109 Fun Facts About Trivia for Teens

Which metal has the chemical symbol Au?

Au comes from aurum, the Latin word for gold, which is why the symbol looks nothing like the English name.

Which planet is the largest in our solar system?

Jupiter is so big that about 1,300 Earths could fit inside it.

What is the hardest naturally occurring material known?

Diamond and pencil graphite are both pure carbon; the difference is entirely in how the atoms are bonded.

Which part of a cell earned the nickname 'powerhouse of the cell' for generating its energy?

The mitochondrion's nickname was popularised by a 1957 Scientific American article with exactly that title.

Roughly what percentage of dry air is nitrogen?

Nitrogen makes up about 78% of dry air by volume; oxygen is roughly 21%, with argon at under 1% and carbon dioxide among the traces.

After the Sun, which star is closest to Earth?

Proxima Centauri is about 4.25 light-years away, slightly nearer than its companions Alpha Centauri A and B at roughly 4.37 light-years.

What does DNA stand for?

DNA stands for deoxyribonucleic acid, named for its deoxyribose sugar; its two strands coil into the double helix described by Watson and Crick in 1953.

About how long does sunlight take to reach Earth?

If the Sun switched off, we would not notice for over eight minutes because its last light would still be on the way.

Which planet is the hottest in the solar system?

Venus is the hottest planet, with a surface near 465 °C; its thick carbon dioxide atmosphere traps heat, so it beats Mercury despite being farther from the Sun.

Mars has two moons: Phobos and which other?

Deimos is Mars's smaller, outer moon, about 12 km across; both it and Phobos were discovered by Asaph Hall in 1877.

Which blood type is known as the 'universal donor'?

O negative red cells lack the A, B and Rh D markers that can trigger a reaction in a recipient.

How many bones does an adult human body typically have?

An adult skeleton typically has 206 bones; babies are born with around 270, and many fuse together during growth.

What is the largest organ of the human body?

Skin is the body's largest organ, making up roughly 15 percent of body mass and covering about 2 square metres in an adult.

How many chambers does the human heart have?

Two atria receive blood and two ventricles pump it out again.

Which is the largest and deepest ocean on Earth?

The Pacific covers about 165 million square km, more than all of Earth's land combined, and holds the Mariana Trench, the deepest point at nearly 11 km.

What is the capital city of Australia?

Canberra was purpose-built as a compromise capital after Sydney and Melbourne both wanted the title; Parliament moved there from Melbourne in 1927.

Which country became the world's most populous in 2023?

India passed China in 2023 to become the most populous country, with its population exceeding 1.4 billion as China's began to shrink.

Which country is the largest in the world by area?

Russia covers about 17.1 million square km, spanning eleven time zones and sharing land borders with fourteen countries.

Mount Everest sits on the border between China and which other country?

Most climbers approach from the Nepali side via the South Col route.

Which is the largest hot desert on Earth?

The Sahara covers roughly 9 million square km of North Africa; only the Antarctic and Arctic polar deserts are larger.

Which continent has the most countries?

Africa has 54 recognised sovereign states, from Algeria to Zimbabwe, more than any other continent.

What is the capital of Canada?

Ottawa, on the Ontario-Quebec border, was chosen as capital by Queen Victoria in 1857; Toronto is the larger city.

Counting overseas territories, which country has the most time zones?

France has 12 time zones, the most of any country, because its territories stretch from the Caribbean to French Polynesia; Russia has 11.

Which is the smallest sovereign state in the world?

Vatican City covers just 44 hectares inside Rome, making it the smallest sovereign state; Monaco, the next smallest, is about 2 square km.

About 60 percent of the Amazon rainforest lies in which country?

Brazil holds about 60 percent of the Amazon rainforest; Peru is a distant second with around 13 percent, and Colombia has roughly 10 percent.

Which continent is the largest by area?

Asia is the largest continent at about 44.6 million square km, and home to roughly 60 percent of the world's people.

The Great Barrier Reef lies off the coast of which Australian state?

The Great Barrier Reef runs roughly 2,300 km along the Queensland coast in the Coral Sea, from the Torres Strait south to near Bundaberg.

Which continent is the coldest, driest and windiest on Earth?

Antarctica is the coldest, driest and windiest continent; its interior receives only a few centimetres of precipitation a year, which makes it a desert despite the ice.

In which year did Apollo 11 land the first humans on the Moon?

Apollo 11 landed on 20 July 1969; Neil Armstrong stepped onto the surface first, followed by Buzz Aldrin.

In which year did the Titanic sink?

The Titanic sank on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg; the wreck was not found until 1985, when it proved the ship had broken in two.

In which year did the Berlin Wall fall?

The Berlin Wall fell on 9 November 1989, when East Germany announced citizens could cross freely and crowds began tearing at it that night.

Whose portrait is on the US $100 bill?

That is why hundred-dollar bills are nicknamed 'Benjamins'; he was never president.

In which year did World War II end?

1945: Germany surrendered in May and Japan signed its surrender in September, almost exactly six years after the war began.

Which of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World is still largely standing?

The Great Pyramid of Giza, built around 2560 BC as a tomb for the pharaoh Khufu, is both the oldest of the seven wonders and the only one largely intact.

Which English king sealed Magna Carta in 1215?

King John sealed Magna Carta at Runnymede in June 1215 under pressure from rebel barons; Pope Innocent III annulled it within weeks.

In which city did Rosa Parks refuse to give up her bus seat in 1955?

Rosa Parks was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama, on 1 December 1955; the Montgomery bus boycott that followed lasted 381 days.

Machu Picchu was built by which civilization?

Machu Picchu was built by the Inca around 1450, probably as a royal estate for the emperor Pachacuti, high above Peru's Urubamba valley.

The US Declaration of Independence was adopted in which city?

The Declaration was adopted in Philadelphia on 4 July 1776 at the Pennsylvania State House, later renamed Independence Hall.

Julius Caesar was assassinated on the Ides of which month?

The Ides fell on the 15th, and 'Beware the Ides of March' comes from Shakespeare's play about him.

Which film was the first to gross more than $2 billion worldwide?

Avatar became the first film to pass $2 billion worldwide within two months of its December 2009 release; Titanic only crossed that line after its 2012 3D re-release.

Who played Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

Robert Downey Jr. played Tony Stark from 2008's Iron Man, the film that launched the franchise, through 2019's Avengers: Endgame.

What is the name of Harry Potter's owl?

Hedwig, the snowy owl Hagrid bought for Harry's eleventh birthday, is killed in the final book, which Rowling said marked a loss of innocence and security.

Stranger Things is set in the town of Hawkins, in which US state?

Hawkins is a fictional town in Indiana; the Hawkins National Laboratory there opens the gate to the Upside Down in season one.

In Frozen, Elsa and Anna are princesses of which kingdom?

Arendelle, the Norwegian-inspired kingdom in Frozen, is plunged into eternal winter when Elsa's ice powers escape her control at her coronation.

Who directed the 2023 Barbie movie?

Greta Gerwig directed Barbie and co-wrote it with her partner Noah Baumbach; it became the first film directed solely by a woman to gross $1 billion.

Who voices Shrek in the animated films?

Mike Myers voices Shrek with a Scottish accent, having re-recorded his lines after first trying a Canadian one; Eddie Murphy voices Donkey.

In which underwater city does SpongeBob SquarePants live?

Bikini Bottom, SpongeBob's home, takes its name from the real Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands, a US nuclear test site in the 1940s and 1950s.

Which 1995 film was the first entirely computer-animated feature film?

Toy Story, released in November 1995, was Pixar's first feature film and the first feature made entirely with computer animation.

Black Panther is the king of which fictional nation?

Wakanda, the hidden African nation ruled by T'Challa, is built on the metal vibranium; director Ryan Coogler drew partly on the real kingdom of Lesotho.

Which new emotion takes control of Riley's mind in Inside Out 2?

Anxiety, voiced by Maya Hawke, is one of four new emotions (with Envy, Ennui and Embarrassment) arriving at puberty, and takes over Riley's console.

Who plays Wednesday Addams in the Netflix series Wednesday?

Jenna Ortega plays Wednesday and earned a Golden Globe nomination for the role; Catherine Zeta-Jones and Luis Guzmán play her parents Morticia and Gomez.

How many Infinity Stones does Thanos collect in the Marvel films?

They control Space, Mind, Reality, Power, Time and Soul.

Which Taylor Swift concert series became the first ever to gross more than $1 billion?

The Eras Tour was the first tour to pass $1 billion, in December 2023, and finished in December 2024 with more than $2 billion in ticket sales.

BTS's Korean name, Bangtan Sonyeondan, literally translates to what?

Bangtan Sonyeondan means 'Bulletproof Boy Scouts', a name meant to suggest deflecting the pressures on young people; BTS debuted in June 2013.

Billie Eilish writes and produces her music with which family member?

Her brother Finneas O'Connell co-writes and produces all her music; the two have shared Grammys and two Oscars, for 'No Time to Die' and 'What Was I Made For?'.

The Beatles formed in which English city?

The Beatles formed in Liverpool in 1960 and built their reputation at the city's Cavern Club and in Hamburg, Germany.

How many keys does a standard modern piano have?

A standard piano has 88 keys: 52 white and 36 black, spanning just over seven octaves from A0 to C8.

What was Olivia Rodrigo's debut single?

'drivers license', released in January 2021, was Olivia Rodrigo's debut single and spent eight weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100.

Beyoncé first found fame in which girl group?

Destiny's Child, managed by Beyoncé's father Mathew Knowles, had hits like 'Say My Name' and 'Survivor' before she went solo in 2003.

Which Michael Jackson album is the best-selling album of all time?

Thriller, released in 1982, is the best-selling album ever with an estimated 70 million copies sold worldwide; seven of its nine tracks became top-ten singles.

Which of these singers is a member of Blackpink?

The group has four members: Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé and Lisa.

Which city hosted the 2024 Summer Olympics?

Paris hosted the 2024 Games, its third after 1900 and 1924; the opening ceremony took place on the River Seine rather than in a stadium, a first for the modern Olympics.

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

One of the eleven must be the goalkeeper.

Who is the NBA's all-time leading points scorer?

LeBron James passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's 38,387 points in February 2023 to become the NBA's all-time leading scorer.

The Super Bowl is the championship game of which league?

The Super Bowl decides the NFL championship; the name was only adopted officially for the third game, in January 1969, after two AFL-NFL World Championship Games.

Who is the most decorated gymnast in history?

Simone Biles's 11 Olympic and 30 World Championship medals are more than any gymnast has ever won.

Which country won the 2022 FIFA World Cup?

Argentina beat France 4-2 on penalties after the final ended 3-3 in extra time, giving Lionel Messi his first World Cup.

How many points is a touchdown worth in American football?

A touchdown is followed by a chance at an extra point or a two-point conversion.

How many Olympic medals did swimmer Michael Phelps win in total?

Michael Phelps won 28 Olympic medals, 23 of them gold, between 2004 and 2016, the most of any athlete in Olympic history.

How long is a marathon?

A marathon is 26.2 miles (42.195 km), a distance standardised in 1921 and copied from the course used at the 1908 London Olympics.

How high is the rim of a regulation basketball hoop?

The rim is 10 feet (3.05 m) above the floor, the height James Naismith nailed his peach baskets to a balcony rail in 1891.

Which Swedish company developed Minecraft?

Mojang, founded by Markus 'Notch' Persson in Stockholm, developed Minecraft; Microsoft bought the studio and the game in 2014 for $2.5 billion.

Which company makes the PlayStation consoles?

Sony's first PlayStation launched in Japan in December 1994 and became the first home console to ship 100 million units.

Which studio created Fortnite?

Epic Games, maker of the Unreal Engine, released Fortnite in 2017; its free battle royale mode drew more than 125 million players within a year.

YouTube's three founders had all previously worked at which company?

Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim all worked at PayPal before founding YouTube in 2005; Google bought it in 2006 for $1.65 billion.

Which company created TikTok, launching it internationally in 2017?

ByteDance, founded in Beijing by Zhang Yiming in 2012, created TikTok; it also runs Douyin, the Chinese version launched in September 2016.

Which studio developed Among Us?

Innersloth, a studio of just a few developers, released Among Us in June 2018; it only exploded in 2020 when streamers picked it up during lockdown.

In Nintendo's games, how is Luigi related to Mario?

He is the slightly younger, taller twin, and the better jumper.

What does HTML stand for?

HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language, the standard for web pages; Tim Berners-Lee wrote its first description in 1991.

Which Pokémon does Pikachu evolve into?

Raichu: in the games it takes a Thunder Stone item to trigger Pikachu's evolution.

Which company bought Instagram for about $1 billion in 2012?

Facebook bought Instagram in April 2012 for about $1 billion in cash and stock, when the app had just 13 employees and about 30 million users.

In The Legend of Zelda games, what is the name of the hero you play as?

Zelda is the princess; the green-clad hero is almost always silent.

The Rubik's Cube was invented in 1974 in which country?

Ernő Rubik, a professor of architecture in Budapest, Hungary, built the first cube in 1974 to teach students about spatial relationships.

Lego bricks come from a company based in which country?

Lego began in 1932 in Ole Kirk Christiansen's carpentry workshop in Billund, Denmark; the name comes from the Danish 'leg godt', meaning 'play well'.

The word 'emoji' comes from which language?

'Emoji' is Japanese, combining 'e' (picture) and 'moji' (character); its resemblance to 'emotion' is a coincidence.

What is the fastest land animal?

The cheetah is the fastest land animal, hitting around 100 km/h in short bursts thanks to a flexible spine and long limbs.

What is the largest animal known to have ever existed?

The blue whale outweighs anything that ever walked or swam, dinosaurs included, at up to 200 tonnes.

What is a group of lions called?

A pride is mostly related females and cubs with one or a few adult males.

Which animal has three hearts?

An octopus has three hearts: one systemic heart pumps blood around the body and two branchial hearts pump it through the gills.

What is the tallest living land animal?

The giraffe is the tallest living land animal; adult males can stand over 5 metres tall, with a neck alone about 2 metres long.

Koalas feed almost entirely on the leaves of which tree?

Koalas feed almost only on eucalyptus leaves; of more than 600 eucalyptus species they strongly prefer only around 30, and sleep up to 20 hours a day to digest them.

Which bird is the fastest animal on the planet when diving?

The peregrine falcon dives at over 320 km/h in its hunting stoop, with a record of about 390 km/h, making it the fastest animal on Earth.

Which is the only mammal capable of true, sustained flight rather than gliding?

Bats alone among mammals truly fly; flying squirrels and colugos only glide.

In The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen comes from which part of Panem?

District 12, the coal-mining district in what was Appalachia, is Panem's poorest; Katniss lives in its slum area, the Seam.

Which Greek god is Percy Jackson's father?

Poseidon, god of the sea, is Percy's father; Chiron hands Percy the sword Riptide on Poseidon's instructions in The Lightning Thief.

Who wrote the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series?

Jeff Kinney, a cartoonist who also created the online game Poptropica, began Diary of a Wimpy Kid online in 2004 before the first book in 2007.

Who wrote The Fault in Our Stars?

John Green published The Fault in Our Stars in 2012; its title comes from Cassius's line in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.

Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is set in which Italian city?

The Prince of the city banishes Romeo after the street fight that kills Tybalt.

What is the value of pi to two decimal places?

Pi is 3.14159..., so 3.14 to two decimal places; it is the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter and its digits never end or repeat.

Which is the only even prime number?

2 is the only even prime: every other even number is divisible by 2 as well as by 1 and itself, so it cannot be prime.

The interior angles of a triangle always add up to how many degrees?

A triangle's interior angles add up to 180 degrees on a flat surface; on a sphere they add up to more, which is how spherical geometry differs from Euclidean.

Guacamole is made mainly from which fruit?

The name comes from the Nahuatl word āhuacamōlli, literally 'avocado sauce'.

Nutella is a chocolate spread made with which nut?

It comes from Alba, an Italian town famous for growing hazelnuts.

Roughly how many people watched Travis Scott's 'Astronomical' concert in Fortnite in April 2020?

About 27.7 million unique players attended the five Astronomical shows across 23-25 April 2020, and the first show alone drew 12.3 million concurrent players.

The animated show Total Drama is a parody of reality competitions like which series above all?

Total Drama Island apes Survivor: campers are voted off at a marshmallow ceremony (a spoof of the tribal council) and leave via the Dock of Shame and Boat of Losers.

The Disney+ series Star Wars: Skeleton Crew is a loose adaptation of which classic novel?

Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson's 1883 pirate novel, is the template: Jude Law's rogue Jod Na Nawood plays the Long John Silver role to the show's four runaway kids.

The Toronto Raptors' G League team, Raptors 905, is named after what?

The Mississauga-based club began play in 2015-16, the same year the Raptors added Norman Powell in the draft.

In Transformers: Beast Wars, who leads the Maximals?

Optimus Primal, who takes a gorilla form, leads the Maximals against Megatron's Predacons after both crews crash on prehistoric Earth and adopt beast modes to survive the raw Energon.

Rapper Travis Scott built his stage name from his favourite uncle's name and whose first name?

Scott comes from Kid Cudi, born Scott Mescudi, one of his biggest inspirations; Travis was a favourite uncle's name, and the rapper himself was born Jacques Webster II.