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About This Quiz
Plenty of people are one-hit-wonders when it comes to knowing everything about a topic. They dive into something about which they are passionate, whether it's sports, TV, history or science, and pride themselves on an encyclopedic knowledge of the subject. While such passion is admirable, the trivia master of all trades is much less common.
This quiz is for the knowledge buffs, those who love the act of learning so much that it transcends subject matter. If you know as much about the greatest moments in entertainment history as you do about WWI, then this just might be the quiz for you.
Of course, acing a quiz like this won't come easy; you'll have to think way back to the stuff you learned in school, recall classics of American literature, add in a few global brand icons and some mindless television trivia, and top it all with a touch of current events to earn a score worth bragging about to your friends.
Think you've got what it takes to breeze through these questions and show off the breadth of your knowledge? Take our quiz to prove it!
1859
1919
1959
The U.S. gained not only its 50th​ but also its 49th state in 1959 with the addition of Alaska and Hawaii. Alaska came first, in January, followed by Hawaii in August.
1979
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"M*A*S*H*"
"The Golden Girls"
Betty White starred as Rose Nylund on "The Golden Girls," which ran from 1985 to 1992. The series featured White, Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan and Esetelle Getty enjoying their golden years as a makeshift family.
"The Brady Bunch"
"Father Knows Best"
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Albert Einstein
It was Einstein who developed this famous formula, known as the mass-energy equilibrium. He also developed the theory of relativity, earning him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921.
Louis Pasteur
Marie Curie
Alexander Graham Bell
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1939
1969
Armstrong walked on the moon in July 1969. He was part of the Apollo 11 mission, with fellow astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins.
1989
2009
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Bart
Lisa
Maggie
Nelson
"The Simpsons" premiered in 1989 and launched its 30th season in 2018. This beloved series focuses on Marge and Homer Simpson, who are parents to three children named Bart, Lisa, ​and Maggie.
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Telephone
Television
Printing press
In the 1400s, German Johannes Gutenberg developed movable type, leading to a successful printing press. His invention made widespread literacy possible, and helped spur everything from the Renaissance to the Scientific Revolution.
Telescope
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Colonists
Confederacy
The south became known as the Confederacy as they took on the northern Union states during the American Civil War. The bloody event ended in 1865 when Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House in Virginia.
Union
Apache
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1999
2004
2009
Barrack Obama became the 44th President -- and the first African-American to hold the office on January 20, 2009. Before becoming president, he was a lawyer and a s​enator representing Illinois.
2014
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"The Great Gatsby"
"The Grapes of Wrath"
"To Kill a Mockingbird"
"To Kill a Mockingbird" earned Harper Lee a Pulitzer Prize after it was published in 1960. Her novel of racial tensions in the 1930s south featured a narrator named Jean Finch -- also known as Scout.
"Moby Dick"
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Gu
Gd
Au
Gold, which has atomic number 79, is represented by the symbol Au. Its shimmery metal cousin, silver, has a similar symbol -- Ag.
Tn
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Vietnam
Korea
WWI
WWII
World War II endured from 1939 to 1945. While many countries were involved, the U.S. remained largely unaffected until a disastrous bombing of a U.S. military base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in 1941.
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1945
1965
The iconic American muscle car, the Ford Mustang, came out in mid-1965. Purists call the earliest models the "64-1/2" because it came out earlier than the typical auto release for the year.
1985
2005
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4
6
8
A cup consists of 8 liquid ounces. There are 2 cups in a pint, and 8 pints per gallon. Knowing these quick measurement swaps is useful for everything from baking to counting calories.
12
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His mom
Kristin
A major cliffhanger in season three of the show, "Dallas," left fans wondering who shot J.R. Ewing, played by Larry Hagman. After an unbearable off-season, fans learned it was J.R.'s own sister-in-law who pulled the trigger.
Dusty
Vaughn
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WWI
The assasination of Austria's Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914 was a key event that helped to set off WWI. The war pitted the Allies, which included France, England, Russia, the U.S. and Japan, against the Axis powers of Germany, Austria and the Ottoman Empire.
WWII
War of 1812
Civil War
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London
Manchester
Liverpool
The Fab Four hailed from Liverpool, a working-class city in northern England. Fans can still visit Liverpool today and see places like Strawberry Fields or Penny Lane.
Oxford
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1991
2001
September 11, 2001, is a day that will forever be remembered in the U.S. On that day, a terrorist attack by al-Qaeda claimed almost 3,000 lives.
2008
2014
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"Black or White"
Michael Jackson's "Thriller" album was the best-selling album of 1983, and one of the best-selling albums of all time. In addition to the title track, it featured hits like "Beat it" and "Billie Jean" -- but "Black or White" appeared on a different album.
"Thriller"
"Beat It"
"Billie Jean"
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1.0
2.54
Metric or imperial? It doesn't matter if you know some basic rules of switching from one to another. For instance, an inch is equal to 2.54 centimeters, and there are 30.48 centimeters in one foot.
4.25
7.11
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Harper Lee
Jane Austen
Mark Twain
Charlotte Bronte
English writer Charlotte Bronte created the masterful classic, "Jane Eyre." Her sister Emily is famous for writing another classic novel, "Wuthering Heights."
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12th
19th
Just 100 years ago, women didn't have the right to elect their leaders. That all changed with the 19th amendment, which gave women in the U.S. the right to vote.
21st
26th
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Sydney
Melbourne
Canberra
The capital of Australia is probably not a city you're all that familiar with. The city of Canberra, home to 410,000 people, is located about 170 miles south of Sydney and is home to the nation's administrative headquarters.
Perth
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106
156
206
Humans are born with 270 bones, which fuses to 206 by adulthood. About half of these bones are located in the hands and feet.
306
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Free the slaves
In January 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued his iconic Emancipation Proclamation. This order freed the slaves, granting more than 3.5 million people a whole new life.
End the Civil War
Make Lincoln the president
Declare Christianity as the official U.S. religion
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New York
Paris
At 1,063 feet tall, the Eiffel Tower soars high above the city of Paris, France. Made from iron, it was erected in 1889 to serve as the entrance to the World's Fair.
London
Tokyo
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Iraq
The Sumerian people developed the first written language, known as cuneiform, around 2600 BC. They lived in Mesopotamia, which is now known as Iraq.
Egypt
Russia
Mexico
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1689
1739
1789
George Washington served as a General in the American Revolutionary War. He was elected the first President of the U.S. in 1789, a title he held until 1797.
1889
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Mammalia
Biologists divide all living things into five Kingdoms. These include Prokaryotae, Protoctista, Fungi, Plantae and Animalia.
Plantae
Fungi
Animalia
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Florida
Pennsylvania
Four planes were hijacked during the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001. Two were flown into the World Trade Center, one flew into the Pentagon, and the fourth crashed into a field in Pennsylvania.
Montana
New Jersey
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Atlanta
John Pemberton invented Coca-Cola in his Atlanta pharmacy in 1886. Rival Pepsi began in New Bern, North Carolina, in 1893.
Boston
Charlotte
Dallas
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Washington
Lincoln
Taft
Completed in 1941, Mt. Rushmore National Monument is carved into the Black Hills of South Dakota. It's adorned with the faces of four Presidents: Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson and Roosevelt.
Jefferson
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Elizabeth Taylor
Vivian Leigh
Shirley Temple
Judy Garland
A young Judy Garland starred as Dorothy in the 1939 film, "The Wizard of Oz." The film, based on the classic L. Frank Baum novel, has been remade many times since on film and stage.
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Computer
Polio vaccine
In 1954, Jonas Salk put his polio vaccine to the test, injecting it into millions. It was a huge success, and saved thousands of children from the horrific paralysis and death associated with the disease.
Pasteurization
Pagers
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Ancient Greek
Latin
Cuneiform
Hieroglyphics
The Rosetta Stone was a seemingly banal document discovered in 1799. Because it contained the same information carved in three separate languages, it allowed archaeologists to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphics for the first time.
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2,600 BC
1,300 BC
30 BC
Though she's seen as an ancient figure, Cleopatra lived from 69 to 30 BC. That means she lived closer to your own life than she did to the time that the Great Pyramid was constructed.
600 AD
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Ottawa
Though it's much smaller than Toronto, Ottawa in southern Ontario serves as Canada's capital city. Founded as Bytown in the 1820s, it was established as the capital in 1826.
Montreal
Vancouver
Toronto
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Greg
Marsha
Ginger
"The Brady Bunch" was a happy-go-lucky family series that aired in the '70s. It told the story of a man named Brady, his lovely wife, Carol, and their six children: Greg, Marsha, Jan, Peter, Bobby and Cindy.
Peter
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F. Scott Fitzgerald
F. Scott Fitzgerald released "The Great Gatsby" in 1925. This decadent tale of the '20s tells the story of a man named Jay Gatsby and the girl he will never win.
Herman Melville
Mark Twain
John Steinbeck
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France
England
The American Revolution was a war between British colonists in the New World and the soldiers of Great Britain. It lasted from 1765 to 1783, when the colonists won their independence.
Russia
Mexico
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20
26
32
Kids are born with 20 teeth, while a typical adult has 32. This includes the wisdom teeth, or third molars, which many people have removed these days.
46
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You Got:
/40
