History Trivia Questions XXI

Position your cursor over the question mark found beside each question for the answer.


Who were the first Indians to run into Christopher Columbus?

       a. Caribs
       b. Arawaks
       c. Incas
       d. Aztecs


Who died of a hunger strike in Maze Prison in 1981, even though that year he had been elected to represent Britain's parliament?

       a. Michael Collins
       b. Bobby Sands
       c. Gerry Adams
       d. Patrick Pearse


What two ships fought it out at the Battle of Hampton Roads in 1862, off the coast of Virginia?

       a. Kearsarge and Alabama
       b. Hood and Bismarck
       c. Monitor and Merrimac
       d. The Thrill of Victory and The Agony of Defeat


More than 1100 people died when a German U-boat sank the liner Lusitania. What country was it from?

       a. United States
       b. Portugal
       c. Great Britain
       d. France


Born Kamau wa Ngengi, what ladies' man and revolutionary changed his first name to the Masai word for "the burning spear"?

       a. Nelson Mandela
       b. Jomo Kenyatta
       c. Kwame Nkrumah
       d. Julius Nyerere


The Plains Indians practiced the Sun Dance. What was the most famous element of this dance?

       a. Staring silently into a campfire
       b. Hanging from a pole by the chest muscles
       c. Dancing while wearing a buffalo skin
       d. Pounding a war drum while on peyote


Cuauhtemoc managed to temporarily drive the Spanish from his capital on La Noche Triste (the "sad night"), but he was nevertheless the last ruler of which people?

       a. Mayas
       b. Aztecs
       c. Incas
       d. Toltecs


In 1525, Atahualpa jailed half-brother Huascar and killed the rest of the royal family so he could become what turned out to be the last ruler of which people?

       a. Incas
       b. Aztecs
       c. Ashantis
       d. Zulus


In what mountain range did the Quechua people build an empire they called Tahuantinsuyu, meaning "Land of the Four Quarters"?

       a. Rockies
       b. Himalayas
       c. Andes
       d. Urals


Born Gjergj Kastrioti, Skanderbeg defected from the Ottomans and became what country's national hero?

       a. Greece
       b. Albania
       c. Bulgaria
       d. Romania


On what "black" day of the week in 1869 did James Fisk and Jay Gould create a financial crisis as they tried to corner the US gold market?

       a. Thursday
       b. Friday
       c. Monday
       d. Tuesday


What leaky sister ship of the Mayflower couldn't make the trip, and had to decant its passengers to the Mayflower?

       a. The Hopewell
       b. The Speedwell
       c. The Farewell
       d. The Cantwell


In the 19th-century, diplomats struggled with the "Eastern Question" caused by what "Sick Man of Europe"?

       a. Ottoman Empire
       b. Austro-Hungarian Empire
       c. Russian Empire
       d. Holy Roman Empire


The British needed machine guns to subdue the Ashanti, whose kingdom they renamed the Gold Coast. What is it called today?

       a. South Africa
       b. Kenya
       c. Ghana
       d. Nigeria


Which people were lead by a Great Speaker known as the Huey Tlatoani, who was the political boss, military leader and high priest?

       a. Aztecs
       b. Zulus
       c. Incas
       d. Bantus




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