the day after they burned the White House?

Who was dressed in a waistcoat and trousers to stand trial in Falaise, France in 1386?

Question 10 of 36Medium

10.Who was dressed in a waistcoat and trousers to stand trial in Falaise, France in 1386?

Why did a Parisian policeman stop the winning car at the end of the 1908 New York-to-Paris Race?

Question 11 of 36Medium

11.Why did a Parisian policeman stop the winning car at the end of the 1908 New York-to-Paris Race?

What did the Indiana House of Representatives vote 67–0 to legally change in 1897?

Question 12 of 36Easy

12.What did the Indiana House of Representatives vote 67–0 to legally change in 1897?

What unusual epidemic forced 14 schools to close in Tanganyika in 1962?

Question 13 of 36Hard

13.What unusual epidemic forced 14 schools to close in Tanganyika in 1962?

Why did British spies plot to sneak estrogen into Hitler's carrots during WWII?

Question 14 of 36Medium

14.Why did British spies plot to sneak estrogen into Hitler's carrots during WWII?

What killed King Adolf Frederick of Sweden after a royal banquet in 1771?

Question 15 of 36Medium

15.What killed King Adolf Frederick of Sweden after a royal banquet in 1771?

Liechtenstein sent 80 soldiers to the 1866 Austro-Prussian War—how many came back?

Question 16 of 36Easy

16.Liechtenstein sent 80 soldiers to the 1866 Austro-Prussian War—how many came back?

Why did crowds panic over a chicken in Leeds, England in 1806?

Question 17 of 36Hard

17.Why did crowds panic over a chicken in Leeds, England in 1806?

How did French cavalry soldiers capture 14 Dutch warships at Den Helder in 1795?

Question 18 of 36Medium

18.How did French cavalry soldiers capture 14 Dutch warships at Den Helder in 1795?

When King Conrad III let besieged wives leave with 'whatever they could carry,' what did they haul out?

Question 19 of 36Medium

19.When King Conrad III let besieged wives leave with 'whatever they could carry,' what did they haul out?

Which sport's Hall of Fame inducted Abraham Lincoln after he went 299–1 on the frontier?

Question 20 of 36Easy

20.Which sport's Hall of Fame inducted Abraham Lincoln after he went 299–1 on the frontier?

How did Persian King Xerxes I officially punish the ocean after a storm wrecked his bridge?

Question 21 of 36Hard

21.How did Persian King Xerxes I officially punish the ocean after a storm wrecked his bridge?

What bizarre backyard accident killed 27-year-old King Alexander of Greece in 1920?

Question 22 of 36Medium

22.What bizarre backyard accident killed 27-year-old King Alexander of Greece in 1920?

What triggered an armed military standoff between the US and Britain on San Juan Island in 1859?

Question 23 of 36Medium

23.What triggered an armed military standoff between the US and Britain on San Juan Island in 1859?

How did Cuban postman Andarín Carvajal spend part of the 1904 Olympic Marathon—and still finish 4th?

Question 24 of 36Easy

24.How did Cuban postman Andarín Carvajal spend part of the 1904 Olympic Marathon—and still finish 4th?

What fashion crime sparked an 8-day riot across New York City in September 1922?

Question 25 of 36Medium

25.What fashion crime sparked an 8-day riot across New York City in September 1922?

Why didn't Pope Formosus speak a word in his own defense at his 897 AD trial?

Question 26 of 36Hard

26.Why didn't Pope Formosus speak a word in his own defense at his 897 AD trial?

What did Russian nobles have to carry in their pocket to avoid being shaved by police in 1698?

Question 27 of 36Easy

27.What did Russian nobles have to carry in their pocket to avoid being shaved by police in 1698?

Why did France blockade and invade Veracruz, Mexico in 1838?

Question 28 of 36Medium

28.Why did France blockade and invade Veracruz, Mexico in 1838?

What was the only casualty of the 1784 war between the Dutch and the Holy Roman Empire?

Question 29 of 36Medium

29.What was the only casualty of the 1784 war between the Dutch and the Holy Roman Empire?

What flooded the streets of London in a 15-foot wave in October 1814?

Question 30 of 36Easy

30.What flooded the streets of London in a 15-foot wave in October 1814?

Why did 39,000 soldiers fight a bloody battle between Bologna and Modena in 1325?

Question 31 of 36Medium

31.Why did 39,000 soldiers fight a bloody battle between Bologna and Modena in 1325?

What high-ranking job did Emperor Caligula plan to give his racehorse?

Question 32 of 36Easy

32.What high-ranking job did Emperor Caligula plan to give his racehorse?

How did Strasbourg doctors try to cure the 'Dancing Plague' of 1518?

Question 33 of 36Medium

33.How did Strasbourg doctors try to cure the 'Dancing Plague' of 1518?

What drowned Boston's North End in a 25-foot-tall wave in 1919?

Question 34 of 36Medium

34.What drowned Boston's North End in a 25-foot-tall wave in 1919?

Who defeated the Australian Army's machine-gunners in November 1932?

Question 35 of 36Easy

35.Who defeated the Australian Army's machine-gunners in November 1932?

Which animal ambushed Napoleon Bonaparte and chased him into his carriage?

Question 36 of 36Easy

36.Which animal ambushed Napoleon Bonaparte and chased him into his carriage?