1. Which ancient civilisation built the Colosseum?

2. In which modern day country would you find the ancient city of Petra?

3. Which Egyptian queen was famously involved with both Julius Caesar and Mark Antony?

4. Which ancient wonder of the world was located in the city of Alexandria?

5. Which ancient civilisation is credited with inventing democracy?

6. What was the name of the system of writing used by the ancient Egyptians?

7. Which two rivers were central to the development of ancient Mesopotamian civilisation?

8. What was the capital city of the Inca Empire?

9. In which year did the Battle of Hastings take place?

10. Who painted the Mona Lisa?

11. What was the name given to the period of cultural rebirth in Europe following the Middle Ages?

12. Which English king signed the Magna Carta in 1215?

13. What was the name of the great pandemic that swept through Europe in the 14th century?

14. Who is credited with inventing the printing press in the 15th century?

15. What term describes a knight’s suit of metal protection?

16. In which Italian city did the Renaissance largely begin?

17. Who is credited with leading the first expedition to circumnavigate the globe, though he died partway through the voyage?

18. In which year did Christopher Columbus first reach the Americas?

19. Which European country first colonised Brazil?

20. What was the name of the trade route network connecting China to the Mediterranean?

21. Which explorer led the British expedition that reached the South Pole in 1912, shortly after a Norwegian team?

22. Which empire became the largest contiguous land empire in history?

23. What term describes the period of European overseas expansion that began in the 15th century?

24. Which country controlled India as a colony for nearly 200 years?

25. In which year did World War 2 end?

26. Which Paris fortress and prison was stormed by revolutionaries in 1789, sparking the French Revolution?

27. What event is widely seen as the trigger for the start of World War 1 in 1914?

28. Which war was fought between the northern and southern United States from 1861 to 1865?

29. Which 1917 uprising saw Russia withdraw from World War 1 and overthrow its tsarist government?

30. Which side ultimately won the American Revolutionary War?

31. What name was given to the fast, coordinated military strategy used by Germany at the start of World War 2?

32. In which year did the Vietnam War officially end?

33. Who was President of the United States during the Cuban Missile Crisis?

34. In which year was the United Nations founded?

35. Which civil rights leader delivered the famous “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963?

36. What was the name of the spacecraft that first landed humans on the Moon in 1969?

37. Which global economic crisis began in 1929 and led to a decade of hardship?

38. Who was the first person to walk on the Moon?

39. In which year was the Berlin Wall built, dividing a major German city for almost three decades?

40. Which country was formally reunified in 1990, following the end of the Cold War?