50 general knowledge quiz questions and answers

Five rounds of ten general knowledge questions that get harder as you go: from a gentle warm-up to some real head-scratchers. Tap Show answer to check each one.

Want the whole night done for you? Pub Quiz Generator makes a full quiz from General Knowledge and 89 other categories, prints a QR code, and lets teams answer on their own phones — with answer sheets and team sheets to print.

Make a general knowledge quiz Play a General knowledge quiz game

Or print a single round from its heading.

Round 1: Warm-up

Which country gave the Statue of Liberty to the United States?
Show answer
France
Complete the proverb: 'Absence makes the heart grow...'?
Show answer
Fonder
Which British artist is famous for displaying a tiger shark preserved in formaldehyde, first shown in 1992?
Show answer
Damien Hirst
What name is given to a long spell of unusually hot weather?
Show answer
Heatwave
Which material is traditionally associated with a 25th wedding anniversary?
Show answer
Silver
Which common metal is strongly attracted to a magnet?
Show answer
Iron
Which vitamin does the body make when skin is exposed to sunlight?
Show answer
Vitamin D
In the nursery rhyme, Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of what?
Show answer
Water
Which day of the week is named after the Moon?
Show answer
Monday
By the usual convention taught in English-speaking schools, how many continents are there?
Show answer
7

Round 2: Easy

On which date is St George's Day celebrated?
Show answer
23 April
Roughly what percentage of the Earth's surface is covered by water?
Show answer
71%
Which month takes its name from the Latin for 'seven', as it was the seventh month of the early Roman calendar?
Show answer
September
Which river carries far more water into the sea than any other river in the world?
Show answer
Amazon
Who wrote the 1954 novel Lord of the Flies?
Show answer
William Golding
What does a camel mainly store in its hump?
Show answer
Fat
The aniseed-flavoured spirit ouzo is associated with which country?
Show answer
Greece
In the UK tradition, by what time of day should April Fools' Day pranks be played?
Show answer
Midday
In Monopoly, how many houses must you have on a property before you can exchange them for a hotel?
Show answer
4
Which berries give gin its main flavour?
Show answer
Juniper

Round 3: Medium

Which word for a sitting room comes from the French verb 'parler', meaning to speak?
Show answer
Parlour
Which American woman became the first to swim the English Channel, in 1926?
Show answer
Gertrude Ederle
Which country's flag has a blue 24-spoked wheel at its centre?
Show answer
India
What does an anemometer measure?
Show answer
Wind speed
What does a lexicographer compile?
Show answer
Dictionaries
Ernest Hemingway's 1952 novella The Old Man and the Sea is set in the waters off which country?
Show answer
Cuba
Which Portuguese island gives its name to a fortified wine?
Show answer
Madeira
Which winged insect is famous for living for only a day or so as an adult?
Show answer
Mayfly
What word is used for a 200th anniversary?
Show answer
Bicentenary
How many pints are there in a quart?
Show answer
2

Round 4: Hard

Which British mountaineer, lost on Everest in 1924, is famously credited with saying he wanted to climb it 'Because it's there'?
Show answer
George Mallory
Which material is traditionally associated with a 35th wedding anniversary?
Show answer
Coral
The peace symbol designed in 1958 for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament combines the semaphore signals for which two letters?
Show answer
N and D
What is a male ferret called?
Show answer
A hob
What is the name of the small knife traditionally tucked into the sock with Highland dress?
Show answer
Sgian-dubh
What is the currency of Saudi Arabia?
Show answer
Riyal
Which two-shilling coin was introduced in 1849 as an early step towards decimal currency?
Show answer
Florin
Basil pesto originated in which Italian region, whose capital is Genoa?
Show answer
Liguria
Which organisation awards the Kitemark to products in the UK?
Show answer
British Standards Institution
What is the common name for the illness pertussis?
Show answer
Whooping cough

Round 5: Expert

Which Italian priest and astronomer discovered the first known asteroid, on New Year's Day 1801?
Show answer
Giuseppe Piazzi
Which former aircraft designer, who worked on Spitfire undercarriages, patented the lightweight folding baby buggy in 1965?
Show answer
Owen Maclaren
Which 12th-century king began building the temple of Angkor Wat?
Show answer
Suryavarman II
Roughly what percentage of the total mass of our solar system is contained in the Sun?
Show answer
99.8%
Which American toy company, makers of Monopoly and Play-Doh, was founded by the Hassenfeld brothers in 1923?
Show answer
Hasbro
Which Englishman is said to have made the first mass-produced toothbrush after making one while in prison in 1770?
Show answer
William Addis
What is the currency of Paraguay?
Show answer
Guaraní
What is the currency of Kazakhstan?
Show answer
Tenge
What name is given to animals that are mainly active at dawn and dusk?
Show answer
Crepuscular
Cape Horn, at the southern tip of South America, was named in 1616 after a town in which country?
Show answer
Netherlands

Run these rounds on phones

Teams scan a QR code and answer on their phones; you see the scores and reveal the winners. No app to download. Read how to run a pub quiz for tips on rounds, scoring and tie-breakers.

Create your quiz