History & Myths quiz
History & Myths Mega Quiz 1: 121 Questions
The big history & myths pack: 121 questions from every Quizio history & myths quiz, easy to genius. Pick how many questions and how hard, then play solo or host it live for a class.
- 121 questions
- 28 min
- 33 Easy
- 37 Medium
- 34 Hard
- 17 Genius
History & Myths Mega Quiz 1: 121 Questions: questions and answers
Try to answer first, then tap a question to see the answer.
The first ancient Olympic Games were held in… Greece · Italy · Egypt
Greece
Ancient Egyptians wrote on a paper-like plant called... Rice paper · Papyrus · Bamboo
Papyrus
Who was the king of the Greek gods? Apollo · Zeus · Hermes
Zeus
How much Neanderthal DNA do most people outside Africa carry? About 20% · About 1 to 2% · About 50%
About 1 to 2%
How many eyes does a Cyclops have? Two · One · Three
One – In the myths, the Cyclopes forged Zeus's thunderbolts!
Achilles' only weak spot was his... Neck · Heel · Eye
Heel – The tendon at the back of your ankle is still called the Achilles tendon!
Which gas makes bread dough rise? Oxygen · Nitrogen · Carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide
The croissant was inspired by a pastry from… Austria · Spain · Belgium
Austria
Which one is NOT a Greek god? Zeus · Hera · Thor · Apollo
Thor – Thor is from Norse myths. And Thursday is named after him!
The giant ground sloth Megatherium was about the size of an... Horse · Elephant · Dog
Elephant – It could stand on its hind legs to reach tree tops.
Who was the Greek goddess of love? Athena · Artemis · Aphrodite
Aphrodite
Which day is NOT named after a god? Tuesday · Wednesday · Monday · Friday
Monday
Which lived first? Woolly mammoths · Humans · Dinosaurs
Dinosaurs
Which way to close clothes came first? Zipper · Button · Velcro
Button
"Tsunami" means "harbor wave" in... Chinese · Korean · Japanese
Japanese
"Robot" comes from which language? German · Czech · Russian
Czech – It comes from "robota", forced work, in a 1920 Czech play.
Hundreds of saber-tooth cat fossils were found in tar pits in which city? Mexico City · Madrid · Los Angeles
Los Angeles – The La Brea Tar Pits are still being dug today.
Which of these games came out first? Minecraft · Fortnite · Roblox
Roblox
Fax machines came before telephones.
True – The first fax patent is from 1843, 33 years before the phone!
Roman soldiers fought in groups called... Armadas · Clans · Legions
Legions
The word "jumbo" came from a famous... Ship · Elephant · Whale
Elephant – Jumbo was a giant circus elephant in the 1880s.
The 375-million-year-old fossil Tiktaalik shows animals moving from... Water to land · Land to the sky · Rivers to the sea
Water to land
Which language did the ancient Romans speak? Greek · Italian · Latin
Latin
"Dinosaur" means "terrible..." Lizard · Bird · Giant
Lizard
"Hamburger" is named after a... City · Cook · Ham
City
Which one was NOT invented in the 1900s? Airplane · Television · Telephone · Microwave
Telephone
"Kindergarten" is a word from which language? German · Dutch · French
German
Which of these is the Colosseum? Parthenon · Sphinx · Colosseum
Colosseum
Who was the Greek god of the sea? Poseidon · Hades · Ares
Poseidon
Ancient Egyptians preserved their pharaohs as... Skeletons · Mummies · Statues
Mummies
The Vikings sailed in fast ships called... Canoes · Steamboats · Longboats
Longboats
What did early humans master first? Controlling fire · Farming · Writing
Controlling fire – Humans used fire around a million years before farming!
Which way to talk came first? Television · Telephone · Internet
Telephone
Which wonder was started first? Machu Picchu · Great Wall · Taj Mahal
Great Wall
Electric cars came before gasoline cars.
True – Simple electric carriages rolled in the 1830s, decades before the 1886 gas car.
Which way to roll came first? Skateboard · Scooter · Roller skates
Roller skates
What did Persephone eat in the underworld? Figs · Pomegranate seeds · Grapes
Pomegranate seeds – Because she ate, she had to stay part of every year. Hello, winter!
The can opener was invented before the tin can.
False – Cans came first! For decades people opened them with hammers and chisels.
Which is older? Oxford University · Aztec Empire · Machu Picchu
Oxford University
Did Vikings really wear horned helmets in battle? No, a myth · Yes, always · Only the kings
No, a myth – The horns came from 19th century opera costumes!
Who cut off Medusa's head? Jason · Perseus · Odysseus
Perseus – He used a shiny shield as a mirror so he never looked at her.
Charlemagne was crowned emperor in 800 on which day? Christmas Day · New Year's Day · Easter Sunday
Christmas Day
The pyramid of Chichen Itza was built by the ancient... Romans · Maya · Inca
Maya
The Great Fire of 1666 destroyed much of which city? Paris · Rome · London
London – Only a handful of deaths were recorded, despite 13,000 houses burning!
Which toy came first? Monopoly · Barbie · LEGO minifigure
Monopoly
Jason and the Argonauts searched for the Golden... Apple · Crown · Fleece
Fleece
Who reached North America about 500 years before Columbus? Romans · Chinese sailors · Vikings
Vikings
Which puzzle came first? Rubik's Cube · Sudoku · Crossword
Crossword
Prometheus stole what from the gods? Fire · Gold · Lightning
Fire
"Muscle" comes from the Latin for... Strong arm · Little mouse · Rope
Little mouse – A flexing muscle looked like a little mouse under the skin!
Which of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still stands? Great Pyramid · Colossus of Rhodes · Lighthouse of Alexandria
Great Pyramid – It's the only one of the original seven still standing!
Which arcade game came first? Tetris · Pac-Man · Super Mario Bros.
Pac-Man
The first vending machine sold holy water, about 2,000 years ago.
True – Hero of Alexandria designed a coin-operated water dispenser for temples.
The largest connected land empire in history was built by… The Romans · The Ottomans · The Mongols
The Mongols
The Minotaur was half man, half... Bull · Bear · Goat
Bull
"Volcano" comes from the Roman god... Vulcan · Mars · Neptune
Vulcan
Which came first: the fax machine or the American Civil War? Fax machine · Civil War · Same year
Fax machine
"Denim" comes from "de Nîmes", a town in... Italy · Spain · France
France
Which ancient Greek city was famous for its strict warriors? Corinth · Sparta · Athens
Sparta
Martin Luther's 95 Theses started the… Reformation · Renaissance · Enlightenment
Reformation
"Disaster" literally means a bad... Storm · Day · Star
Star
Which cheese goes into a classic tiramisu? Mascarpone · Ricotta · Mozzarella
Mascarpone
Which doctor's tool came first? Thermometer · Stethoscope · X-ray
Thermometer
Sealed honey can stay edible for… 1 year · 10 years · Thousands of years
Thousands of years – Honey pots thousands of years old were found in Egyptian tombs!
Christopher Columbus was actually trying to reach… Asia · Africa · Australia
Asia – He died believing he had reached Asia!
Shakespeare was born the same year as... Isaac Newton · Columbus · Galileo
Galileo – Both were born in 1564!
Which goddess was born from Zeus's head? Hera · Athena · Demeter
Athena – She came out fully grown and wearing armor!
"Sandwich" is named after an English... Baker · Earl · King
Earl – Legend says he wanted a snack he could eat at the card table!
The messenger god with winged sandals was... Ares · Hermes · Hephaestus
Hermes
Which appeared on Earth first? Trees · Dinosaurs · Sharks
Sharks – Sharks are about 65 million years older than the first trees!
"Bikini" is named after... An island · A designer · A beach town
An island
"Mortgage" literally means... House loan · Death pledge · Gold promise
Death pledge
The French Revolution began with the storming of the… Bastille · Tower of London · Louvre
Bastille – It held only seven prisoners that day!
The Titanic had lifeboats for roughly how many people aboard? All of them · About half · About a tenth
About half
"Hippopotamus" means "river..." Cow · Pig · Horse
Horse
Which city invention came first? Telephone · Elevator brake · Car
Elevator brake – In 1854 Otis rode his elevator and had the rope cut to prove the brake!
Who wrote most of the US Declaration of Independence? Thomas Jefferson · George Washington · Benjamin Franklin
Thomas Jefferson
Which hero had to finish 12 labors? Theseus · Perseus · Heracles
Heracles – The Romans called him Hercules.
When scientists first drew the fossil Hallucigenia, what did they get wrong? Its colour · Its size · It was upside down
It was upside down – Its legs were drawn as spines and its spines as legs.
Which movie came out first? Shrek · Finding Nemo · Toy Story
Toy Story
Cacao was first enjoyed by people as a… Drink · Medicine · Candy
Drink
Apollo was the god of the Sun and... The sea · Sleep · Music
Music
Napoleon's 'short' myth partly came from mixing up French and English… Shoe sizes · Calendars · Inches
Inches – He was about 1.69 meters, average for his time!
Which came first: the fax machine or the telephone? Fax machine · Telephone · Same year
Fax machine
Woolly mammoths still lived on which island when the pyramids were built? Wrangel Island · Iceland · Madagascar
Wrangel Island – The last ones died out about 4,000 years ago.
Which drink was invented first? Coca-Cola · Pepsi · Dr Pepper
Dr Pepper
Which was founded first? Netflix · Amazon · Google
Amazon
Newton invented calculus around the same time as which rival? Descartes · Galileo · Leibniz
Leibniz – They fought for years over who came first!
Which monster grew two heads for every one cut off? Chimera · Hydra · Cerberus
Hydra
Ares was the Greek god of... War · Wine · Music
War
World War One was sparked by an assassination in… Sarajevo · Vienna · Berlin
Sarajevo
Who was the very first emperor of Rome? Augustus · Nero · Caligula
Augustus
Sputnik, the first artificial satellite, was launched by… USA · United Kingdom · Soviet Union
Soviet Union – It was about the size of a beach ball and just beeped!
Which Edison-era invention came first? Phonograph · Light bulb · Telephone
Telephone – Telephone 1876, phonograph 1877, light bulb 1879: all within 4 years!
Which tech came first? Wi-Fi · Bluetooth · USB
USB
Which 1920s invention came first? Television · Sliced bread · Penicillin
Television
Which Roman emperor is said to have fiddled while Rome burned? Nero · Augustus · Julius Caesar
Nero – Fiddles didn't even exist back then!
Theseus found his way out of the labyrinth with... A map · A ball of thread · A torch
A ball of thread – An old word for a ball of thread, "clew", gave us the word "clue"!
A volcano caused the Year Without a Summer in 1816. Which novel was born? Dracula · Frankenstein · Robinson Crusoe
Frankenstein – Mary Shelley wrote it while storms kept her friends indoors!
How long was the Wright brothers' first powered flight? 12 minutes · 2 hours · 12 seconds
12 seconds
Who received the first telephone patent in 1876? Alexander Graham Bell · Thomas Edison · Nikola Tesla
Alexander Graham Bell
What was still alive when the pyramids were built? Megalodon · Woolly mammoth · T. rex
Woolly mammoth – The last mammoths lived on an Arctic island until about 4,000 years ago.
The dodo was already gone when this came out: Newton's laws · Shakespeare's plays · The Mayflower voyage
Newton's laws – The last dodo sighting was in 1662. Newton's laws came out in 1687.
About how old is the Great Pyramid of Giza? 4,500 years · 2,000 years · 1,000 years
4,500 years
"Checkmate" comes from Persian, meaning... Well played · The queen wins · The king is helpless
The king is helpless
The first email was sent before the first text message.
True – Email: 1971. The first text message: 1992, and it said "Merry Christmas".
"Galaxy" comes from the Greek word for... Light · Milk · Stars
Milk – That's why ours is called the Milky Way!
Long ago, "nice" meant... Kind · Foolish · Rich
Foolish – From the Latin "nescius": not knowing!
What did the very first iPhone in 2007 NOT have? A camera · An App Store · A touchscreen
An App Store – The App Store only arrived a year later!
"Salary" probably comes from the Latin word for... Silver · Soldier · Salt
Salt
Which one is NOT a monster from Greek myths? Kraken · Hydra · Minotaur · Cyclops
Kraken
In 2016, an AI beat world champion Lee Sedol at… Go · Chess · Shogi
Go
Why is a book of maps called an atlas? After a sailor · After a Titan · After a city
After a Titan – Old map books showed the Titan Atlas holding up the world.
"Pineapple" first meant... A pine cone · An apple · A lemon
A pine cone – Pine cones looked like apples on pine trees!
Was Cleopatra closer in time to the pyramids or the Moon landing? The pyramids · The Moon landing · Same distance
The Moon landing – The pyramids were built about 2,500 years before her, the Moon landing about 2,000 years after!
"Clue" once meant a ball of thread.
True
Apollo 11's crew couldn't get life insurance, so they signed… Autographs · A will · A NASA contract
Autographs – Their families could sell the signed covers if things went wrong!
Which was NOT around before 1900? Radio broadcast · Telephone · Light bulb · Car
Radio broadcast
The Trojan War started over which woman? Penelope · Helen · Cassandra
Helen – "The face that launched a thousand ships"!
Which 2000s hit came first? iPhone · Wii · YouTube
YouTube
The first handheld cell phone call in 1973 was made to… His mother · A rival company · The President
A rival company – Martin Cooper called a rival engineer to brag!