97 Fun Facts About Trivia Questions and Answers

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

Antarctica is a polar desert: some inland spots receive only 1 to 3 cm of precipitation a year, and Vostok Station recorded -89.2 °C in 1983, the lowest surface temperature ever measured.

What is the chemical formula of ordinary table salt?

Table salt is sodium chloride, NaCl, sodium and chlorine in a 1:1 ratio. Around 250 million tonnes are produced each year, mostly for the chemical industry and road de-icing.

How many squares are there on a standard chessboard?

A standard chessboard has 64 squares: eight ranks by eight files, alternating light and dark, with 32 squares of each colour.

Which fashion doll did Ruth Handler introduce in March 1959?

Barbie debuted at the New York Toy Fair on 9 March 1959; Handler modelled her on Bild Lilli, a German doll she had seen in Switzerland in 1956.

Which land animal is the fastest, reaching around 93 to 104 km/h?

The cheetah is the fastest land animal: in 2012 a Cincinnati Zoo cheetah named Sarah ran 100 m in 5.95 seconds, peaking at about 98 km/h.

What is the capital city of Australia?

Canberra is Australia's capital, purpose-built as a compromise between rivals Sydney and Melbourne; the federal Parliament first sat there in 1927.

Who directed the 1975 shark thriller Jaws?

Steven Spielberg directed Jaws (1975); with the mechanical sharks constantly failing, he kept the shark mostly offscreen and leaned on John Williams's two-note theme.

Which Swedish group won the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest with "Waterloo"?

ABBA won Eurovision 1974 in Brighton with "Waterloo"; at the contest's 50th-anniversary show in 2005 it was voted the best entry in Eurovision history.

What gas makes up about 78 percent of dry air by volume?

Nitrogen is 78 percent of dry air; oxygen is a distant second at just under 21 percent and argon third at under one percent.

Which mineral is a crystalline form of the element carbon?

Graphite is actually the stable form of carbon at room conditions; diamond only survives because it converts to graphite at a negligible rate.

Which sport awards the Stanley Cup?

The trophy was commissioned in 1892 as the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup and first awarded to Canada's amateur champion in 1893.

What is the largest organ of the human body?

The skin is the body's largest organ, roughly 16 percent of total body mass and about 2 square metres of surface area in an adult.

In which fictional town do the Simpsons live?

The Simpsons live at 742 Evergreen Terrace in Springfield, a town whose state is deliberately never revealed; rival town Shelbyville sits next door.

Which superhero first appeared in Action Comics #1 in April 1938?

Superman debuted in Action Comics #1, on sale 18 April 1938 with a June cover date; creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster had met at Cleveland's Glenville High School in 1932.

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

Bats are the only mammals capable of true, sustained flight; with more than 1,400 species they make up about a fifth of all mammal species.

Which nut-based confection is made mainly from sugar and ground almonds?

Marzipan is little more than sugar and almond meal, and in Toledo it is shaped into animals and sometimes filled with sweetened egg yolk.

What is the smallest sovereign state in the world by both area and population?

Vatican City is the smallest sovereign state, covering about 0.49 square kilometres with a population under 1,000; it became independent under the 1929 Lateran Treaty.

Which Tom Hanks film of 1994 was directed by Robert Zemeckis?

Forrest Gump (1994) was directed by Robert Zemeckis and won six Oscars including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor for Hanks.

How many keys does a standard modern piano have?

A standard modern piano has 88 keys, 52 white and 36 black, spanning A0 to C8; Bösendorfer's Imperial grand extends that to 97.

Which strait runs through Istanbul and separates Europe from Asia?

The Bosporus runs through Istanbul and links the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara; its Ancient Greek name was folk-etymologised as 'cattle crossing'.

What is the name of the coffee shop where the six friends hang out in Friends?

Central Perk is the Manhattan coffee house where the six friends meet; the sitcom was developed under the working title Insomnia Cafe and ran on NBC from 1994 to 2004.

Which Beatles album, released in September 1969, was the last one the band recorded?

Abbey Road, released 26 September 1969, was the last album the Beatles recorded together; Let It Be came out in May 1970 but had been taped mostly in January 1969.

Who won the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature for 'new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition'?

Bob Dylan received the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature and skipped the December ceremony in Stockholm; he had already been given a Pulitzer Prize special citation in 2008.

What did Alexander Fleming discover in 1928 on a contaminated culture plate?

Fleming found penicillin in 1928 when a Penicillium mould contaminated a staphylococcus plate at St Mary's Hospital, London; he shared the 1945 Nobel Prize with Florey and Chain.

Which mammal may be the longest-lived of all, with some individuals passing 200 years?

The bowhead whale is the longest-lived mammal known: a harpoon point made around 1880 was found in one killed in 2007, and eye-lens dating has put some at over 200 years.

Which national team won the World Cup in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002?

Brazil won the World Cup in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002; Pelé was in the squad for the first three of those victories.

Which detective created by Agatha Christie is a retired Belgian police officer?

Hercule Poirot, the retired Belgian police officer with the famous moustache, appears in 33 Christie novels, two plays and more than 50 short stories published between 1920 and 1975.

Inferno and Paradiso are two parts of Dante's Divine Comedy; what is the third?

Purgatorio is the middle cantica: Dante climbs the seven terraces of Mount Purgatory, guided by the Roman poet Virgil until Beatrice takes over at the summit.

Which country leads the world in cocoa bean production, supplying about 38 percent of the crop in 2024?

Ivory Coast grew roughly two-fifths of the world's cocoa in 2024, ahead of neighbouring Ghana; cacao itself is native to the Amazon basin and was domesticated in South America over 5,000 years ago.

What year did the Berlin Wall fall, when East Germany announced its citizens could freely visit the West?

The Berlin Wall fell on 9 November 1989 after a botched East German press announcement on travel rules; German reunification formally followed on 3 October 1990.

Which lake is the deepest in the world, at 1,642 metres?

Lake Baikal in Siberia is the world's deepest lake at 1,642 metres and holds about a fifth of Earth's unfrozen fresh surface water, more than all five Great Lakes combined.

Which spice is derived from the dried stigmas of a crocus flower?

Saffron is the dried stigma of Crocus sativus; each flower yields only three threads, all picked by hand, so about 150,000 flowers go into a kilogram.

Which mountain, a dormant volcano, is the highest in Africa?

Kilimanjaro, at 5,895 metres, is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain in the world, rising 4,900 metres above its plateau base.

Under what birth name was Muhammad Ali known before he changed it?

Muhammad Ali was born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1942 and took his Muslim name in 1964 after joining the Nation of Islam.

Which Nirvana album, released in September 1991, was the first to feature drummer Dave Grohl?

Nevermind, released 24 September 1991, was Nirvana's first album with Dave Grohl; it was recorded mainly at Sound City in Van Nuys in May and June 1991 with producer Butch Vig.

Which planet is the smallest in the Solar System?

Mercury is the smallest planet, and despite being closest to the Sun it is only the second-hottest, because it has no atmosphere to trap heat.

Which whaling-ship captain hunts the white whale in Herman Melville's Moby-Dick?

Ahab's quest is vengeance on Moby Dick, the whale that bit off his leg on the Pequod's previous voyage; the sailor Ishmael narrates the 1851 novel.

The original Monopoly board's properties were named after streets in and around which US seaside resort?

The 1935 Parker Brothers Monopoly board used Atlantic City, New Jersey streets such as Boardwalk and Park Place; the game descends from Lizzie Magie's 1903 Landlord's Game, built to teach Henry George's single-tax idea.

What is the name of the fictional Indiana town in Stranger Things?

Stranger Things is set in Hawkins, a fictional Indiana town beside the Hawkins National Laboratory; the first season landed on Netflix on 15 July 2016.

Which sea route connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean and separates Spain from Morocco?

The Strait of Gibraltar separates Spain from Morocco and is only about 13 km wide at its narrowest point; Atlantic water flows in over a denser outflow from the Mediterranean.

What was Lady Gaga's name at birth?

Lady Gaga was born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta in New York City in 1986; the stage name came from Queen's song 'Radio Ga Ga'.

Which French breakfast pastry descends from the Austrian kipferl?

The croissant descends from the Viennese kipferl, sold in Paris from the late 1830s at August Zang's bakery; French bakers created the laminated yeast-dough version in the early 20th century.

What is the term for a group of crows?

A group of crows is called a murder, a collective noun dating back to at least the 15th century; crows can also recognise and remember individual human faces.

How many players does each rugby union team have on the field at the start of a match?

A rugby union side fields 15 players, eight forwards and seven backs, two more forwards than rugby league's 13-man team.

The Rosetta Stone carries the same text in Greek and in which two Egyptian scripts?

The Rosetta Stone bears a 196 BC decree in hieroglyphic, Demotic and Greek; French officer Pierre-François Bouchard found it at Rashid (Rosetta) in July 1799.

Which physicist and chemist was the first person to win two Nobel Prizes?

Marie Curie won the 1903 Physics prize with Pierre Curie and Henri Becquerel and the 1911 Chemistry prize alone; in 1906 she became the first female professor at the University of Paris.

Which Emily Bronte novel, her only one, was published in 1847 under the pen name Ellis Bell?

Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë's only novel, appeared in December 1847 under the pen name Ellis Bell and follows the Earnshaws, the Lintons and the foundling Heathcliff on the Yorkshire moors.

What colour jersey has the Tour de France leader worn since 1919?

The yellow jersey, maillot jaune, was introduced in 1919 to match the yellow paper of sponsoring newspaper L'Auto; before that the leader wore only a green armband.

Which Japanese scientist identified umami as a distinct taste in 1908?

Kikunae Ikeda of Tokyo Imperial University isolated glutamate from kombu broth in 1908 and named the taste umami; he patented monosodium glutamate, sold as Ajinomoto from 1909.

Which sandbox video game was originally created by Markus "Notch" Persson?

Minecraft was created by Markus 'Notch' Persson and first released in 2009; Microsoft bought developer Mojang and the game for US$2.5 billion, completing the deal in November 2014.

Which lighthouse, built under Ptolemy II, was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World?

The Pharos of Alexandria, finished around 280 BC under Ptolemy II, stood about 100 metres tall until earthquakes toppled it between the 10th and 14th centuries; Egypt has floated plans for an underwater museum at the site.

What was Google's search project originally called when Page and Brin began it at Stanford in 1996?

Page and Brin's 1996 Stanford project was called BackRub because it analysed the web's backlinks; the Google name, adopted in 1997, is a misspelling of googol, 1 followed by 100 zeros.

Which beaked sea creature has a blue-ringed species deadly to humans?

The blue-ringed octopus carries tetrodotoxin potent enough to kill an adult; all octopus species are venomous, but only the blue-ringed ones are known to have killed people.

The Great Wall of China's best-known sections were built by which dynasty?

The Ming dynasty (1368-1644) built the brick-and-stone sections most visitors see, such as Badaling and Mutianyu; the earliest walls date to the 7th century BC and were linked under the Qin.

Which cocktail is a traditional Cuban punch of white rum, sugar, lime, soda water and mint?

The mojito is Cuba's classic highball of white rum, sugar, lime juice, mint and soda water; the daiquiri, its Cuban cousin, skips the mint and soda.

Which Russian emperor abdicated in 1917, ending the Romanov monarchy?

Nicholas II abdicated on 15 March 1917 (2 March Old Style) during the February Revolution, having reigned since 1894; he and his family were shot at Yekaterinburg in July 1918.

Which Chinese variety is usually placed first in lists of languages by native speakers, near a billion?

Mandarin, with roughly 940 million native speakers, heads rankings of languages by native speakers; most of its varieties are spoken north of the Yangtze, hence the alternative name Northern Chinese.

What is the stage name of Farrokh Bulsara, the lead singer of Queen?

Farrokh Bulsara became Freddie Mercury; born in Zanzibar in 1946, he moved with his family to England after the island's 1964 revolution and adopted the stage name around 1970 when Queen formed.

Which 1937 film was the first full-length cel-animated feature ever released?

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs premiered on 21 December 1937 as the first full-length cel-animated feature; Walt Disney received an honorary Oscar for it, one full-size statuette and seven miniature ones.

Which two African countries share the distinction of never having been fully colonised?

Ethiopia and Liberia are the usual answer: Ethiopia crushed Italy at Adwa in 1896, and Liberia, settled from 1822 by free Black Americans, declared independence in 1847.

Which racehorse race, run since 1875, is known as "The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports"?

The Kentucky Derby, first run on 17 May 1875 before about 10,000 spectators at Churchill Downs, is dubbed 'The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports' for its roughly two-minute running time.

How many bones does an adult human skeleton typically have?

An adult skeleton typically has 206 bones; babies are born with around 270, and the count falls as bones such as the skull plates and sacral vertebrae fuse.

Which honey bee behaviour tells nestmates the direction and distance to flowers?

The waggle dance, a figure-eight run whose angle and duration encode direction and distance, was decoded by Karl von Frisch, who shared the 1973 Nobel Prize; it can also point to water or a new nest site.

Which so-called nut is actually a legume whose pods grow underground?

The peanut grows its pods underground, which is why Linnaeus named it hypogaea, Greek for 'under the earth'; it is also called the groundnut, goober or monkey nut.

Who designed the Statue of Liberty, with Gustave Eiffel building its metal framework?

The Franco-Prussian War delayed the gift; it was finally dedicated on October 28, 1886.

Which Chinua Achebe novel of 1958 follows the Igbo leader Okonkwo?

Things Fall Apart (1958) follows Okonkwo of Umuofia as British colonial rule and missionaries arrive; Achebe wrote it while working in Nigerian broadcasting, and Heinemann published it in London.

What was Jay-Z's debut studio album, released in June 1996 on his own Roc-A-Fella label?

Reasonable Doubt, released 25 June 1996 on Roc-A-Fella Records, peaked at only number 23 on the Billboard 200 yet later went platinum and featured Notorious B.I.G. on 'Brooklyn's Finest'.

Which set of Vivaldi violin concertos, each with an accompanying sonnet, was published in 1725?

The Four Seasons, four violin concertos each paired with a descriptive sonnet, opened Vivaldi's Opus 8, Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione, published in Amsterdam in 1725.

Which Hogwarts house was Luna Lovegood sorted into?

Luna Lovegood is a Ravenclaw, the house of wit and learning; her father Xenophilius edits the eccentric magazine The Quibbler.

Which footballer broke the men's international goals record in September 2021?

Cristiano Ronaldo passed Ali Daei's 109 international goals with two against the Republic of Ireland on 1 September 2021; Daei's tally had stood since 2006.

On what date was the Treaty of Versailles signed?

The Treaty of Versailles was signed on 28 June 1919 in the palace's Hall of Mirrors, five years to the day after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo.

Which country uses 12 time zones, more than any other, thanks to its overseas territories?

France spans 12 time zones thanks to territories from French Polynesia to New Caledonia; metropolitan France itself runs on UTC+1 in winter even though it sits in the GMT longitudes.

Which 1927 war film won the very first Academy Award for Best Picture?

Wings, a First World War aviation drama starring Clara Bow, won Outstanding Picture at the first Academy Awards in May 1929; Sunrise took a separate award for Unique and Artistic Production that was never given again.

Which US president served the shortest term, dying 31 days after taking office?

William Henry Harrison died on 4 April 1841, 31 days into his term; his doctors diagnosed pneumonia, though a 2014 study blamed enteric fever from Washington's contaminated water supply.

Which Indian emperor of the Maurya dynasty turned toward Buddhism after conquering Kalinga?

Ashoka, grandson of founder Chandragupta Maurya, renounced conquest after the bloody Kalinga war around 261 BC and spread Buddhist teachings through edicts carved on rocks and pillars.

Which candy was banned from import into the United States because it embeds a toy inside chocolate?

Kinder Surprise eggs fall foul of the 1938 Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, which bans confectionery with an embedded 'non-nutritive object'; Ferrero launched the toy-separated Kinder Joy in the US in 2018 instead.

Who scored 100 points in a single NBA game on March 2, 1962?

Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 for the Philadelphia Warriors against the New York Knicks on 2 March 1962 at Hershey, Pennsylvania, making 28 of 32 free throws despite being a poor foul shooter.

Which two men represent the two Ms in M&M's?

The Ms are Forrest Mars Sr. and Bruce Murrie, son of Hershey president William Murrie; Murrie took a 20 percent stake, Hershey supplied the chocolate, and production began in Newark, New Jersey in 1941.

Which film brought Katharine Hepburn the first of her four Best Actress Oscars?

Morning Glory (1933), only Hepburn's third film, won her the first Best Actress Oscar; the others came for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, The Lion in Winter and On Golden Pond.

The 1997 film Titanic tied which earlier film's record of eleven Academy Awards?

Titanic's 11 wins in 1998 matched the record of Ben-Hur (1959); Titanic also equalled All About Eve's 14 nominations, and The Return of the King later joined both on 11 wins in 2004.

In which city was Beethoven's Ninth Symphony first performed, on 7 May 1824?

Beethoven's Ninth premiered at Vienna's Theater am Kärntnertor on 7 May 1824; the deaf composer had to be turned round to see the applause he could not hear.

Which 1927 story was the last Sherlock Holmes tale Conan Doyle published?

The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place, printed in The Strand in April 1927, closed the canon; in the stories' internal chronology the final case is His Last Bow, set in August 1914.

Emperor penguins are the only penguins to breed during which season?

Emperor penguins breed in the Antarctic winter, laying in May or June; males then incubate the egg on their feet for about 64 days without eating, losing around 12 kg.

Who was the first Olympic medallist of the modern era, winning the triple jump on April 6, 1896?

James Connolly of the United States won the triple jump on 6 April 1896 in Athens, the first champion of the modern Games; he had left Harvard to compete after being refused leave.

Absolute zero corresponds to what temperature on the Celsius scale?

Absolute zero is -273.15 °C, which defines 0 on the Kelvin scale; William Thomson, later Lord Kelvin, proposed the absolute scale in 1848.

Which Brazilian city, the largest on the Amazon, sits where the Rio Negro joins the Solimoes?

Manaus, capital of Amazonas state, sits at the Meeting of the Waters where the dark Rio Negro runs beside the sandy Solimões for kilometres before mixing; its rubber boom built the 1896 Teatro Amazonas.

Which Shakespeare play is set on a remote island ruled by the magician Prospero?

The Tempest (about 1611) is set on Prospero's island with his daughter Miranda, the spirit Ariel and the enslaved Caliban; it is thought to be among the last plays Shakespeare wrote alone.

Which Neapolitan pizzaiolo supposedly created the pizza Margherita for a queen in 1889?

Legend credits Raffaele Esposito of Pizzeria Brandi with making the tomato, mozzarella and basil pizza for Queen Margherita of Savoy in June 1889, though similar toppings were already recorded in Naples decades earlier.

In which year did the International Astronomical Union redefine "planet", demoting Pluto?

The IAU adopted its definition of 'planet' on 24 August 2006 in Prague, reclassifying Pluto as a dwarf planet; it was given minor-planet number 134340 in September 2006.

On what date was the first iPhone released in the United States?

The first iPhone went on sale in the United States on 29 June 2007, five months after Steve Jobs unveiled it at Macworld on 9 January 2007; it launched at $499 for the 4 GB model.

Which Californian tree species includes the tallest living trees on Earth, at over 115 metres?

Coast redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) are the tallest living trees: Hyperion, found in Redwood National Park in 2006, measures about 115.9 metres.

Where was Elvis Presley born in January 1935?

Elvis was born in a two-room shotgun house in Tupelo, Mississippi, on 8 January 1935; the family moved to Memphis when he was 13, and he died at Graceland in 1977, aged 42.

Which moon of Saturn has geysers of water ice erupting near its south pole?

Enceladus vents water-ice plumes from 'tiger stripe' fractures near its south pole, spotted by Cassini in 2005; they feed Saturn's E ring and hint at a subsurface ocean.

Which animal is the northernmost marsupial in the world?

The Virginia opossum ranges as far north as southern Canada, further than any other marsupial; its ancestors evolved in South America and spread north during the Great American Interchange about 3 million years ago.

What is the atomic number of gold?

Gold is element 79; its symbol Au comes from the Latin aurum, and China was the world's largest producer in 2023, ahead of Russia and Australia.

Which marine mammal is the largest animal known to have ever existed?

The blue whale is the largest animal known to have lived: confirmed specimens reach about 30 metres and up to 199 tonnes, outweighing the biggest dinosaurs.

Where was Magna Carta sealed by King John on 15 June 1215?

King John sealed Magna Carta at Runnymede, a meadow beside the Thames between Windsor and Staines, on 15 June 1215; his son Henry III's regency reissued it in 1216 with the most radical clauses removed.