100 Trivia Questions Only Geniuses Will Get Right
Updated: Feb. 15, 2021
From pop culture to geography, see how you fare against these challenging trivia questions.
Trivia Question #2
Which European country technically shares a border with Brazil, because one of its “overseas departments” does?
A. Germany
B. Belgium
C. France
D. Great Britain
Answer: B. KFC
The polish came in two colours—original and hot & spicy—and was exclusively available in Hong Kong.
Learn about the most ironic inventions ever.
Trivia Question #5
Samuel Tilden, Grover Cleveland, Al Gore and Hillary Clinton share what distinction among U.S. presidential candidates?
Answer: They won the popular vote but lost the electoral-college vote
Can you guess the only president Queen Elizabeth II didn’t meet with during her reign?
Answer: B. Robert Burns
The two influential poems were titled “Comin’ Through the Rye” and “To a Mouse,” respectively.
Trivia Question #7
What Indian mausoleum was called a “teardrop… on the cheek of time” by Nobel Prize in Literature laureate Rabindranath Tagore?
A. Tomb of Cyrus
B. The Taj Mahal
C. Tomb of Jahangir
B. Humayun’s Tomb
Answer: B. The Taj Mahal
A mind-boggling 20,000 artisans and 1,000 elephants were involved in the construction of the Taj Mahal.
Check out what the Taj Mahal looked like 100 years ago!
Trivia Question #10
What actor said, “If you had been a public figure since the time you were a toddler… maybe you too would value privacy above all else”?
A. Leonardo DiCaprio
B. Jodie Foster
C. Shirley Temple
D. Daniel Radcliffe
Answer: B. Jodie Foster
The two-time Academy Award winner made her acting debut in 1968 on the television show Mayberry R.F.D. While studying at Yale University, she was stalked by John W. Hinckley Jr., who would later try to assassinate then-President Ronald Reagan in 1981 in an effort to “impress” Foster.
Answer: C. Jasmine
Fun fact: one of the earliest known versions of Aladdin was set in China!
Trivia Question #14
Makeup artist Joanna Balkin says she needed 40 bottles of sunscreen per month to protect what 1990s TV show’s cast from sunburns?
A. Law & Order
B. Beverly Hills, 90210
C. Dawson’s Creek
D. Baywatch
Answer: C. Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Number one was The Nutcracker)
The other two ballets were Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty!
Trivia Question #16
The three actors who starred as Magneto, Iron Man and Doctor Strange have all played what other character?
A. James Bond
B. Basil Fawlty
C. Ebenezer Scrooge
D. Sherlock Holmes
Answer: D. Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is one of the most-filmed fictional characters of all time. According to IMDb, Holmes has appeared in a mind-boggling 226 films!
Next, check out our ranking of every James Bond movie.
Trivia Question #17
So far, which has been the only FIFA World Cup host not to make it out of the group stage?
A. Sweden
B. Mexico
C. United States
D. South Africa
Answer: D. South Africa (in 2010)
Don’t miss these hilarious soccer phrases from around the world!
Answer: A. The kidney
Your kidneys filter approximately 150 quarts of blood each day.
These new health studies will change the way you live.
Trivia Question #19
What city elected Sadiq Khan, its first mayor from an ethnic minority, in 2016?
A. Liverpool, England
B. Greater London, England
C. Birmingham, England
D. Manchester, England
Answer: B. Greater London, England
Khan is also the first Muslim mayor of a major Western capital city.
Check out our countdown of the top London attractions.
Trivia Question #20
The “Tina” in Tina Fey is short for what name?
A. Albertina
B. Valentina
C. Bettina
D. Stamatina
Answer: D. Stamatina
Stamatina is a Greek name—Fey’s mother, who is Greek, was born in Piraeus, Greece.
These are the Latin words you use every day without knowing it.
Answer: C. David Bowie
“Golden Years” was released on November 21, 1975, the first single from Bowie’s 10th studio album, Station to Station.
Trivia Question #23
What French entertainer, activist and secret agent had a pet cheetah named Chiquita?
A. Jacques Tati
B. Josephine Baker
C. Maurice Chevalier
D. Edith Piaf
Answer: B. Josephine Baker
Baker received both the Croix de Guerre (a first for an American woman) and the Medal of the Resistance in 1946, for her work as a secret agent during WWII.
Read up on more incredible women you didn’t learn about in history class.
Answer: D. Mexico
The flag’s eagle relates to the founding of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital.
Trivia Question #26
Russia is the world’s largest country (by area), and its largest city (by population) is its capital. What’s the next largest country for which this is the case?
A. Canada
B. China
C. Brazil
D. Argentina
Answer: B. Copernicus
Copernicus championed the idea that the Sun—not the Earth—was at the centre of the universe.
Answer: D. Kilimanjaro
The pizza took three days to reach its destination, and was delivered at a whopping 19,347-foot peak!
Trivia Question #32
Which event has the longer-distance world record: men’s discus throw or women’s discus throw?
Answer: D. William Shakespeare
Unsurprisingly, these Shakespearean insults still sting today!
Trivia Question #34
What singer was born in Havana in 1957, the daughter of a bodyguard employed by dictator Fulgencio Batista?
A. Gloria Estefan
B. Celia Cruz
C. Jennifer Lopez
D. Selena
Answer: A. Gloria Estefan
When Fidel Castro rose to power in Cuba, Estefan, still a toddler, fled to the United States with her family. The rest, as they say, is history.
These are the popular song lyrics that don’t mean what you think.
Trivia Question #35
Although it freed itself from the United States in 1946, what nation’s Independence Day celebrates its declaration of independence from Spain in 1898?
A. Mexico
B. The Philippines
C. Argentina
D. Guatemala
Answer: D. Alien
Said Cartwright in an old issue of Empire: “They have four cameras going. You see this thing start to come out, so we all get sucked in, we lean forward to check it out. They shout, “Cut!” They cut John’s T-shirt a little more because it wasn’t going to burst through. Then they said, “Let’s start again.” We all start leaning forward again and all of a sudden it comes out. I tell you, none of us expected it. It came out and twisted round.”
Trivia Question #38
In 2016, who used his own namesake manoeuvre when he saw that a woman at his retirement home was choking?
A. Dr. Henry Harryhausen
B. Dr. Henry Heimlich
C. Dr. Henry Howard
D. Dr. Henry Hamm
Answer: B. Mammoth
Mammoths went extinct approximately 10,000 years ago, and are closely related to today’s Asian elephants.
Check out the weirdest discoveries archaeologists have made!
Trivia Question #44
Surprisingly, whose team lost a Christmas-decorating contest when she was an inmate at Alderson, a West Virginia women’s prison?
A. Paris Hilton
B. Martha Stewart
C. Lindsay Lohan
D. Michelle Rodriguez
Answer: A. Australia
The platypus is endemic to eastern Australia.
These Australian animal rescue stories will give you hope!
Trivia Question #46
To raise money for charities, who handwrote an 800-word prequel to her bestselling book series?
A. E.L. James
B. J.K. Rowling
C. Suzanne Collins
D. Stephanie Meyer
Answer: B. J.K. Rowling
Rowling’s manuscript, which sold for £25,000 in 2008, was later stolen in 2017.
Did you notice these hidden messages in the Harry Potter books?
Trivia Question #47
According to its former minister of tourism, which country is known abroad for its three Rs: reggae, romance and running?
A. Curacao
B. Bonaire
C. The Bahamas
D. Jamaica
Answer: D. Jamaica
This well-known island nation attracted an impressive 4.3 million visitors in 2017.
Need help refining your bucket list? These are the best places to visit in 2020.
Trivia Question #49
Razzie awards are meant to go to bad movies, but who got nominated for directing the now widely respected film Scarface?
A. Francis Ford Coppola
B. Martin Scorsese
C. Brian De Palma
D. Sidney Lumet
Answer: C. Brian De Palma
Here’s the original 1983 review published in the New York Daily News: “The original “Scarface” ran a brisk 90 minutes, but De Palma drags out the bloodshed for nearly three hours, adding phony church music to give a more serious tone to the movie.” Ouch!
Check out the movies that have hilarious titles in other countries.
Answer: B. The Eiffel Tower
Quirky fact: taking photos of the Eiffel Tower at night is actually illegal!
Trivia Question #52
What movie star uses his middle initial, B, for “Bakari,” to avoid confusion with a retired basketball star?
A. Allen B. Iverson
B. Larry B. Bird
C. Walt B. Frazier
D. Michael B. Jordan
Answer: D. Michael B. Jordan
“We had the same name and I always got teased about not being the real Michael Jordan,” the actor said on Good Morning America in 2018. “Honestly [it] gave me a competitive chip on my shoulder and made me wanted to compete at anything I did.”
Speaking of Michael Jordan, read up on the worst mistakes in sports history.
Answer: A. Scandal
Scandal (2012-2018) was created by Shonda Rhimes and starred Kerry Washington as a Washington, D.C.-based crisis manager.
Trivia Question #56
Queen Mary Tudor of England is better known to history by what name?
A. Crazy Mary
B. Screaming Mary
C. Bloody Mary
D. Crying Mary
Answer: C. Bloody Mary
Queen Mary more than earned her nickname, too! (She had hundreds of Protestants burnt at the stake during English Reformation.)
Check out more royal family scandals that shocked the world.
Trivia Question #58
What two Renaissance artists were commissioned to paint rivalling frescoes at the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence?
A. Donatello and Botticelli
B. Raphael and Caravaggio
C. Titian and Masaccio
D. Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo
Answer: D. Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo
As unbelievable as it sounds, da Vinci and Michelangelo really did paint in the same room once, according to historians. These mysteries of the art world are equally as mind-boggling.
Trivia Question #59
What flightless bird, now extinct, was last seen on an island off the coast of Iceland?
A. Saint Helena hoopoe
B. Amsterdam wigeon
C. The great auk (Pinguinus impennis)
D. Jamaican caracara
Answer: C. The great auk (Pinguinus impennis)
The great auk is believed to have become extinct in the mid-19th century.
These are the animals that became extinct in the last 100 years.
Answer: A. Two pizzas
Florida-based programmer Laszlo Hanyecz purchased the two pizzas from Papa John’s.
Trivia Question #61
Arancini is an Italian delicacy. Its name means “little orange” but it’s actually made mostly of what?
A. Lamb
B. Rice
C. Tagliatelle
D. Egg
Answer: B. Rice
Arancini are said to have originated in Sicily during the 10th century.
Master these Italian phrases and you’ll be more worldly in no time!
Trivia Question #62
Among land animals, what species has the largest eyes?
A. Tarsier
B. Gibbon
C. Owl
D. Ostrich
Answer: D. The ostrich (Struthio camelus)
The ostrich eye is five times larger than the human eye!
Here are the creepiest things you can find at the bottom of the ocean.
Answer: B. The African Queen
This 1951 adventure drama was also nominated for Best Actress for Katherine Hepburn.
Trivia Question #65
What historic figure was assassinated near the Miljacka River in 1914?
A. Nicholas II
B. William McKinley
C. Carlos I
D. Franz Ferdinand
Answer: D. Franz Ferdinand
The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand—at the hands of Bosnian Serb nationalist Gavrilo Princip—led to the outbreak of World War I.
Check out the cool everyday things that were actually designed for WWI!
Answer: A. Sugar Ray Leonard
The other members of the “Fabulous Four” are Roberto Durán, Thomas Hearns and Marvin Hagler.
Trivia Question #67
Which country, other than Switzerland, uses the Swiss franc?
A. Belgium
B. Slovenia
C. Liechtenstein
D. Croatia
Answer: C. Liechtenstein
Liechtenstein is one of the world’s tiny countries you never knew existed!
Trivia Question #68
Which is the southernmost country in the European Union with no Mediterranean coastline?
A. Portugal
B. Spain
C. France
D. Switzerland
Answer: A. Portugal
Take the road less travelled and visit these underrated European cities.
Answer: B. Big
The 1988 smash hit was directed by Penny Marshall and helped launch Tom Hanks into superstardom.
Answer: Song of Solomon
Toni Morrison was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993.
Here are the most romantic quotes from books.
Answer: B. China
BAT is often regarded as China’s version of America’s FANGs: an acronym for Facebook, Alphabet, Netflix and Google.
These are the famous company names you’re pronouncing wrong.
Trivia Question #76
In 2012, what became the first movie to win both the Oscar for Best Picture and France’s César Award for Best Film?
A. Rust and Bone
B. The Artist
C. Holy Motors
D. The Intouchables
Answer: B. The Artist
This French-produced comedy-drama was the first black-and-white film to win the award since 1993’s Schindler’s List.
Check out every Oscar Best Picture winner—ranked from worst to best!
Trivia Question #77
HD 140283 is one of the most ancient known stars, at over 13.5 billion years old. It also has what biblical name?
A. Antares
B. Rigel
C. Methuselah
D. Pleiades
Answer: C. Methuselah
Fun fact: the Methuselah star was already known to astronomers by 1912!
You’ll think these mind-blowing facts are made up!
Answer: A. Auckland
Auckland is also home to the Sky Tower, currently the 25th tallest tower in the world.
These are the tallest skyscrapers in the world.
Trivia Question #79
Who built a private apartment near the top of the tower named for him and entertained Thomas Edison in it?
A. Richard Warren Sears
B. John D. Rockefeller
C. Solomon R. Guggenheim
D. Gustave Eiffel
Answer: D. Gustave Eiffel
Over 250 million people visited the Eiffel Tower in 2015, making it the world’s most popular paid monument.
Don’t miss these other facts about the Eiffel Tower.
Trivia Question #80
Banknote collectors call it “banana money,” after its artwork. Which country issued it in some of the territories that it occupied during the Second World War?
A. Italy
B. Japan
C. Germany
D. Russia
Answer: B. Japan
Not all “banana money” is treasured, however—experts note that only banana money with specific serial numbers are highly valuable.
Discover the crazy things you can only find in Japan.
Answer: C. Joan of Arc
Nicknamed “The Maid of Orléans,” Joan of Arc is famous for her role during the Hundred Years’ War.
Trivia Question #83
Cricket stars Clyde Walcott, Everton Weekes and Frank Worrell were all born in which city within 18 months of each other?
A. Johannesburg, South Africa
B. Bridgetown, Barbados
C. Mumbai, India
D. Colombo, Sri Lanka
Answer: A. Mariah Carey
The album featured the hit singles “It’s Like That” and “We Belong Together.”
Take a look back at the most misunderstood song lyrics of all time.
Trivia Question #86
Sahti is a type of beer that’s traditionally flavoured with juniper. You’re most likely to find it in which country?
A. Sweden
B. Finland
C. Norway
D. Denmark
Answer: B. Finland
Did you know that Finland is also home to the best city in the world to raise a family?
Answer: C. Ben Affleck
After a career downturn in the mid-2000s, Affleck set his sights onto directing, helming a number of critically-acclaimed films, including Gone Baby Gone, The Town and Argo.
Check out more facts about the Academy Awards!
Trivia Question #88
There are an estimated 1,864 of which bear species in the wild?
A. The giant panda
B. The white bear
C. The Gobi Grizzly
D. The Himalayan brown bear
Answer: A. The giant panda
While newborn pandas are about the size of a brick, both adult males and females can grow to about 200 pounds!
Don’t miss these weirdly fascinating facts about jellyfish.
Trivia Question #89
A poorly supported yet persistent rumour has it that Denmark’s King Christian VIII, not a shoemaker, was who’s father?
A. Niels Bohr
B. Søren Kierkegaard
C. Hans Christian Andersen
D. Anne of Denmark
Answer: D. Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
In 2016, Ulaanbaatar’s pollution levels were said to be five times higher than Beijing.
Answer: B. Maine
Maine shares a border only with New Hampshire (and Canada). Maine also has another distinction as well—it’s the only state with a one-syllable name.
These are the geography facts everyone keeps getting wrong!
Answer: B. 21
Each number is the previous two numbers added together. The eighth number is the sixth and seventh numbers—8 and 13—added together. If you can figure this out, see if you can solve this tricky math puzzle.
Trivia Question #95
Two people are standing back to back. They each walk away from each other for three feet. Then they both turn left and walk for another four feet, and then stop. Now, how many feet apart are they standing?
A. 10
B. 7
C. 25
D. 5
Answer: A. 10
If you remember the a2 + b2 = c2 rule from math class, that’s what’ll help you solve this problem. This rule states that if you have a triangle, the sum of the squares of the two shorter sides equals the square of the longest side. And in this problem, the walkers’ paths form parts of triangles. You may want a pencil and paper to “draw out” this problem and visualize the triangles.
Draw two lines labeled “three feet” for the distance they walk away from each other. Then draw two lines labeled “four feet,” going in opposite directions, for the distance they walked after their left turns. Now draw a line connecting the points at the ends of those lines (representing where the people are now). This line represents the distance you’re trying to figure out.
Now, you’ve got two triangles touching at the corners. Two sides of each are 3 feet and 4 feet (the distances each person walked). The unknown sides represent two halves of the distance you’re trying to find. So break out that Pythagorean Theorem: Three is a, 4 is b. 32 + 42 = 9 + 16 = 25 = c2. Take the square root of 25 and you get 5, which is the longest side of these mini-triangles. Five feet is half of the distance between the people. Five times two is ten!
Can you solve this tricky numbers riddle in less than 60 seconds?
Trivia Question #96
You’re trapped in a room with two doors. Only one door will lead you out of the room safely, but you don’t know which. A guard stands in front of each door. One guard always lies, the other always tells the truth, but you don’t know which is which. You can only ask one guard one question. What question do you ask, and what do you do once the guard has answered?
A. “Which is the safe door?” Go through the door the guard tells you.
B. “Which is the safe door?” Go through the other door.
C. “If I were to ask the other guard which was the safe door, which door would s/he say?” Go through that door.
D. “If I were to ask the other guard which was the safe door, which door would s/he say?” Go through the other door.
Answer: D. “If I were to ask the other guard which was the safe door, which door would s/he say?” Go through the other door.
If you chose the lying guard, the lying guard is telling you the door that the truthful guard would not say is safe. If you chose the truthful guard, the truthful guard is telling you the door that the lying guard would say is safe. Either way, the door the guard responds with is not the safe door. Go through the other door and you’re out!
Trivia Question #97
Lizzie, Isaac, Justine, and Mike each bought a different dessert. One of them bought a cupcake; one bought a doughnut; one bought a brownie; and one bought ice cream. One spent $1; one spent $2; one spent $3; and one spent $4. Using the set of clues below, who bought the ice cream?
- CLUE 1: Lizzie spent more money than Justine.
- CLUE 2: Justine bought the brownie.
- CLUE 3: Of the person who spent $1 and the person who spent $4, one of them was Lizzie and the other one bought the doughnut.
- CLUE 4: The person who bought the cupcake, the person who bought the brownie, the person who spent $2, and Isaac are all different people.
Who bought the ice cream?
A. Lizzie
B. Isaac
C. Justine
D. Mike
Answer: D. Mike
- We know (because of Clue 3) that Lizzie spent either $1 or $4. Because of Clue 1, we also know Lizzie spent more money than Justine, which means Lizzie can’t have spent $1 (the lowest amount). So Lizzie spent $4. Because of Clue 3, this means that the person who did spend $1 bought the doughnut.
- Clue 2 says that Justine bought the brownie. Because of Clue 4, we then know that Justine didn’t spend $2, since the $2-spender and the brownie-buyer are not the same person. We also know that Isaac didn’t buy the cupcake (or the brownie) or spend $2.
- Therefore, since we already know Lizzie spent $4, Mike is the only one who could have spent $2.
- Since the $1-spender and the doughnut-buyer are the same person, this has to be Isaac—he’s now the only one who doesn’t have either dessert or money accounted for yet.
- That leaves Justine having spent $3.
- Clue 4 says that the person who spent $2 and the person who bought the cupcake are not the same. Since Mike spent the $2, Lizzie must have bought the cupcake.
- This leaves us with our answer: Mike bought the ice cream!
If you figured that out, reward yourself with your dessert of choice. Oh, and you might be ready to tackle what one MIT professor called “the hardest logic puzzle ever“!
Trivia Question #98
If you take away one letter, you’re left with twelve. What is the word?
Answer: Dozens
“Dozens” is a six-letter word. Take away the “s,” and you have “dozen,” another word for “twelve.” (We never said it was twelve letters!)
Read up on these fascinating facts about the English alphabet!
Answer: 1694
Since the second digit is six times the first, the second digit must be 6, because it’s the only number that is still a single digit and is divisible by six. (It couldn’t be 0 either, because the second digit is six times the first digit, which would make the first digit 0, impossible for a four-digit number.) Once you’ve figured that out, you can figure out that the first digit is 1, the last digit is 4, and the third digit is 9.
Trivia Question #100
James’s mom has four children. Their names are April, May, June, and ______?
Answer: James
Don’t let the sequential month names fool you. It’s James’s mother, so James has to be one of the four children. Did we get you with this one?!
Next, refresh yourself on the pop culture trivia questions most people get wrong.
