100+ of the Best General Knowledge Quiz Questions
Updated: Feb. 16, 2021
Not counting the Earth, which is the only planet whose largest moon is named after a female figure? Which country has coastlines on the Caspian Sea, the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf? See how you fare against these trivia questions!
Trivia Question
BBC sports commentator Andrew Cotter has made popular home videos featuring contests between whom?
Answer: His two dogs, Olive and Mabel
The videos, which went viral during the COVID-19 lockdown, have amassed more than 50 million views on YouTube!
Trivia Question
The 2020 winner of the Oscar for Best Documentary (Short Subject) features Afghan girls performing what sport?
Answer: Skateboarding
The Oscar-winning doc is titled Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl).
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What geographic features does IKEA usually name its bathroom products after?
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According to a 2013 survey, what demographic asks nearly 300 questions per day?
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What board game is purportedly not played by the British royal family because it makes the players too vicious?
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The international cosmetics retailer Lush sells “naked” products, which don’t include what?
Answer: Packaging
Thirty-five per cent of Lush’s products are package-free! “Naked” items include solid shampoo bars, conditioners and bath oils.
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After a hiatus in gospel, who returned to rock ’n’ roll in the early 1960s, with The Beatles as his opening act?
Answer: Little Richard
During this time, Richard reportedly taught Beatles frontman Paul McCartney his distinctive singing style.
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Which Canadian province or territory has the highest proportion of elected female legislators?
Answer: The Northwest Territories
Discover the strangest fact about every Canadian province and territory.
Trivia Question
Where did South Korea recently send coronavirus-protection gear, out of gratitude to Korean War veterans?
Answer: The Navajo Nation
The U.S. supported South Korea during the Korean War—members of the Navajo Nation used their language as an unbreakable code for radio messages.
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Who said: “A man dies when he refuses to take a stand for that which is true”?
Answer: Martin Luther King Jr.
Read up on these powerful quotes on racism from history’s most inspiring activists.
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In which city can you ski down the sloped roof of an electricity-producing incinerator?
Answer: Copenhagen
First conceived in 2011, the CopenHill boasts an impressive 450-metre ski slope.
Trivia Question
NASA has tested equipment in Chile’s Atacama Desert, because it’s similar to which planet?
Answer: Mars
Fun fact: the Atacama is 50 times more arid than California’s Death Valley!
Trivia Question
Which poses a greater threat to undersea fibre-optic cables: sharks or fishing boats?
Answer: Fishing boats
Check out the creepiest things you can find at the bottom of the ocean.
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Which country called its 2019 national budget “The Wellbeing Budget” because it focused on areas such as mental health?
Answer: New Zealand
The budget has also committed billions to tackling child poverty and family violence.
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What cartoon character drew inspiration from Charlie Chaplin and turns 92 this November?
Trivia Question
Moraines, eskers and drumlins are all landforms that were created by what phenomenon?
Answer: Retreating glaciers
Fun fact: Antarctica’s Lambert glacier is the largest in the world. It measures 96 kilometres wide and 434 kilometres long.
Trivia Question
What vegetarian product is known for “bleeding” meat-like juices?
Answer: The Impossible Burger
The Impossible Burger first launched in 2016.
Trivia Question
David Tennant and Michael Sheen starred in what recent TV release about the antics of demons and angels?
Answer: Good Omens
Here are more underrated shows on Amazon Prime Canada worth binge-watching!
Trivia Question
Henry Dunant shared the first Nobel Peace Prize, in 1901, for founding what life-saving organization?
Answer: The International Committee of the Red Cross
Dunant shared the prize with Frédéric Passy, a French economist and founding member of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.
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What lunar event promises to make 2020’s Halloween especially spooky?
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What prize is so revered by hockey fans that it has its own “keeper,” responsible for safeguarding it wherever it goes?
Answer: The Stanley Cup
New to hockey? Consider this guide to Canadian hockey slang essential reading.
Trivia Question
Han van Meegeren was a Dutch art forger. One of his successes, The Supper at Emmaus, was proclaimed by scholars to be a masterpiece by whom?
Answer: Johannes Vermeer
It’s estimated that van Meegeren (pictured above) duped buyers out of more than US $30 million in 1967’s money.
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As late as the 1930s, what unwelcome objects were sometimes found in toilet paper?
Answer: Splinters
Check out these funny photos of grocery store items no one wants to panic-buy.
Trivia Question
Michael Myers’s mask from Halloween is based on the face of what Canadian actor of Star Trek fame?
Trivia Question
Misère versions of games such as nim, sprouts and poker have what in common?
Answer: The players try to lose
Lowball, for example, is a type of poker in which one’s lowest-scoring hand wins.
Trivia Question
What did the graffiti artist Banksy paint on his own bathroom walls during the COVID-19 lockdown?
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The glow called St. Elmo’s Fire appears when electrical voltage affects gases in the sky. What do we call it when we purposely make the same thing happen inside glass tubes?
Answer: Neon lights
The first neon lights were made in 1911 by French chemist Georges Claude.
Trivia Question
A childhood candy-tasting job inspired what book by Roald Dahl?
Answer: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
There are two film versions of Dahl’s novel: the first released in 1971 (starring Gene Wilder), and the second released in 2005 (starring Johnny Depp).
Trivia Question
Hawaii has a statute called the Aloha Spirit law, which encourages public officials to contemplate which character traits?
Answer: Kindness, unity, agreeableness, humility and patience
Here are the 50 things you won’t believe are banned in the United States.
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What were the original jack-o’-lanterns carved from in Ireland and Scotland, before those places started importing pumpkins?
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Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) is a very sturdy plastic. That’s why it hurts to step on what Danish-designed ABS toys?
Trivia Question
You may know her better as a nurse, but who became the first female member of the U.K.’s Royal Statistical Society in 1858?
Answer: Florence Nightingale
Other famous members included English polymath Charles Babbage and Belgian astronomer Adolphe Quetelet.
Trivia Question
Who described Simon Bolivar as “the dastardly, most miserable and meanest of blackguards”?
Trivia Question
What movie star’s first claim to fame was being part of a hip-hop duo called DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince?
Answer: Will Smith
The duo’s most successful single was 1991’s “Summertime,” which peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Check out the most popular songs from the year you were born!
Trivia Question
According to peer-reviewed research, wearing what colour might give an advantage to boxers?
Trivia Question
Besides his most famous portrait, what artist also painted others that included Lady With an Ermine and Ginevra de’ Benci?
Answer: Leonardo da Vinci
If you share this one trait with Leonardo da Vinci, you might be a genius.
Trivia Question
Greta Thunberg’s mother, Malena Ernman, represented Sweden at what event in 2009?
Answer: The Eurovision Song Contest
Her song, “La Voix,” was the first Swedish entry to contain lyrics in French.
Trivia Question
What former German chancellor gave Angela Merkel her first cabinet position—and the rather patronizing nickname “mein Mädchen” (my girl)?
Answer: Helmut Kohl
Kohl served as Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998.
These funny political insults are guaranteed to make you laugh!
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Not counting cheese or tomato sauce, what is by far the most popular pizza topping among Americans?
Answer: Pepperoni
You won’t believe some of the stuff you’ve been swallowing! Read these food facts from our experts before you take another bite.
Trivia Question
Omura’s whale, the Lord Howe stick insect and the New Zealand storm petrel are all examples of what kind of animal?
Answer: They’re “Lazarus animals”
Meaning, they were thought to be extinct only to be rediscovered.
Trivia Question
Although Bea Arthur hated cheesecake, what TV show’s cast ate some 100 of them on camera?
Answer: The Golden Girls
In 2014, the Writers Guild of America ranked The Golden Girls at number 69 on their list of the “101 Best Written TV Series of All Time.”
Trivia Question
Which Disney character’s family name is Fa, even though it was Hua in the source material?
Trivia Question
By what name is the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences better known?
Answer: The Nobel Prize for Economics
American economist Joseph E. Stiglitz (pictured above) was awarded the prize in 2001.
Trivia Question
In early 2020 in Hong Kong, armed men stole 600 of what coveted item?
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Who’s won two Grammys for comedy recordings and three for playing the banjo?
Answer: Steve Martin
These funny song titles may not have appeared on any top 40 hit list, but they’re sure to put a smile on your face!
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What’s the only Semitic language that’s also an official European Union language?
Trivia Question
What actor has played friends to Ford Prefect, Gandalf, Sherlock Holmes and the Black Panther?
Answer: Martin Freeman
Freeman first became known to audiences while starring in the UK version of The Office.
Trivia Question
During the Second World War, double agent Juan Pujol García was nicknamed after what Swede?
Answer: Greta Garbo
The reason? Because he could give a convincing performance.
Trivia Question
What novel did James Patterson write about a detective named Jamie Patterson, who tries to solve the murder of a horror writer?
Answer: The Murder of Stephen King
Patterson ultimately decided not to publish it.
Trivia Question
Sometimes called a “good luck sweet cookie” in China, what treat was likely invented in the U.S.?
Answer: The fortune cookie
Speaking of sweets, find out how other countries enjoy ice cream!
Trivia Question
Not counting the earth, which is the only planet whose largest moon is named after a female figure?
Answer: Uranus
The moon is named for the Shakespearean character Titania.
Trivia Question
Golfer Annika Sörenstam hails from what Nordic country?
Trivia Question
Whose unsolved 1913 death prompted headlines such as “Murdered by Agents From Big Oil Trusts,” because he’d invented a more fuel-efficient engine?
Trivia Question
Who supplied the music for the musical-theatre version of the film Waitress?
Answer: Sara Bareilles
Her 2007 hit single, “Love Song,” reached fourth on the Billboard Hot 100.
Trivia Question
What African kingdom lists Coca-Cola concentrate among its main exports?
Answer: Eswatini
With a total land area of just 17,364 square kilometres, Eswatini is the seventh smallest country in Africa.
Trivia Question
In 2010, the last panel of what long-running comic strip saw the title character kidnapped by a war criminal?
Answer: Little Orphan Annie
Created by cartoonist Harold Gray, the comic made its debut on August 5, 1924.
Trivia Question
Who is the highest grossing female actor of all time?
Answer: Scarlett Johansson
Check out the biggest box-office hit from the year you were born.
Trivia Question
W and Z are worth a lot in many versions of Scrabble, but in which language are they worth only a single point each?
Answer: Polish
Memorize the best Scrabble words for a competitive edge at your next game night.
Trivia Question
Klaus Teuber was a dental technician until he created which blockbuster board game?
Answer: The Settlers of Catan
First published in 1995, the multiplayer game had sold more than 22 million copies by 2015.
Trivia Question
Historical pirates often buried their treasure. True or false?
Trivia Question
While her brothers were inventing the airplane, Katharine kept their bicycle shop afloat. What was their surname?
Answer: Wright
A graduate of Oberlin College, Katharine also taught Latin in high school.
Trivia Question
Which layer of the earth, normally found between the crust and core, occasionally pushes up to the surface?
Answer: The mantle
These eye-opening Canadian geography facts will have you seeing our country’s landscapes in a new light.
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Who starred in Thomas Edison’s 1894 short film, The “Little Sure Shot of the ‘Wild West.” Exhibition of Rifle Shooting at Glass Balls, etc.?
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In Louise Fitzhugh’s classic 1964 novel, who was the titular spy?
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What city’s historic Imperial Hotel is on its Ringstrasse (ring road)?
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Which country’s flag used to include an orange stripe, for the House of Orange?
Answer: The Netherlands
These are the best places to visit, according to your zodiac sign.
Trivia Question
The title character in The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou was likely modelled on what real French oceanographer?
Answer: Jacques Cousteau
Read up on the creepiest things you can find at the bottom of the ocean.
Trivia Question
Since 2016, the letters A, B and O are sometimes missing from various signs and company logos around the world. Why?
Answer: To promote blood donation
Many Canadians don’t know their blood type—here are eight reasons you should.
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What rocker revealed in January 2020 that he has Parkinson’s?
Trivia Question
Conch, helix, tragus and rook are all ways of piercing which body part?
Trivia Question
What person’s last words, uttered on August 31, 1997, were purportedly, “My God, what’s happened?”
Trivia Question
Fujian, Taiwan and Guangdong are all known for what product, whose name means “black dragon”?
Trivia Question
The Cervantes Prize is awarded to people writing in what language?
Answer: Spanish
Visiting a Spanish-speaking country anytime soon? Or just want to bone up on your Español? These are the everyday Spanish phrases to master.
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Which country has been experiencing a tourism boom because of the Frozen movies?
Trivia Question
In 1972, the International Tennis Federation authorized what TV-friendly colour for tennis balls?
Answer: Yellow
According to Tennis365, the switch to yellow tennis balls was the idea of David Attenborough, who was a controller at BBC2 in the 1960s.
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Kannada is a language with at least 43 million native speakers, most of whom live in which Asian country?
Trivia Question
Now very rare, thanks to vaccines, what infectious disease is the reason why Spain remembers 1613 as “the year of the strangulations”?
Answer: Diphtheria
Here’s how coronavirus is different from all pandemics through history.
Trivia Question
Before humans risked flying in a hot-air balloon themselves, they sent up which three animals?
Answer: A sheep, a rooster and a duck
Good news: they landed safely!
Trivia Question
Late blight, the plant disease that caused Ireland’s Great Famine, no longer threatens potato crops. True or false?
Trivia Question
On average, Danes cycle 1.6 kilometres per day. Roughly what percentage of them own a bike?
Answer: 90 per cent
According to the Cycling Embassy of Denmark, approximately half of all children aged 11 to 15 also cycle to school.
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What actor topped the 2019 Forbes list of the most influential Chinese celebrities?
Answer: Actor Wu Jing
Wu starred in the 2019 film The Wandering Earth—China’s third highest-grossing film ever.
Trivia Question
In what resort can one race in a Star Wars-themed half marathon?
Trivia Question
Who wrote the following? “Is there meaning to music? … Yes. And can you state in so many words what the meaning is? … No.”
Answer: The composer Aaron Copland
Born in Brooklyn, New York on November 14, 1900, Copland was referred to as “the Dean of American Composers” during his lifetime.
Trivia Question
How old was Greta Thunberg when she first became an activist?
Answer: 15 years old
Learn how climate change is affecting your physical and mental health.
Trivia Question
The record for the fastest non-tornado wind gust was set during tropical cyclone Olivia in which country?
Trivia Question
In 2019, Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan taped what item of fruit to a wall and sold it for US$120,000?
Trivia Question
What kills more people worldwide: road accidents or homicide (including war and capital punishment)?
Answer: Road accidents
Road accidents are to blame for around one in 40 human deaths.
Trivia Question
The person who was born Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark would now be the queen of which country had it not abolished its monarchy in 1973?
Trivia Question
What sport, invented in Amsterdam in 1901, requires four men and four women on each team?
Trivia Question
The ancient Egyptian god Khepri was portrayed as what insect, or sometimes as a man with that insect for a head?
Trivia Question
What plant is a symbol of nuclear disarmament because it can absorb radioactive cesium?
Answer: The sunflower
Fun fact: sunflowers were planted at the sites of the Fukushima and Chernobyl nuclear disasters to help absorb radiation from the soil.
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In 2019, what Canadian singer released her first Billboard No. 1 album in more than 17 years?
Trivia Question
Which two independent states are entirely surrounded by Italy?
Answer: San Marino and Vatican City
From island paradises to little lands tucked away in Europe, these tiny countries are big on scenery and culture.
Trivia Question
In Peanuts, what character was fiercely dedicated to Beethoven?
Answer: Schroeder
Find out the craziest things fans have done to save their favourite TV shows.
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Which is the only country to have won both the women’s and the men’s FIFA World Cups?
Trivia Question
What Dutch master produced more than 142 paintings while he was staying at a psychiatric hospital?
Trivia Question
Which “timely” Nicole Kidman film was based on the novel that won the 1999 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction?
Answer: The Hours
These romantic movies on Netflix Canada should be viewed with a box of tissues nearby.
Trivia Question
What Disney movie features a castle inspired by the Chateau de Chambord in France?
Trivia Question
The square root of two is a constant named after what mathematician and philosopher?
Answer: Pythagoras
It takes a genius to solve these tricky math riddles—are you up to the challenge?
Trivia Question
Japan’s southernmost prefecture is the birthplace of karate and is called what?
Trivia Question
What American actor goes by the stage name “Childish Gambino” when he’s performing music?
Answer: Donald Glover
Glover also created and stars in the Emmy Award-winning comedy-drama, Atlanta.
Trivia Question
Which country has coastlines on the Caspian Sea, the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf?
Answer: Iran
Iran is the second-largest country in the Middle East, after Saudi Arabia.
Trivia Question
Until he passed away at age 98 in 2018, Jerry Maren was the last survivor of the 124 actors who played Munchkins in what movie?
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According to Nigella Lawson, what’s the “best meal in the world”?
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Golf returned to the Olympics in 2016. Who won the first men’s gold medal in 112 years and hit the first Olympic hole in one?
