Infinite History Trivia Quiz

Answer: 1066

William of Normandy was an illegitimate son of Robert I of Normandy and Herleva of Falaise. After his father died in 1035, he took over as Duke of Normandy, despite being a bastard (in this context, an illegitimate child). In 1066, he led fleet of soldiers to England from Normandy to invade England.

He defeated the King of England, Harold II, at the Battle of Hastings. His victory is depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry. William took over as King of England and reigned till his death in 1087. His eldest son, Robert Curthose succeeded him as Duke of Normandy and his 3rd son, William II, succeeded him as king.

Answer: Thomas Becket

Thomas Becket was born around 1118 and later became the Archbishop of Canterbury. He was an advisor of Henry II of England. Later, he got into disagreements with the king over the rights and privileges of the Church. Becket excommunicated his opponents in the church.

After the news reached the king, he said, "Who will rid me of this troublesome priest?" There were also other versions, too. Either way, four knights thought that this was an order. They went to the Cathedral and murdered Becket. Two years after he died, he was canonized by Pope Alexander II.

Answer: Magna Carta

King John ruled England from 1199 to 1216. Although he was not as evil as Shakespeare or Robin Hood depicted him, he was not the nicest guy on the planet. In 1215, he signed the Magna Carta after a revolt from a group of barons. This handed some power over to the barons and the Parliament. The document inspired the constitution of the United Kingdom.

Answer: Mongol Empire

The Mongol Empire was formed by Genghis Khan in 1206. He conquered and united Mongol tribes and later went on to conquer other countries including: parts of China, most of the countries that end in "-stan", and parts of Russia. Later his grandson, Kublai Khan and his descendants expanded the empire to include all of Asia except for: India, Japan, Russia, and southeastern Asia.

The empire crumbled after disunity, civil wars, and succession disputes.

Answer: 1492

Christopher Columbus was funded by Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain. He was born in Italy and was rejected by many monarchs for funding to find a new route to India. He arrived somewhere in the Bahamas and later was arrested for crimes that he committed in the New World. He died not realizing that he had rediscovered a continent.

Answer: Mona Lisa

The Mona Lisa is possibly one of the most famous paintings in the history of mankind. It was created by Leonardo da Vinci. The portrait is very mysterious and the image's smile is very famous. If you look closer into the image, it could be very creepy but peaceful. The figure in the image is thought to depict Lisa del Giocondo. The painting is now in the Louvre Museum.

Answer: Qing Dynasty

The Qing Dynasty was founded by Nurhaci in 1616. At the time, it was called the Later Jin Dynasty and did not control China - yet. After he died in 1626, his son Hong Taiji started fighting against the Ming Dynasty. He died in 1644 just as the capital, Beijing was conquered.

His son, Shunzhi, ruled as the first Emperor of Qing China. After Shunzhi died, Kangxi took over and ruled in a golden age for the Qing Dynasty along with his son, Yongzheng, and his grandson, Qianlong. After Qianlong, the empire started collapsing and in 1912, the Qing Dynasty was overthrown and replaced with the Republic of China.

Answer: USA

The American Revolution was fueled by taxes and the tyranny from British rulers. The 13 colonies met at Independence Hall and drafted the Declaration of Independence. They fought the Revolution and the British surrendered at Yorktown. The Treaty of Paris was signed which officially recognized the independence of the Americans.

Answer: Karl Marx

Karl Marx was a German philosopher who believed in Communism. He basically formed the idea of Communism. In 1848, he wrote the book "The Communist Manifesto" with his collaborator Friedrich Engels (although a few historians believe that they were more than just friends). Marx died in 1883 and in 1922 Vladimir Lenin created the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), the first Communist country.

Answer: Somalia

Somalia was and still is a very poor country with chaos. The US and the USSR were rivals and both were probably the most powerful countries. China's economy started blooming in the late 1980s. Even though the USSR collapsed, today Russia still has a very big economy and is considered a major power.