Guess Who?: The Historical World Leader Quiz

Estimated Completion Time
3 min
Guess Who?: The Historical World Leader Quiz
Image: Ken Fraught/Corbis

About This Quiz

Who runs the world? Beyonce says girls. Conspiracy theorists say the Illuminati. Take this quiz and see if you know who has really been in charge of the course of history.
William the Conqueror was taunted with what (decidedly less heroic) nickname in his youth?
William the Bastard
William the Wimpy
William the Weak
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The Duke of Normandy's bastard son, William was just a bullied kid like everybody else.

What historical leader was assassinated on Good Friday?
Alexander the Great
Abraham Lincoln
Mahatma Gandhi
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Lincoln was killed April 14, 1865, the Friday before the Easter holiday.

What world leader led his country in opposing the colonial rule of England?
Franz Ferdinand
Mahatma Gandhi
Nelson Mandela
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Gandhi was a politician and activist who helped India achieve independence.

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Who was the first emperor of what would later be known as the Holy Roman Empire?
Ataturk
Charles II
Charlemagne
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

While "King of the Franks" sounds okay, "Holy Roman Emperor" sounds a heck of a lot more important. And less like the leader of hot dogs.

Catherine the Great's real first name was:
Maria
Sophie
Yekaterina
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Catherine was actually a German who married into the Russian dynasty.

What world leader changed the Western calendar?
Ivan the Terrible
Alexander the Great
Julius Caesar
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Between conquering Gaul and becoming dictator, Caesar also gifted us with the first iteration of the calendar we use today.

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Queen Elizabeth I was the daughter of Henry VIII and which wife?
Catherine of Aragon
Anne Boleyn
Jane Seymour
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Her mother was put to death for her supposed affairs.

What world leader came to power in his party after the so-called Long March?
Mao Zedong
William Tecumseh Sherman
Ho Chi Minh
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Mao hiked the Chinese communists 6,000 miles.

Nelson Mandela was part of what political party?
Apartheid-Busters
Liberal Democrats
African National Congress
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The African National Congress was banned from 1960 to 1990 by the apartheid government in South Africa.

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What world leader ruled from Babylon?
Pontius Pilate
Otto I
Nebuchadnezzar
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

In present-day Iraq, Nebuchadnezzar supposedly constructed beautiful hanging gardens for his wife.

Who fought against Charles I in the English Civil Wars?
Oliver Cromwell
Mary Stuart
Elizabeth I
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Oliver Cromwell helped overthrow the Stuart monarchy.

Which of these politicians was the first female head of government?
Indira Gandhi
Margaret Thatcher
Sirimavo Bandaranaike
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Bandaranaike held the highest role in the Sri Lankan government starting in 1960, but served three terms throughout her life.

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Kemal Ataturk:
founded the Republic of Turkey.
was the first president of the Republic of Turkey.
both
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Ataturk still has an unmatched legacy in modern Turkey.

What 20th century British prime minister was deeply unpopular with unions?
John Major
Margaret Thatcher
Tony Blair
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Thatcher didn't concede to the unions, even during a miner's walkout that lasted almost a year.

What ruler's death led to the demise of the Roman Republic?
Julius Caesar
Octavian
Mark Antony
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Octavian's defeat of Mark Antony led to his position as first Roman emperor after the republic's fall.

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What American was the nation's first vice president?
John Adams
James Madison
Thomas Jefferson
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

John Adams was George Washington's VP and became the second president of the United States.

What infamous world leader was twice rejected from art school?
Hitler
Pol Pot
Stalin
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Adolf Hitler yearned to be an artist, but he settled for genocidal dictator instead.

What leader led his men to victory in the Battle of Little Bighorn?
George Custer
Sitting Bull
Crazy Horse
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Despite his military victories, Sitting Bull was still forced to flee to Canada and was eventually killed while being arrested by U.S. authorities.

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What Muslim leader captured Jerusalem during the Crusades?
Saladin
Mohommed
Ali
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Saladin was the sultan of a huge swath of the Middle East, including Egypt and Syria.

How were Franklin Roosevelt and Theodore Roosevelt related?
fifth cousins
first cousins
FDR was TDR's nephew
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

They were distant cousins, but FDR liked TDR's economic ideas.

What English monarch was wise to invest in some good ships before the Spanish fleet came calling, near the end of the 16th century?
Henry VIII
Queen Elizabeth I
James I
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The Spanish Armada was beaten back by the English and then battered by storms.

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Montezuma II was the ruler of what empire, until he was killed by colonial powers?
Aztec
Mayan
Mexican
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The Aztec Empire was destroyed when Hernan Cortes captured their capital.

Who was wounded in an attempted assassination of the prime minister of Iraq?
Osama Bin Laden
Colin Powell
Saddam Hussein
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Attempting to overthrow the Iraqi government in 1959, Hussein was unsuccessful.

Oda Nobunaga ended the feudal wars of what country?
Korea
Japan
China
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The leadership of the Japanese warrior led to the unification process in the 16th century.

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What world leader served nine months in prison and wrote a book during that time?
Pope Francis
Nelson Mandela
Adolf Hitler
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Hitler wrote "Mein Kampf" while serving a term for treason.

What monarch gave birth to twins while she was in power?
Queen Victoria
Marie-Antoinette
Cleopatra
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Cleopatra was a serious working mom.

What Mongolian leader became a Chinese emperor?
Genghis Khan
Kublai Khan
Zhu Yuanzhang
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

While not native Chinese, Kublai Khan became the first ruler of the Yuan dynasty.

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Otto Von Bismarck held what title?
prime minister of Prussia
chancellor of the German Empire
both
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The powerful statesman was prime minister for 28 years and chancellor for 19.

How many times was Franklin Roosevelt elected president of the United States?
three times
four times
twice
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Before term limits, FDR had quite the streak.

What world leader won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990 the year before the fall of the Soviet Union?
Mikhail Gorbachev
Vladimir Putin
Boris Yeltsin
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Gorbachev dismantled the communist cores of the USSR.

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You Got:
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Ken Fraught/Corbis