Think your brain’s good at holding onto random facts?
This 20-question quiz moves quickly between iconic music, world history, classic literature, quick-fire maths, and world geography, so being an absolute whizz in just one corner of trivia won’t carry you to the finish.
A handful of these answers should pop straight into your head without a second thought, while others will have you staring at the ceiling, trying to fish out a half-remembered fact from years ago. It’s a real mental workout with no easy rides, so grab a pen, keep track of your score as you go, and see just how much knowledge you’ve actually got tucked away.
1. The Beatles spent significant periods of their early career in which German city?
A. Berlin
B. Munich
C. Hamburg
D. Dresden
2. In which year did India gain independence from Britain?
A. 1956
B. 1950
C. 1947
D. 1953
3. Iago and Desdemona are characters in which Shakespeare play?
A. Hamlet
B. Othello
C. The Tempest
D. The Winter’s Tale
4. In which year was Bohemian Rhapsody first released?
A. 1973
B. 1979
C. 1975
D. 1977
5. What is the smallest perfect number?
A. 2
B. 6
C. 99
D. 12
6. In which year did the Spanish Civil War end?
A. 1937
B. 1935
C. 1933
D. 1939
7. In The Owl and the Pussy-Cat, their honey and money are wrapped up in what denomination note?
A. £10
B. £20
C. £5
D. £50
8. In which year did the Cuban Missile Crisis take place?
A. 1960
B. 1964
C. 1958
D. 1962
9. Mount Kilimanjaro can be found in which African country?
A. Kenya
B. Ethiopia
C. Tanzania
D. Zimbabwe
10. In which year did Genghis Khan die?
A. 1027
B. 1227
C. 1627
D. 1427
11. Which unsolved mathematical problem states that every even integer greater than 2 can be expressed as the sum of two primes?
A. Fermat’s Last Theorem
B. The Riemann Hypothesis
C. Fermat’s Little Theorem
D. The Goldbach Conjecture
12. In which year did the First World War end?
A. 1917
B. 1918
C. 1919
D. 1916
13. What was the name of Pulp’s 1996 Mercury Music Prize-winning album?
A. Common People
B. Mis-Shapes
C. Different Class
D. Disco 2000
14. In which year did Margaret Thatcher become Prime Minister?
A. 1981
B. 1985
C. 1983
D. 1979
15. In which year did The Mousetrap first open in London’s West End?
A. 1952
B. 1972
C. 1962
D. 1942
16. In which year was The Shawshank Redemption released?
A. 1992
B. 1990
C. 1996
D. 1994
17. The Latin word cogito translates as what?
A. I run
B. I think
C. I consume
D. I am
18. In which year did Queen Victoria become Queen?
A. 1847
B. 1827
C. 1837
D. 1817
19. Which Irish pop group formed by Neil Hannon and Thomas Walsh released a concept album about cricket in 2009?
A. Test Match Special
B. Nightwatchmen
C. The Duckworth Lewis Method
D. Twelfth Man
20. In which year was the United Nations founded?
A. 1945
B. 1946
C. 1948
D. 1947
Answers
1. C. Hamburg
2. C. 1947
3. B. Othello
4. C. 1975
5. B. 6
6. D. 1939
7. C. £5
8. D. 1962
9. C. Tanzania
10. B. 1227
11. D. The Goldbach Conjecture
12. B. 1918
13. C. Different Class
14. D. 1979
15. A. 1952
16. D. 1994
17. B. I think
18. C. 1837
19. C. The Duckworth Lewis Method
20. A. 1945
How did you get on? Share your score in the comments and see how everyone else did.
