Free trivia questions and answers

How many squares are on a standard chessboard?

Answer: 64

How many sides does a hexagon have?

Answer: 6

Which US state has the smallest population (under 600,000 as of 2024)?

Answer: Wyoming

What is the English honorific abbreviation "Mr." short for?

Answer: Mister

How many sides does a heptagon have?

Answer: 7

What is the maximum number of clubs allowed in a golfer's bag during a round?

Answer: 14

What sport is played at Augusta National?

Answer: Golf

Which heavyweight boxer was nicknamed "Iron Mike"?

Answer: Mike Tyson

In which Swiss city is FIFA headquartered?

Answer: Zurich

Which sport is played with a puck on ice?

Answer: Ice hockey

The catalyst used in the Haber process to synthesize ammonia is:

Answer: Iron

Which is the largest moon in our solar system, orbiting Jupiter?

Answer: Ganymede

What is the structure shown in this image called?

Answer: DNA Double Helix

The oxidation state of manganese in the permanganate ion (MnO4^-) is:

Answer: +7

Which experiment first demonstrated the wave nature of electrons through diffraction?

Answer: Davisson–Germer

Who discovered penicillin?

Answer: Alexander Fleming

Who was President of the United States during the Cuban Missile Crisis?

Answer: John F. Kennedy

Who was the first emperor of a unified China, founder of the Qin dynasty in 221 BC?

Answer: Qin Shi Huang

Which ancient civilization built the rock-cut city of Petra in modern-day Jordan?

Answer: Nabataeans

In what year did Japan attack Pearl Harbor?

Answer: 1941

Who wrote the play "Romeo and Juliet"?

Answer: William Shakespeare

How many pieces does each player start with at the beginning of a chess game?

Answer: 16

Who played the Joker in "The Dark Knight" (2008)?

Answer: Heath Ledger

Which film won the very first Academy Award for Best Picture, at the 1929 ceremony?

Answer: Wings

Which Italian poet wrote the medieval epic "The Divine Comedy"?

Answer: Dante Alighieri

What is the smallest US state by area?

Answer: Rhode Island

What is the deepest ocean trench?

Answer: Mariana Trench

Which Southeast Asian country was historically known as Siam?

Answer: Thailand

What is the capital of Egypt?

Answer: Cairo

Which body of water is the saltiest natural lake on Earth and lies between Israel and Jordan?

Answer: Dead Sea

Which condiment is made by fermenting soybeans with salt and water?

Answer: Soy sauce

Which nut is traditionally pounded into classic Italian "pesto alla Genovese"?

Answer: Pine nut

Which spice is known as the most expensive in the world?

Answer: Saffron

Sushi originated in which country?

Answer: Japan

A "dirty" martini contains what added ingredient?

Answer: Olive brine

What is pop star Lady Gaga's real first name?

Answer: Stefani

Who originally recorded "Killing Me Softly with His Song" in 1973, before The Fugees covered it in 1996?

Answer: Roberta Flack

Which Beatle was famous as the band's bass guitarist?

Answer: Paul McCartney

Which 1991 Nirvana song became the anthem of the grunge era?

Answer: Smells Like Teen Spirit

Which Spanish musical genre is famous for rhythmic guitar and passionate dance?

Answer: Flamenco

Which 2009 James Cameron film was set on the alien moon Pandora?

Answer: Avatar

In "The Sound of Music," in which country does the Von Trapp family live?

Answer: Austria

Which movie won the first Academy Award for Best Picture?

Answer: Wings

Who plays physicist Sheldon Cooper in "The Big Bang Theory"?

Answer: Jim Parsons

In which film does a character say "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse"?

Answer: The Godfather

What does "IP" stand for in "IP address"?

Answer: Internet Protocol

In what year did Linus Torvalds release the first version of the Linux kernel?

Answer: 1991

Who is credited with inventing the first practical telephone, patented in 1876?

Answer: Alexander Graham Bell

What is the name of Google's primary mobile payment service?

Answer: Google Wallet (Google Pay)

What does the "HTTP" in a web address stand for?

Answer: HyperText Transfer Protocol

What is the name of the starship commanded by Captain James T. Kirk in the original series?

Answer: USS Enterprise

In The Next Generation, who is the cyberneticist that created the android Data?

Answer: Dr. Noonien Soong

Who is the captain of the USS Enterprise-D in Star Trek: The Next Generation?

Answer: Jean-Luc Picard

On which Star Trek series is Benjamin Sisko the commanding officer?

Answer: Deep Space Nine

Mr. Spock is half-human and half what species?

Answer: Vulcan

Which American general is often called the "Quaker fighting general" for his southern campaign?

Answer: Nathanael Greene

During the Boston Tea Party, protesters dumped chests of tea belonging to which company into the harbor?

Answer: British East India Company

In what year did the Boston Tea Party occur?

Answer: 1773

On what date is Independence Day celebrated in the United States?

Answer: July 4

Who urged her husband to 'remember the ladies' while he helped found the nation?

Answer: Abigail Adams

What is the homeworld of Chewbacca, invaded during the Clone Wars?

Answer: Kashyyyk

Which Jedi Council member is a Kel Dor who wears a breathing mask and protective goggles?

Answer: Plo Koon

What is the name of the Wookiee who co-pilots the Millennium Falcon?

Answer: Chewbacca

What species is Admiral Ackbar in Return of the Jedi?

Answer: Mon Calamari

Which actor played the Rebel pilot Wedge Antilles across the original trilogy?

Answer: Denis Lawson

Which arms dealer, played by Andy Serkis, steals Wakandan vibranium in Age of Ultron and Black Panther?

Answer: Ulysses Klaue

What is the name of Scott Lang's daughter in the Ant-Man films?

Answer: Cassie

In Shang-Chi, which actor plays the father Xu Wenwu?

Answer: Tony Leung

Which actress plays Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel?

Answer: Brie Larson

In the Disney+ series WandaVision, what is the name of the town where Wanda creates her sitcom reality?

Answer: Westview

In The Silmarillion, which Vala captured Melkor and bound him with the chain Angainor?

Answer: Tulkas

Which of the Two Trees of Valinor bore silver light?

Answer: Telperion

What is the name of the giant spider Sam and Frodo encounter entering Mordor?

Answer: Shelob

What was the secret tongue of the Dwarves, which they kept hidden from other peoples?

Answer: Khuzdul

Which Dwarf-lord of Nogrod led the sack of Menegroth and slew King Thingol over the Nauglamir?

Answer: Naugladur

Which Ministry official succeeds Cornelius Fudge as Minister for Magic?

Answer: Rufus Scrimgeour

Which sport is played on broomsticks in the Wizarding World?

Answer: Quidditch

Which eccentric Ravenclaw student later marries Rolf Scamander?

Answer: Luna Lovegood

What is the name of Harry Potter's pet owl?

Answer: Hedwig

Which Care of Magical Creatures professor preceded Hagrid in the role?

Answer: Silvanus Kettleburn

Which company developed the acclaimed 1998 stealth game Thief: The Dark Project?

Answer: Looking Glass Studios

Which Namco fighting game, first released in 1995, is known for 3D weapon-based combat?

Answer: Soul Edge

In the game Portal (2007), what is the name of the antagonist AI?

Answer: GLaDOS

The esports title Dota 2 originated as a custom mod for which Blizzard game?

Answer: Warcraft III

Which composer scored the music for the original Final Fantasy series?

Answer: Nobuo Uematsu

Which gothic-horror plane, from a 2011 set, is overseen by the archangel Avacyn?

Answer: Innistrad

Which of these is NOT one of the five colors of Magic: The Gathering?

Answer: Purple

Which plane is heavily inspired by feudal Japanese mythology and home to the kami?

Answer: Kamigawa

The colorless Eldrazi titans Emrakul, Ulamog, and Kozilek were first introduced in which 2010 set?

Answer: Rise of the Eldrazi

The complex, now-rare keyword "banding" primarily affects which part of combat?

Answer: How combat damage is assigned

In Egyptian mythology, which serpent of chaos did the sun god Ra battle each night?

Answer: Apep

In Japanese mythology, which storm god slew the eight-headed serpent Yamata-no-Orochi?

Answer: Susanoo

In Chinese mythology, the moon goddess Chang'e is said to be accompanied by which animal?

Answer: A jade rabbit

In Hawaiian mythology, Pele is the goddess of what natural force?

Answer: Volcanoes and fire

In Greek mythology, who ferried the souls of the dead across the river Styx?

Answer: Charon

The Cubist movement was pioneered by Pablo Picasso and which other artist?

Answer: Georges Braque

The Isenheim Altarpiece, noted for its harrowing Crucifixion, was painted by which German artist?

Answer: Matthias Grunewald

Who painted "The Birth of Venus"?

Answer: Sandro Botticelli

The Ghent Altarpiece was completed by Jan van Eyck and which brother?

Answer: Hubert van Eyck

Who painted the Mona Lisa?

Answer: Leonardo da Vinci

The cosmic microwave background is often cited as evidence for which theory?

Answer: Big Bang theory

Which spacecraft performed the first flyby of Pluto in 2015?

Answer: New Horizons

What is the term for the point in a planet's orbit where it is closest to the Sun?

Answer: Perihelion

Which planet is the largest in our solar system?

Answer: Jupiter

What is the closest star to Earth other than the Sun?

Answer: Proxima Centauri

In linguistics, a "fricative" consonant is produced how?

Answer: By narrowing the vocal tract to create turbulent airflow

Which 20th-century composer devised the twelve-tone (dodecaphonic) method?

Answer: Arnold Schoenberg

The Latin phrase "sine qua non" most precisely means which of the following?

Answer: Without which, not (an indispensable condition)

In music theory, the interval of six semitones, historically called "diabolus in musica", is known as what?

Answer: Tritone

The undeciphered Voynich Manuscript is held today by which institution?

Answer: Yale University's Beinecke Library