Table Of ContentDK LONDON
Senior Editor Victoria Heyworth-Dunne
Senior Art Editor Gadi Farfour
Managing Editor Gareth Jones
Senior Managing Art Editor Lee Griffiths
Senior Production Editor Andy Hilliard
Senior Production Controller Rachel Ng
Senior Jacket Designer Akiko Kato
Development Manager Sophia MTT
Publishing Director Jonathan Metcalf
Associate Publishing Director Liz Wheeler
Art Director Karen Self
Design Director Philip Ormerod
DK DELHI
Senior Editor Janashree Singha
Project Editor Dipika Dasgupta
Editors Nandini D. Tripathy, Devangana Ojha,
Rishi Bryan, Avanika
Assistant Editor Ankita Gupta
Senior Art Editor Chhaya Sajwan
Project Art Editor Sourabh Challariya
Managing Editor Soma B. Chowdhury
Senior Managing Art Editor Arunesh Talapatra
DTP Designer Anita Yadav
Pre-production Manager Balwant Singh
DYNAMO
Question selection and adaptation, and project management by
Dynamo Limited
First published in Great Britain in 2020 by
Dorling Kindersley Limited
One Embassy Gardens, 8 Viaduct Gardens,
London SW11 7BW
Copyright © 2020 Dorling Kindersley Limited
A Penguin Random House Company
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
001–323118–July/2020
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior
written permission of the copyright owner.
A CIP catalogue record for this book
is available from the British Library.
ISBN: 978-0-2414-8737-2
Printed and bound in Great Britain
by Clays Ltd, Elcograf S.p.A.
For the curious
www.dk.com
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T H E
B I G
QU I Z
BOOK
10,000
amazing general
questions
knowledge
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CONTENTS
History 6
Science & Technology 52
Art & Literature 98
Geography 144
Music 190
The Natural World 236
Sport & Leisure 282
Food & Drink 328
Film & TV 374
Pot Luck 420
Answers 466
4
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INTRODUCTION
Doing quizzes is a great way to learn facts, test your knowledge,
and have fun. With 450 quizzes and 10,000 questions covering a
wide range of topics from dinosaurs, inventors, and ancient history
to comics, film, and food, there is something for everyone.
Test yourself on your favourite subject or challenge your brain
and try something completely new!
Each themed section has 45 quizzes. Each quiz has 15 Easy,
15 Medium, and 15 Difficult sets of questions. Half the quizzes have
20 questions, and half have 25 questions. The quizzes are numbered
from 1 to 450. To find the answers, look up the number
of the quiz in the Answers section.
HOW TO USE
THIS BOOK
There are many ways to use the book. You can do the quizzes by yourself,
in teams, or with another person. Here are a few suggestions, but you can
create your own quiz games to play.
• By yourself. Work your way through got the most right answers. The
the book from the beginning. See first person to get a set number
which is your best subject. Do one of points (say, 100) is the winner.
quiz from each section each time. Go
back and do the quizzes again to test • Play in teams. Write the section
your memory. Then try the next quiz names on a piece of paper and put
in the section until you have done all them in a bowl. Each team takes
the quizzes in the book. turns selecting a piece of paper.
Put the piece of paper back in the
• Quiz in pairs. Each person can bowl. The teams do one quiz from
take turns choosing a number from the section (in the order they appear).
1 to 450 and then going to that quiz. Then select another piece of paper
Set a time limit to answer the questions. and so on. The team with the most
Score a point for each correct answer correct answers at the end of a set
and another point for the person who number of quizzes is the winner.
5
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CHAPTER 1
H
IS
T
O
R
Y
HISTORY
From ancient to modern
history, check out the people,
battles, and events that shaped
our world. These quizzes will
test your knowledge of
dates, names, and places.
6
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EASY QUIZ 1
H
IS
T
World War II O
R
Y
1. What was the operational name 17. What was the name of the German
for the D-Day landings in General who was in charge of the
June 1944? Afrika Korps?
2. Which Japanese city was hit by 18. What does “kamikaze” mean?
the first atomic bomb?
19. The invasion of which country
3. Which Battle of Britain fighter prompted Britain’s entry into
had the same name as a type the war?
of storm?
20. Which winter-long battle for a
4. What was a “doodlebug”? Russian city began in 1942?
5. What does “blitzkrieg” mean? 21. Was Italy one of the Allies?
6. Which British Prime Minister 22. What was the name of the
declared war on Germany in machine used to create German
September 1939? secret codes?
7. Who was in charge of the SS? 23. Which event brought the United
States into the war?
8. Stalin was the political leader
of which country? 24. Which European country declared
war on Germany alongside Britain
9. What was a “blimp”? in 1939?
10. Men over 35 were too old 25. Operation Barbarossa in 1941 was
for the draft in Britain. the name for Hitler’s attack on
True or False? which country?
11. Where might you find an
Anderson Shelter?
12. What sort of gun was a Sten?
13. Which nation sent its Red Army
to war in Europe?
14. A “Sherman” was a type of what?
15. What was a B-29?
16. In which month did the Allies
declare “Victory in Europe”?
(Answers on page 466) 7
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QUIZ 2 EASY
H
IS
T
O The Vikings
R
Y
1. In which centuries did the 15. By the 12th century ce, Viking
Vikings live? raids across Europe had ended
due to the Vikings’ adoption of
2. What name is given to Viking which religion?
stories and legends?
16. Viking warriors believed that if
3. What were Viking they died in battle, they would go
warships called? to a heavenly palace. What was
its name?
4. On a sword or dagger, where
was the hilt? 17. Which Norse god had an axe and
was associated with thunder
5. Viking helmets had horns. True and trees?
or False?
18. Does the Norse word “vik” mean
6. Which Viking god was considered a creek or inlet, a horned helmet,
the most important? or a ship?
7. What were Viking combs 19. Where did the Vikings come from?
made of?
20. The Vikings were the first
8. The first known Viking raid on Europeans to colonize North
England was in 793 ce. Where America. When did they land in
did this attack take place? what is now Canada? Around the
year 800, 900, 1000, or 1066?
9. A Viking woman could choose
her own husband and demand
divorce if he was unfaithful.
True or False?
10. What is chain mail?
11. What was the ornamental carving
on a ship’s prow called?
12. Which Viking explorer was the son
of Erik the Red?
13. The Viking cemetery in Lindholm
Høje is one of the largest. It has
how many graves? 300–400?
600–700? 1,000–2,000?
14. What farm tools did many Vikings
take to battle?
8 (Answers on page 466)
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EASY QUIZ 3
H
IS
T
Famous Ships and Commanders O
R
Y
1. Where in 1982 did Rear Admiral 12. What was the British flagship at
Sandy Woodward lead a British the Battle of Trafalgar?
task force?
13. Which American hero captured
2. Which British admiral sent the a British frigate off Scarborough
famous signal “England expects in 1779?
that every man will do his duty”?
14. What was the name of the ship
3. Which American aircraft carrier heroically commanded by Sir
fought at the Coral Sea and Midway Richard Grenville in the Azores
battles before being sunk? Was it in 1591?
USS Yorktown, Nautilus, or Missouri?
15. The 16th-century North African
4. Which German pocket battleship Corsair Kheir-ed-Din was better
was sunk following the Battle of known as: Barbarossa, Saladin,
the River Plate in December 1939? or Blackbeard?
5. Which famous Roman commanded 16. The sinking of which British liner
the Egyptian Fleet and was defeated by a German U-boat off southern
at the Battle of Actium? Ireland in May 1915 helped bring
the US into World War I?
6. Who commanded the Spanish
Armada in 1588? 17. The Japanese naval officer who
conceived the attack on Pearl
7. Who commanded the US Pacific Harbor was: Tojo, Yamaha,
Fleet in World War II? A famous or Yamamoto?
US ship in the late 20th century
carries his name. Was it Omar N. 18. Who thought he could finish a
Bradley, Chester W. Nimitz, game of lawn bowling before
or Douglas MacArthur? beating the Spaniards?
8. Which famous ship sank in sight of 19. Which German battleship sank
Henry VIII and the attacking French the British battlecruiser
fleet in 1545? HMS Hood in 1941?
9. What was the name of the 20. Who designed the giant iron sailing
Argentine cruiser controversially steamship SS Great Eastern,
sunk by the Royal Navy in 1982? launched in 1858?
10. What was the name of the first
nuclear-powered submarine?
11. Who commanded the British Grand
Fleet at the Battle of Jutland: Haig,
Jellicoe, or Trenchard?
(Answers on page 466) 9
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QUIZ 4 EASY
H
IS
T
O Kings and Queens
R
Y
1. Who was the first Tudor monarch? 15. Which English king was known
as the Lionheart?
2. Which king of England was known
as “the Confessor”, because he was 16. What was the original surname
very religious? of the House of Windsor?
3. Which king of England and 17. Who was last sovereign prince
Scotland has his name linked of Wales, killed in 1282 during
to a translation of the Bible? the struggle against Edward I
of England?
4. Who reigned in Britain from 1837
to 1901? 18. Which English king was known
as both “Edward Longshanks”
5. Which English monarch faced and “the hammer of the Scots”?
an armada?
19. Which king of England and Wales
6. Which king of England was crowned had six wives?
in Westminster Abbey on Christmas
Day, 1066? 20. Who was the last Yorkist king?
7. Which king of England signed the 21. Queen Anne had 18 pregnancies.
Magna Carta in 1215? How many of her children survived?
8. Who became the first king of 22. Which king was known
Scotland in 843? as “Unready”?
9. Who was known as “Bloody Mary”? 23. Who was the last British monarch to
lead troops into battle?
10. Which king of England had to
fight a civil war against his 24. Which king is said to have lost the
cousin Matilda? crown jewels in the Wash in 1216?
11. What was the Christian name of 25. Which monarch was also Empress
all of the Hanoverian kings? of India?
12. Which English king won a great
victory at Agincourt?
13. Who was the Sixth who also became
the First?
14. Which King Edward gave up
the throne uncrowned?
10 (Answers on page 466)
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