History and Mythology are separate topics in Trivial, both included with Trivial Plus. They share a page here because they tend to share an audience, and because a surprising number of mythology answers turn on history (and vice versa).
History questions in Trivial skew toward the events most people met at school, asked from an unexpected angle. Mythology rounds range well beyond Greece and Rome.
What was the first permanent English settlement in North America, founded in 1607?
Jamestown
Roanoke (1585 to 1587) came first but vanished, becoming the "Lost Colony". Plymouth followed in 1620. Jamestown nearly failed too; tobacco exports eventually kept it alive.
The Code of Hammurabi comes from which ancient civilization?
Babylon
King Hammurabi had about 280 laws carved on a basalt stele around 1754 BC. The best-known copy is in the Louvre, and it is the source of the "eye for an eye" principle.
The Houses of Lancaster and York fought for the English throne in which conflict?
The Wars of the Roses
Lancaster used a red rose and York a white one, but the name itself was popularized much later, largely by Sir Walter Scott. Henry Tudor ended the wars in 1485 and merged the two roses into the Tudor rose.
Who was the first Roman emperor?
Augustus
Julius Caesar was dictator, never emperor. His adopted heir Octavian took the title Augustus in 27 BC and ruled until AD 14. "Caesar" became a title only afterwards.
Whose expedition made the first circumnavigation of the globe?
Ferdinand Magellan's
Magellan led the fleet from Spain in 1519 but was killed in the Philippines in 1521. Juan Sebastián Elcano brought the one surviving ship, the Victoria, home in 1522. That is why careful quiz writers say "Magellan's expedition".
Which treaty formally ended the First World War between Germany and the Allies?
The Treaty of Versailles
It was signed on June 28, 1919, five years to the day after Archduke Franz Ferdinand was shot in Sarajevo. Other treaties settled terms with Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire.
Which pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty, a woman, was often depicted wearing the ceremonial false beard?
Hatshepsut
Hatshepsut ruled for about two decades in the 15th century BC, sponsored trade expeditions to Punt and built the temple at Deir el-Bahari. The beard was part of royal regalia, worn by male pharaohs too.
Carthaginian general Hannibal famously crossed the Alps with war elephants during which war?
The Second Punic War
He crossed in 218 BC and lost most of the elephants to the cold and terrain, yet stayed in Italy beating Roman armies for some fifteen years.
Lewis and Clark set out to explore which newly acquired territory?
The Louisiana Purchase
Jefferson bought the territory from France in 1803 and sent the Corps of Discovery west the next year. They reached the Pacific in late 1805, crossing the Oregon country that the US did not yet own.
In Greek myth, what did Persephone eat in the underworld that bound her to return there each year?
Pomegranate seeds
Anyone who ate the food of the dead had to stay. Because she had eaten only a few seeds, a compromise let her spend part of each year above ground, and her mother Demeter's grief during her absence explained winter.
In Egyptian belief, what was a dead person's heart weighed against?
The feather of Ma'at
Ma'at was truth and cosmic order. A heart heavier than the feather was eaten by Ammit, part crocodile, part lion and part hippopotamus, and the soul went no further.
What is the name of Thor's hammer in Norse mythology?
Type the answer
Mjölnir
The dwarf brothers Brokkr and Eitri (sometimes called Sindri) forged it on a bet with Loki, who turned into a fly and bit Brokkr's eyelid. The distraction is why the handle came out too short.
Which Japanese folklore creature keeps a dish of water on top of its head?
The kappa
The water is the kappa's strength. Folk advice says to bow to one: it is compelled to bow back, spills the water and loses its power.
For history, anchor dates to things you already know. If you know Jamestown was 1607 and the Mayflower was 1620, you can place most early American colonial questions on either side.
For mythology, learn the Greek and Roman name pairs (Zeus and Jupiter, Poseidon and Neptune, Athena and Minerva). They turn up in both directions.
In a room, every correct answer is worth 500 points plus a speed bonus of up to 500 more, so knowing it fast matters as much as knowing it. The full rules are on How to Play.
Every question on this page was first served in a real Trivial game, then pulled from the game's question bank, checked against the answer and rewritten with an explanation. Questions whose answer is disputed were left out. If you think one is wrong, email support@flayrlabs.com and we will fix it. The library overview explains the process in more detail.
Capitals, borders, rivers and the exceptions quiz writers love.
Novels, pen names, painters and where the masterpieces hang.
Flags, firsts, words and oddities: the pub-quiz staples.
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