Print PDF version of this Round 2021 General Knowledge History

 

A bumper quiz of 50 questions about events that have taken place in the month of December. The quiz is made up of a new set of questions as well as some from earlier rounds and packaged together to make a longer quiz for you to enjoy

We have dozens of other categories to choose from as well, please check out the Categories page for lots of inspiration for your quizzes.

 

Questions:

1) In 1897, which city was the first in the world to host licensed taxicabs?

 

2) In 1917, Finland declared its independence from which country?

 

3) 1947 saw the dedication of which US national park in Florida?

 

4) Vladimir Nabokov completed which controversial novel in december 1953?

 

5) What was significant about the role of Desdemona from the Shakespeare play Othello in December 1660?

 

6) In December 1980, what did Mark David Chapman do in front of the Dakota Apartments?

 

7) Which heavy metal band became the first to perform live in each of the seven continents when they performed in Antarctica in Dec 2013?

 

8) Which creator of the children's television series’s Bagpus, Noggin the Nog, Ivor the Engine and Clangers, died in December 2008?

 

9) What is the name of the world’s longest running soap opera first broadcast in December 1960?

 

10) In 1961, Tanganyika in Africa became independent from which country?

 

11) Mark Twain’s novel ‘Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ was first published in Dec 1884 in which country?

 

12) The American singer Andy Williams was born in which decade?

 

13) The world’s first text message was sent on the 3rd of December of which year? a) 1972 b) 1982 c) 1992

 

14) In 1927 which comedy duo released their first film ‘Putting Pants on Philip’?

 

15) Which famous novelist who died in December 1894 wrote the ‘Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’?

 

16) What happened for the first time at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa in 1967?

 

17) What was the name of the first edition of the world’s first Sunday Newspaper that was published in 1791? a) The Times b) The Guardian c) The Observer

 

18) Which ship, although only slightly damaged, was found abandoned near the Azores in 1872?

 

19) In December 1958 the UK’s first motorway was opened to traffic as part of what would eventually become the M6, but what was it originally called?

 

20) Born in December 1963, what did Michael Edwards become known as after the Winter Olympics of 1988?

 

21) The first underground rail service in the southern hemisphere was opened in 1913 in which Latin American city?

 

22) In 1941 who was the Japanese Emperor who gave approval for the start of their war against the USA?

 

23) Which undersea tunnel was completed in Dec 1990 before being opened to traffic in 1994?

 

24) Which car company was the first to introduce the moving assembly line in December 1913

 

25) Marie Tussaud the French-English sculptor who founded Madame Tussauds Wax Museum was born in December but in which century? a) 17th b) 18th c) 19th

 

26) In December 1939 LaGuardia airport opened to service which city?

 

27) In 1942 a team led by Enrico Fermi initiated the first artificial self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction. What was the project called?

 

28) Formed in 1971 Ajman, Fujairah, Sharjah, Dubai, and Umm al-Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and which other Emirate formed the United Arab Emirates?

 

29) In 1976 who became President of Cuba, by replacing Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado?

 

30) NASA launched the Space Shuttle Endeavour on a mission to repair which telescope in 1993?

 

31) Who, in December 1955, was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama?

 

32) In 1941, The Imperial Japanese Navy made a surprise attack on a harbour in which U.S state?

 

33) Militant abolitionist leader John Brown is hanged for his raid on the arsenal at which town in West Virginia? 

 

34) In 1988 who became the first woman to head the government of an Islam-dominated state when she became Prime Minister of Pakistan?

 

35) Which American outlaw committed his first known bank robbery in Gallatin, Missouri in 1869? 

 

36) In 1995, The European Court of Justice ruled that footballers in the European Union are free to transfer from one UEFA Federation to another at the end of their contracts. What is the ruling known as?

 

37) Who became Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England in 1653?

 

38) Whose controversial play, A Doll's House, premiered at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1879?

 

39) In 1612 who became the first person to observe the planet Neptune?

 

40) Which Archbishop of Canterbury was slain in his own cathedral in 1170

 

 

41) In December of which year was the first Nobel Prize ceremony held in Stockholm? a) 1881 b) 1891 c) 1901

 

42) Which American president was the first american to be awarded a Nobel Prize when he was awarded the Peace prize in 1906?

 

43) A Nobel prize, this time for literature, was also awarded to which British Prime Minister in 1953?

 

44) In 1999 Helen Clark was sworn in as Prime Minister of which country?

 

45) Born in December 1957 which English musician and composer had a major hit with ‘19’?

 

46) Before his death in December 2006, Augusto Pinochet had been a General and Dictator in which country?

 

47) In December 1688, James II whilst trying to flee to France, threw the ‘Great Seal of the Realm’ into which river?

 

48) In 1901 which Italian inventor was the first to transmit a radio signal across the Atlantic between Cornwall and Newfoundland?

 

49) Which King’s abdication became effective in December 1936?

 

50) The Republic of Upper Volta ( now Burkina Faso) and the Republic of Dahomey gained independence from which colonial power in December 1958?

 

 

 

Answers:

1) In 1897, which city was the first in the world to host licensed taxicabs?

London

 

2) In 1917, Finland declared its independence from which country?

Soviet Russia

 

3) 1947 saw the dedication of which US national park in Florida?

Everglades

 

4) Vladimir Nabokov completed which controversial novel in december 1953?

Lolita

 

5) What was significant about the role of Desdemona from the Shakespeare play Othello in December 1660?

Played by a woman for the first time on a public stage

 

6) In December 1980, what did Mark David Chapman do in front of the Dakota Apartments?

Murdered John Lennon

 

7) Which heavy metal band became the first to perform live in each of the seven continents when they performed in Antarctica in Dec 2013?

Metallica

 

8) Which creator of the children's television series’s Bagpus, Noggin the Nog, Ivor the Engine and Clangers, died in December 2008?

Oliver Postgate

 

9) What is the name of the world’s longest running soap opera first broadcast in December 1960?

Coronation Street

 

10) In 1961, Tanganyika in Africa became independent from which country?

Great Britain

 

11) Mark Twain’s novel ‘Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ was first published in Dec 1884 in which country?

UK (not published in US until Feb 1885)

 

12) The American singer Andy Williams was born in which decade?

1920’s (1927)

 

13) The world’s first text message was sent on the 3rd of December of which year? a) 1972 b) 1982 c) 1992

c) 1992

 

14) In 1927 which comedy duo released their first film ‘Putting Pants on Philip’?

Laurel and Hardy

 

15) Which famous novelist who died in December 1894 wrote the ‘Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’?

Robert Louis Stevenson

 

16) What happened for the first time at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa in 1967?

Human heart transplant

 

17) What was the name of the first edition of the world’s first Sunday Newspaper that was published in 1791? a) The Times b) The Guardian c) The Observer

c) The Observer

 

18) Which ship, although only slightly damaged, was found abandoned near the Azores in 1872?

Mary Celeste

 

19) In December 1958 the UK’s first motorway was opened to traffic as part of what would eventually become the M6, but what was it originally called?

Preston By-pass

 

20) Born in December 1963, what did Michael Edwards become known as after the Winter Olympics of 1988?

Eddie the Eagle

 

21) The first underground rail service in the southern hemisphere was opened in 1913 in which Latin American city?

Buenos Aires

 

22) In 1941 who was the Japanese Emperor who gave approval for the start of their war against the USA?

Hirohito

 

23) Which undersea tunnel was completed in Dec 1990 before being opened to traffic in 1994?

Channel Tunnel

 

24) Which car company was the first to introduce the moving assembly line in December 1913

Ford

 

25) Marie Tussaud the French-English sculptor who founded Madame Tussauds Wax Museum was born in December but in which century? a) 17th b) 18th c) 19th

b) 18th (1761)

 

26) In December 1939 LaGuardia airport opened to service which city?

New York

 

27) In 1942 a team led by Enrico Fermi initiated the first artificial self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction. What was the project called?

Manhattan Project

 

28) Formed in 1971 Ajman, Fujairah, Sharjah, Dubai, and Umm al-Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and which other Emirate formed the United Arab Emirates?

Abu Dhabi

 

29) In 1976 who became President of Cuba, by replacing Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado?

Fidel Castro

 

30) NASA launched the Space Shuttle Endeavour on a mission to repair which telescope in 1993?

Hubble Space Telescope.

 

31) Who, in December 1955, was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama?

Rosa Parks

 

32) In 1941, The Imperial Japanese Navy made a surprise attack on a harbour in which U.S state?

Hawaii

 

33) Militant abolitionist leader John Brown is hanged for his raid on the arsenal at which town in West Virginia? 

Harpers Ferry

 

34) In 1988 who became the first woman to head the government of an Islam-dominated state when she became Prime Minister of Pakistan?

Benazir Bhutto

 

35) Which American outlaw committed his first known bank robbery in Gallatin, Missouri in 1869? 

Jesse James

 

36) In 1995, The European Court of Justice ruled that footballers in the European Union are free to transfer from one UEFA Federation to another at the end of their contracts. What is the ruling known as?

Bosman ruling

 

37) Who became Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England in 1653?

Oliver Cromwell

 

38) Whose controversial play, A Doll's House, premiered at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1879?

Henrik Ibsen

 

39) In 1612 who became the first person to observe the planet Neptune?

Galileo

 

40) Which Archbishop of Canterbury was slain in his own cathedral in 1170

Thomas Becket (Thomas à Becket)

 

41) In December of which year was the first Nobel Prize ceremony held in Stockholm? a) 1881 b) 1891 c) 1901

c) 1901

 

42) Which American president was the first american to be awarded a Nobel Prize when he was awarded the Peace prize in 1906?

Theodore Roosevelt

 

43) A Nobel prize, this time for literature, was also awarded to which British Prime Minister in 1953?

Winston Churchill

 

44) In 1999 Helen Clark was sworn in as Prime Minister of which country?

New Zealand

 

45) Born in December 1957 which English musician and composer had a major hit with ‘19’?

Paul Hardcastle

 

46) Before his death in December 2006, Augusto Pinochet had been a General and Dictator in which country?

Chile

 

47) In December 1688, James II whilst trying to flee to France, threw the ‘Great Seal of the Realm’ into which river?

Thames

 

48) In 1901 which Italian inventor was the first to transmit a radio signal across the Atlantic between Cornwall and Newfoundland?

Marconi

 

49) Which King’s abdication became effective in December 1936?

Edward VIII

 

50) The Republic of Upper Volta ( now Burkina Faso) and the Republic of Dahomey gained independence from which colonial power in December 1958?

France