Trivia questions and answers: 60 general knowledge

Every party has that moment: someone suggests a quiz and nobody has questions ready. I fixed that for you. Here are 60 trivia questions and answers, split into the categories the critter crew of Zabum! hosts.

Every answer is short and checked. Read them out loud with friends, use them in a classroom, or warm up before opening Zabum! and facing Lara the macaw.

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How to use these questions

Read the question, count to ten, then reveal the answer. To keep it fair, rotate the categories and give one point per correct answer.

Planet trivia questions

1. What is the largest ocean in the world? Answer: The Pacific Ocean.
2. What is the largest country in the world by area? Answer: Russia.
3. What is the longest river in South America? Answer: The Amazon River.
4. What is the highest mountain in the world? Answer: Mount Everest.
5. On which continent is Egypt? Answer: Africa.
6. What is the capital of Australia? Answer: Canberra (not Sydney).
7. What is the largest hot desert in the world? Answer: The Sahara.
8. What is the capital of Japan? Answer: Tokyo.
9. Which country is shaped like a boot on the map? Answer: Italy.
10. In which country is the Eiffel Tower? Answer: France, in Paris.

Science trivia questions

1. What is the largest planet in the Solar System? Answer: Jupiter.
2. Which planet is known as the Red Planet? Answer: Mars.
3. What is the chemical symbol for gold? Answer: Au.
4. Which gas do plants take from the air for photosynthesis? Answer: Carbon dioxide.
5. How many bones are in the adult human body? Answer: 206.
6. What is the largest organ of the human body? Answer: The skin.
7. At what temperature does water boil at sea level? Answer: 100 °C (212 °F).
8. What is the fastest land animal? Answer: The cheetah.
9. How many legs does a spider have? Answer: Eight.
10. What is the closest star to Earth? Answer: The Sun.

History trivia questions

1. In what year did humans first land on the Moon? Answer: 1969.
2. Who was the first person to walk on the Moon? Answer: Neil Armstrong.
3. In what year did Christopher Columbus reach the Americas? Answer: 1492.
4. Which civilization built the pyramids of Giza? Answer: The ancient Egyptians.
5. In what year did World War I begin? Answer: 1914.
6. In what year did World War II end? Answer: 1945.
7. Who painted the Mona Lisa? Answer: Leonardo da Vinci.
8. In which city is the Colosseum? Answer: Rome, Italy.
9. In what year did the Berlin Wall fall? Answer: 1989.
10. Who wrote "Don Quixote"? Answer: Miguel de Cervantes.

Sports trivia questions

1. How many players does each team have on the field in soccer? Answer: Eleven.
2. How often is the FIFA World Cup held? Answer: Every four years.
3. In which country did the ancient Olympic Games begin? Answer: Greece.
4. How many rings are in the Olympic symbol? Answer: Five.
5. Which sport uses a racket and a shuttlecock? Answer: Badminton.
6. How many points is a basket from beyond the three-point line worth? Answer: Three points.
7. In 8-ball pool, how many numbered balls start on the table? Answer: Fifteen, plus the cue ball.
8. In which sport do you hear "birdie" and "par"? Answer: Golf.
9. How many points win a game of table tennis? Answer: Eleven, winning by two.
10. How long is a soccer match in regulation time? Answer: 90 minutes, two halves of 45.

Screens (movies, TV and games) trivia questions

1. What is the name of Disney’s most famous mouse? Answer: Mickey Mouse.
2. In which city is Hollywood? Answer: Los Angeles.
3. What is the name of Nintendo’s famous plumber? Answer: Mario.
4. Which wooden puppet’s nose grows when he lies? Answer: Pinocchio.
5. In which Disney film does Simba the lion appear? Answer: The Lion King.
6. What is the name of the bespectacled wizard created by J. K. Rowling? Answer: Harry Potter.
7. How many dwarfs live with Snow White? Answer: Seven.
8. Which superhero is Bruce Wayne’s secret identity? Answer: Batman.
9. What is the name of the clownfish who gets lost in the Pixar film? Answer: Nemo.
10. What color is the Hulk? Answer: Green.

Music trivia questions

1. How many strings does a standard guitar have? Answer: Six.
2. How many keys does a standard piano have? Answer: 88.
3. Which British band was made up of John, Paul, George and Ringo? Answer: The Beatles.
4. Who is known as the "King of Pop"? Answer: Michael Jackson.
5. How many notes are in the do-re-mi scale (do, re, mi...)? Answer: Seven.
6. Which German composer kept composing after losing his hearing? Answer: Ludwig van Beethoven.
7. Which country is samba from? Answer: Brazil.
8. Which string instrument is played with a bow and rested on the shoulder? Answer: The violin.
9. Which Jamaican singer made reggae famous with "No Woman, No Cry"? Answer: Bob Marley.
10. What do you call the speed at which a piece of music is played? Answer: Tempo.

Want to play for points?

PolarzinhoThat tempo question is in the Music list above. I got it wrong in the game. Now you have no excuse.

Zabum! is Polar Games’ general knowledge quiz: seven critters host seven categories, and you can play rooms with friends, practice against bots or take the Daily Challenge. Faster answers score more, and the last question is worth double.

Frequently asked questions

How many questions make a good quiz round?

Between 10 and 20 per round. With 60 questions you can run three rounds of 20, or six rounds of 10, one per category.

How do you run a general knowledge quiz for a group?

Split people into teams, read the questions out loud and give one point per correct answer. Most points at the end wins.

Where can I play a trivia quiz online?

In Zabum!, right in your browser: create a room and invite your friends with a link.

Try it

Used them all and want more? Open Zabum!, invite your friends and let Lara the macaw ask the questions. If you prefer word games, there is Stop! and the A to Z lists on the blog too.

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