70 Fun Facts About Easy Trivia Questions and Answers

What is the capital city of Australia?

Canberra was purpose-built as a compromise after Sydney and Melbourne both wanted the job.

Which is the largest and deepest ocean on Earth?

The Pacific is the largest and deepest ocean, covering about 165 million square kilometres, more than all of Earth's land combined, and holding the Mariana Trench.

Which country is the largest in the world by area?

Russia is the largest country by area at about 17.1 million square kilometres, spanning eleven time zones and bordering fourteen countries.

What is the largest hot desert in the world?

The Sahara is beaten for size only by the cold deserts of Antarctica and the northern Arctic.

What is the highest mountain on Earth above sea level?

Everest rises about 8,849 metres above sea level on the Nepal–China border; it is called Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet.

How many continents do most English-speaking countries recognize?

Seven continents are recognized in the English-speaking world: Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe and Australia, listed from largest to smallest.

Which element has the chemical symbol Au?

Gold has the symbol Au from aurum, its Latin name; its atomic number is 79.

Which planet is closest to the Sun?

Mercury orbits closest to the Sun, at an average distance of about 58 million kilometres, and it is also the smallest planet in the Solar System.

Which is the largest planet in the Solar System?

Jupiter is the largest planet: about 1,321 Earths would fit inside its volume, and its diameter is roughly 140,000 kilometres.

Roughly how many bones does an adult human have?

An adult human skeleton has 206 bones; babies are born with around 270, many of which fuse together as they grow.

What is the hardest known natural substance?

Diamond packs more atoms into each unit of volume than any other known substance.

Which planet is nicknamed the Red Planet?

Mars is the Red Planet; its colour comes from iron oxide, essentially rust, coating the dust and rocks on its surface.

Who was the first president of the United States?

George Washington was the first president, serving two terms from 1789 to 1797 before retiring to Mount Vernon.

In which year did the Titanic sink?

1912, in the early hours of 15 April; the British ocean liner went down on her very first crossing.

Who was the first person to walk on the Moon?

Neil Armstrong was first onto the Moon during Apollo 11 in July 1969; Buzz Aldrin followed him down the ladder nineteen minutes later, while Michael Collins circled overhead.

Apollo 11's lunar module Eagle landed in which lunar 'sea' in July 1969?

Eagle touched down in the Sea of Tranquility (Mare Tranquillitatis) on 20 July 1969; the lunar 'seas' are dark plains of ancient lava that early astronomers mistook for water.

What is the fastest land animal?

The cheetah sprints at 93–104 km/h (58–65 mph), a pursuit predator built for the chase.

What is the largest animal known to have ever lived?

The blue whale is the largest animal ever known, reaching about 30 metres long and up to around 200 tonnes, heavier than any known dinosaur.

What is the tallest living land animal?

The giraffe is the tallest living land animal, with males reaching about 5.5 metres; it is also the largest ruminant, chewing the cud like a cow.

Who wrote the play Romeo and Juliet?

William Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet around 1595; the tragedy follows two young lovers from the feuding Montague and Capulet families of Verona.

Who wrote the Harry Potter books?

J. K. Rowling wrote the Harry Potter books, seven novels published between 1997 and 2007, beginning with Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

The Beatles formed in which English city?

The Beatles formed in Liverpool, taking that name in 1960 after starting as John Lennon's skiffle group the Quarrymen; the city's Cavern Club hosted hundreds of their early shows.

How many rings are on the Olympic flag?

The Olympic flag has five interlocking rings, designed by Pierre de Coubertin in 1913 to represent the five inhabited continents, with the Americas counted as one.

How many players does each soccer team have on the pitch?

Two teams of eleven, and only the goalkeeper may handle the ball in open play.

How many days are in a leap year?

A leap year has 366 days; the extra day, 29 February, keeps the calendar lined up with the roughly 365.25-day solar year.

In Isaac Newton's classic sequence of rainbow colours, which colour comes first?

Red comes first in Newton's seven-colour sequence: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, remembered as Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain or Roy G. Biv.

How many sides does a hexagon have?

The name comes from the Greek hex, meaning six; honeycomb cells are hexagons.

Who painted the Mona Lisa?

Leonardo da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa around 1503–1506 and never delivered it to the Giocondo family believed to have commissioned it; it hangs in the Louvre in Paris.

The Statue of Liberty was a gift to the United States from the people of which country?

France gave the statue, dedicated in 1886; sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi designed it and Gustave Eiffel, of tower fame, engineered its iron framework.

Strictly speaking, Big Ben is the nickname of what?

Big Ben is strictly the Great Bell, the 13.7-tonne hour bell inside the clock tower, which was itself renamed the Elizabeth Tower in 2012.

In which year was the Eiffel Tower completed?

It was built for the 1889 World's Fair and was meant to be temporary.

The Great Pyramid of Giza was built as the tomb of which pharaoh?

The Great Pyramid was built around 2560 BC as the tomb of the pharaoh Khufu (Cheops); it is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and the only one largely surviving.

What is the official currency of Japan?

The yen is Japan's currency, with the symbol ¥ and the ISO code JPY; it was adopted under the New Currency Act of 1871.

Which is the largest continent by both area and population?

Asia is the largest continent by both measures, covering about 44.6 million square kilometres and holding well over half of the world's people.

What is the smallest sovereign state in the world?

It covers 44 hectares inside Rome and has under a thousand residents.

Penguins live almost exclusively in which hemisphere?

The Southern Hemisphere; European explorers named them after the great auk, a northern bird they resembled but were not related to.

The Sun is what kind of object?

The Sun is a star, a ball of hydrogen and helium fusing hydrogen in its core; it holds about 99.8 percent of the Solar System's mass.

In which year was Mickey Mouse created?

Mickey Mouse was created in 1928 by Walt Disney and animator Ub Iwerks, debuting in the sound cartoon Steamboat Willie that November.

Superman was born on which fictional planet?

Superman was born on Krypton as Kal-El and was rocketed to Earth by his father Jor-El before the planet exploded.

Batman protects which fictional city?

Batman protects Gotham City, the crime-ridden home of his alter ego, billionaire Bruce Wayne; Metropolis is Superman's city.

In The Lion King, what is the name of the young lion prince?

Simba is the lion prince of The Lion King (1994); his uncle Scar murders his father Mufasa to seize the throne of the Pride Lands.

In Finding Nemo, what kind of fish is Nemo?

Nemo is a clownfish, living in a sea anemone on the Great Barrier Reef; his forgetful friend Dory is a regal blue tang.

How many keys does a standard modern piano have?

A standard modern piano has 88 keys, 52 white and 36 black, spanning just over seven octaves; a few makers such as Bösendorfer add extra bass keys.

On what date is Halloween celebrated?

Halloween falls on October 31, the eve of All Hallows' Day (All Saints' Day, November 1), which is why it is also called All Hallows' Eve.

On what date is Valentine's Day?

Valentine's Day is February 14, the Feast of Saint Valentine; it was first linked with romantic love in Chaucer's fourteenth-century poem Parliament of Fowls.

The Burj Khalifa, completed in 2010, stands in which city?

The Burj Khalifa in Dubai opened in January 2010 and rises 828 metres, more than half a mile, with 163 floors.

What is the largest rainforest in the world?

The Amazon is the largest rainforest, spanning about 5.5 million square kilometres across nine countries, with an estimated 390 billion trees of some 16,000 species.

Koalas eat mostly the leaves of which tree?

Koalas eat mostly eucalyptus leaves, which are low in nutrients and toxic to most animals, so koalas sleep up to 20 hours a day; despite the nickname 'koala bear', they are marsupials.

Where does a female kangaroo carry her joey?

The pouch is called a marsupium, which is where the word marsupial comes from.

A dolphin is what kind of animal?

A mammal: dolphins are cetaceans, and the roughly 40 living species include several river dolphins.

How many limbs does an octopus have?

The name is Greek for eight-foot; squid have ten.

What is the largest living species of bird?

The ostrich is the largest living bird, up to about 2.8 metres tall and 150 kilograms; it cannot fly but runs at around 70 km/h, the fastest of any bird on land.

What is the largest living land animal?

African bush elephants are the biggest of the three living species.

What is the smallest known bird?

The bee hummingbird of Cuba is the smallest known bird, about 5–6 centimetres long and under 2 grams, barely bigger than the bee it is named after.

In Frozen, what is the name of Elsa's sister?

Elsa's sister is Anna, who sets out after Elsa flees Arendelle, travelling with iceman Kristoff, his reindeer Sven and the snowman Olaf.

In Toy Story, what kind of toy is Woody?

Woody is a pull-string cowboy doll, sheriff of Andy's toys, who gets jealous when space ranger Buzz Lightyear becomes Andy's favourite.

What is Mario's job in the Nintendo games?

Mario is a plumber, a job established in the 1983 arcade game Mario Bros., set in the sewers of New York; he lives in the Mushroom Kingdom with his twin brother Luigi.

Pikachu is a Pokémon of which type?

The red sacs on its cheeks generate the electricity.

Minecraft was developed by Mojang Studios, a company from which country?

Mojang Studios is based in Stockholm, Sweden; Minecraft was originally created by Swedish programmer Markus 'Notch' Persson in Java and fully released in 2011.

Who directed the 1997 film Titanic?

James Cameron both wrote and directed it; DiCaprio and Winslet played lovers from different social classes.

In Star Wars, Darth Vader is the father of which hero?

He is also the father of Luke's twin sister, Leia.

Sushi is a traditional dish from which country?

Sushi comes from Japan; its key ingredient is vinegared rice, not raw fish, and the hand-pressed nigiri style developed in Edo, today's Tokyo, in the 1800s.

Pizza is a dish that originated in which country?

Pizza originated in Italy; the word was first recorded in AD 997 in a Latin document from Gaeta, and the modern Neapolitan pizza developed in Naples in the 1700s and 1800s.

Which is the coldest continent on Earth?

Antarctica is the coldest continent, with a record low of −89.2 °C at Vostok Station in 1983; it is also the driest, windiest and highest on average.

Which planet is the hottest in the Solar System?

Venus, not Mercury: its thick atmosphere traps heat, pushing the surface to about 464 °C even though Mercury is closer to the Sun.

Which planet is famous for its bright system of rings?

Saturn's rings are mostly water-ice particles with a little rock and dust, stretching roughly 280,000 kilometres across yet mostly well under a kilometre thick.

Which are the only mammals capable of true, sustained flight?

Bats are the only mammals capable of true, sustained flight, with over 1,400 species; flying squirrels, sugar gliders and colugos only glide.

What common substance has the chemical formula H2O?

H2O is water: each molecule has two hydrogen atoms bonded to one oxygen atom, and at sea level it freezes at 0 °C and boils at 100 °C.

Botanically speaking, a tomato is what?

Its fruit is technically a berry, even though we eat it as a vegetable.

Which river is the longest in Africa and usually ranked the longest on Earth?

The Nile edges out the Amazon in length, yet carries only around 1% of the Amazon's water.