History Guild General History Quiz 88
See how your history knowledge stacks up!
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The stories behind the questions
1. In what year was Napoleon defeated at Waterloo?
1815 – Waterloo was the decisive engagement of the ‘Hundred days’ that saw Napoleon return from exile and reform his armies. According to Wellington, the British commander, the battle was “the nearest-run thing you ever saw in your life”. Napoleon abdicated four days later and this was the end of the Napoleonic wars.
2. Which German officer lead the Africa Korps during WW2?
Erwin Rommel – With a storied career that included success as an infantry officer in the Italian alps during WW1, as an interwar author and as tank officer in the Battle of France Rommel was well known to both sides during WW2. He was ordered to form the Deutsches Afrikakorps in order to salvage the Axis position in North Africa after the collapse of the Italian forces there.
3. Which of these conflicts involved two US allies fighting against each other?
The Falklands War – The United States did everything possible to avoid war and having to choose between key allies. The United States had a longstanding alliance with Britain, but by 1982 the right-wing junta in Argentina had become a key cold war ally in Latin America. Britain had expected resolute support from Reagan in retaking the islands by force. Instead what they got was studied neutrality. “We are friends with both countries,” the president breezily remarked, “was it really worth going to war?”. Margaret Thatcher was incensed, asking Regan “What would the United States do if Alaska were invaded?”.
4. Who was the last English Monarch to be killed in Battle?
Richard III – He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. He was defeated and killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field, the last decisive battle of the Wars of the Roses.
5. Which country has been ruled by a single Royal family for the longest un-interupted period?
Japan – The Japanese monarchy is the oldest continuous hereditary monarchy in the world. The Imperial House recognizes 126 monarchs, beginning with the legendary Emperor Jimmu, traditionally dated to 11 February 660 BC, and continuing up to the current emperor, Naruhito.
6. Who was the second President of the United States of America?
John Adams – John Adams was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Father who was the second president of the United States, serving from 1797 to 1801. He is also one of the two sets of Father-Son presidents of the USA, his son John Quincy Adams was the sixth president of the United States, from 1825 to 1829.
7. Which Kurdish leader, born in Tikrit, united Muslim forces against the crusaders in the 12th century?
Saladin – Saladin led the Muslim military campaign against the Crusader states in the Levant. Under Saladin’s command, the Ayyubid army defeated the Crusaders at the decisive Battle of Hattin in 1187, and thereafter wrested control of Palestine—including the city of Jerusalem—from the Crusaders, who had conquered the area 88 years earlier.
8. Who was the American president during the ‘Black Thursday’ Wall Street crash?
Herbert Hoover – The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as Black Thursday, was a major American stock market crash that occurred in the autumn of 1929. This day saw the largest sell-off of shares in U.S. history. Hoover pursued a variety of policies in an attempt to lift the economy after this crash, but opposed directly involving the federal government in relief efforts.
9. Who was the first person of colour to be elected Vice President of the USA?
Charles Curtis – Charles Curtis was an American attorney and Republican politician from Kansas who served as the 31st vice president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 under Herbert Hoover. Curtis was descended from the Kaw, Osage and Potawatomi Nations and was deeply integrated in Kaw culture, speaking Kansa (the Kaw dialect) as his first language.
Curtis was in favour of integration between European Americans and Native Americans and sponsored legislation that extinguished the legal authority of Native American Nations and divided their land amongst the individual members of the Nations. He personally received 1,625 acres of Kaw land near Washunga in Oklahoma in this process.
Charles Curtis, Kamala Harris and Barack Obama makes up the 3% of the US presidents and vice presidents who are people of colour. This is despite the fact that people of colour make up 40% of the US population.
10. What is the Hiawatha Belt?
The document recording the union of the Iroquois Confederacy – the Hiawatha Belt is a visual record of the creation of the League of the Haudenosaunee, also known as the Six Nations or Iroquois. The belt is named after Hiawatha, an Onondaga who was the Peacemaker’s helper in spreading the good words of Peace. In this belt, it records when five warring nations; the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, and Mohawk, buried their weapons of war to live in peace. Read more about the Changing Relationship between the US Government and Native Americans.
