History is a very important subject for government exams filled with moments that have shaped the world. In this post, we will provide you with 100 important history questions and answers that are very important for your exam, each of which sheds light on a different era or event. Let's dive into these historical highlights to enrich your general knowledge!
100 History General Knowledge Questions and Answers
Answer: Narmer
2. Which civilization built the Great Pyramid of Giza?
Answer: The Ancient Egyptians.
3. What writing system did the Sumerians of Mesopotamia develop?
Answer: Cuneiform.
4. Who is considered the main deity in ancient Egyptian mythology?
Answer: Amun-Ra.
5. What two rivers supported the Mesopotamian civilization?
Answer: The Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
6. Which Indus Valley city is known for its advanced urban planning?
Answer: Mohenjo-Daro.
7 Which pharaoh is famous for the treasures found in his tomb?
Answer: Tutankhamun.
8. Which ancient civilization is known as the "Cradle of Civilization"?
Answer: Mesopotamia.
9. What structure was used by the Egyptians as tombs for pharaohs?
Answer: Pyramids.
10. Who created the first known code of laws?
Answer: Hammurabi. Who is known as the "Father of Western Philosophy"?
Answer: Socrates.
11. What two major city-states were often at war in ancient Greece?
Answer: Athens and Sparta.
12. Which famous structure did the ancient Greeks dedicate to the goddess Athena?
Answer: The Parthenon.
13. Who was the first Roman Emperor?
Answer: Augustus.
14. Who spread Greek culture across three continents?
Answer: Alexander the Great.
15. What major road was central to the Roman Empire's expansion?
Answer: The Appian Way.
16. Which Roman general crossed the Alps with elephants?
Answer: Hannibal.
17. What was the elite force of bodyguards for Roman emperors called?
Answer: The Praetorian Guard.
18. What route connected China with the West for trade?
Answer: The Silk Road.
19. Which dynasty was the first to unify China?
Answer: The Qin Dynasty.
20. Who was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 800 AD?
Answer: Charlemagne.
21. What was the main power institution during the European Middle Ages?
Answer: The Roman Catholic Church.
22. Which empire was founded by Osman I?
Answer: The Ottoman Empire.
23. What major illness devastated Europe in the 14th century?
Answer: The Black Plague (Bubonic Plague).
24. What was the House of Wisdom in Baghdad?
Answer: A major intellectual center of the Islamic Golden Age.
25. Which Viking leader is considered to have reached North America?
Answer: Leif Erikson.
26. Which event marked the beginning of the Crusades?
Answer: Pope Urban II’s call for the First Crusade in 1095.
27. Who was known as the Lionheart?
Answer: King Richard I of England.
28. Who was the famous Islamic scholar who wrote the "Canon of Medicine"?
Answer: Avicenna (Ibn Sina).
29. Which English document, signed in 1215, limited the king's power?
Answer: The Magna Carta
30. Who painted the Mona Lisa?Answer: Charlemagne.
21. What was the main power institution during the European Middle Ages?
Answer: The Roman Catholic Church.
22. Which empire was founded by Osman I?
Answer: The Ottoman Empire.
23. What major illness devastated Europe in the 14th century?
Answer: The Black Plague (Bubonic Plague).
24. What was the House of Wisdom in Baghdad?
Answer: A major intellectual center of the Islamic Golden Age.
25. Which Viking leader is considered to have reached North America?
Answer: Leif Erikson.
26. Which event marked the beginning of the Crusades?
Answer: Pope Urban II’s call for the First Crusade in 1095.
27. Who was known as the Lionheart?
Answer: King Richard I of England.
28. Who was the famous Islamic scholar who wrote the "Canon of Medicine"?
Answer: Avicenna (Ibn Sina).
29. Which English document, signed in 1215, limited the king's power?
Answer: The Magna Carta
Answer: Leonardo da Vinci.
31. Who is known as the "Father of Astronomy"?
Answer: Nicolaus Copernicus.
32. What printing innovation revolutionized knowledge-sharing in Europe?
Answer: The Gutenberg Printing Press.
33. Which explorer first circumnavigated the Earth?
Answer: Ferdinand Magellan (though he died en route, his crew completed the journey).
34. Who wrote "The Prince," a political treatise?
Answer: Niccolò Machiavelli.
35. Who painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling?
Answer: Michelangelo.
36. What invention by Galileo helped advance astronomy?
Answer: The telescope.
37. Which English playwright is known as the Bard of Avon?
Answer: William Shakespeare.
38. Who is credited with developing calculus independently of Newton?
Answer: Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz.
39. What movement aimed to reform the Catholic Church in the 16th century?
Answer: The Protestant Reformation.
40. Who discovered the Americas in 1492?
Answer: Christopher Columbus.
41. Which empire did Hernán Cortés conquer in the Americas?
Answer: The Aztec Empire.
42. What Portuguese explorer first reached India by sea?
Answer: Vasco da Gama.
43. Who was the first European to view the Pacific Ocean from the Americas?
Answer: Vasco Núñez de Balboa.
44. Which Italian explorer is America named after?
Answer: Amerigo Vespucci.
45. Who established the first European settlement in Quebec, Canada?
Answer: Samuel de Champlain.
46. Which British captain explored and mapped parts of Australia?
Answer: Captain James Cook.
47. Who is known as the “Father of New France”?
Answer: Samuel de Champlain.
48. What was the Treaty of Tordesillas?
Answer: An agreement dividing the New World between Spain and Portugal.
49. Which Spanish explorer searched for the Fountain of Youth?
Answer: Juan Ponce de León.
50. What machine did James Watt improve, sparking the Industrial Revolution?
Answer: The steam engine.
51. Who invented the cotton gin?
Answer: Eli Whitney.
52. Who is known as the “Father of Railways”?
Answer: George Stephenson.
53. Which invention allowed for mass steel production?
Answer: The Bessemer process.
54. Who developed the first electric light bulb?
Answer: Thomas Edison.
55. What industry was transformed by the Spinning Jenny?
Answer: The textile industry.
56. Who invented the telephone?
Answer: Alexander Graham Bell.
57. Who developed the first gasoline-powered automobile?
Answer: Karl Benz.
58. What term describes the shift to machine-powered production?
Answer: The Industrial Revolution.
59. Who invented the telegraph?
Answer: Samuel Morse.
60. Who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand, sparking WWI?
Answer: Gavrilo Princip.
61. Which treaty officially ended WWI?
Answer: The Treaty of Versailles.
62. Who was the British Prime Minister during most of WWII?
Answer: Winston Churchill.
63. What year did World War II begin?
Answer: 1939.
64. What event led the U.S. to join WWII?
Answer: The attack on Pearl Harbor.
65. What was the Holocaust?
Answer: The genocide of six million Jews during WWII.
66. What global organization was founded after WWII?
Answer: The United Nations.
67. Which country dropped the first atomic bomb?
Answer: The United States.
68. Who led the Soviet Union during the Cuban Missile Crisis?
Answer: Nikita Khrushchev
Answer: Dr. Rajendra Prasad
70. Which city served as the capital of ancient India’s Maurya Dynasty?
Answer: Pataliputra (modern-day Patna)
71. When did the Jallianwala Bagh massacre occur?
Answer: April 13, 1919
72. Which Mughal emperor built the Taj Mahal?
Answer: Shah Jahan
73. What was the first battle fought in India by the British East India Company?
Answer: The Battle of Plassey (1757)
74. In which year did India gain independence from British rule?
Answer: 1947
75. Who was known as the "Iron Man of India"?
Answer: Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
76. Which Indian state was formed in 1960 when the Bombay State was split?
Answer: Maharashtra and Gujarat
77. Which reformer started the Arya Samaj movement in India?
Answer: Swami Dayananda Saraswati
78. What year marked the launch of the Quit India Movement?
Answer: 1942
79. Who was the first female ruler of India?
Answer: Razia Sultana}
80. Which empire was founded by Chandragupta Maurya?
Answer: The Maurya Empire
81. What was the main language used in ancient Indian royal courts?
Answer: Sanskrit
82. Who discovered the sea route to India in 1498?
Answer: Vasco da Gama
83. Which freedom fighter was known as ‘Netaji’?
Answer: Subhas Chandra Bose
84. What was the ancient name of Patna?
Answer: Pataliputra
85. In which year was the Battle of Buxar fought?
Answer: 1764
86. Who was the first person to receive the Bharat Ratna Award?
Answer: Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
87. Which dynasty built the Khajuraho temples?
Answer: The Chandela Dynasty
88. When did the Chauri Chaura incident occur?
Answer: 1922
89. Who led the Dandi March in 1930?
Answer: Mahatma Gandhi
90. Where is the ancient site of the Harappan civilization located?
Answer: In present-day Pakistan
91. Who was the last Governor-General of independent India?
Answer: C. Rajagopalachari
92. Which Indian leader first coined the slogan "Jai Hind"?
Answer: Subhas Chandra Bose
93. What ancient Indian text is known as the ‘Arthashastra’?
Answer: A treatise on statecraft, economics, and military strategy written by Kautilya (Chanakya)
94. Who was the founder of the Vijayanagara Empire?
Answer: Harihara and Bukka
95. In which year did the Sepoy Mutiny or the First War of Indian Independence take place?
Answer: 1857
96. Which Mughal ruler is credited with establishing the ‘Din-i Ilahi’ religion?
Answer: Akbar
97. Who was known as the ‘Grand Old Man of India’?
Answer: Dadabhai Naoroji
98. What is the name of the famous treaty signed after the First World War?
Answer: Treaty of Versailles
99. Which famous Indian king converted to Buddhism after the Kalinga War?
Answer: Emperor Ashoka
100. Where did Mahatma Gandhi first practice law as a barrister?
Answer: South Africa