International Trivia Questions and Answers

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Free international trivia questions and answers.

Fun trivia questions and answers - international.

In 1305, what did England's King Edward I decree should be used to determine the length of an inch in shoemaking and other trades?
A: Barleycorns. According to his decree, three contiguous dried barleycorns were an inch.

In what country was World War I German spy Mata Hari born?
A: In Holland, as Margaretha Geertrulida Zelle.

What is the northernmost city in Europe?
A: Hammerfest, Norway

How are 99 percent of the buildings heated in Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland?
A: With geothermal power--from natural hot (140 deg. F) water from an underground reservoir. The water (from Ice Age glaciers trapped by hardened lava from volcanic eruptions) is piped to radiators and hot=-water tanks throughout the city.

In what country did the windmill originate?
A: In Iran, in A.D. 644 It was used to grind grain.

Parts of which existing European countries once were included in the nation known as Flanders?
A: France, Belgium and the Netherlands.

What famous philosopher said, "Children today are tyrants. They contradict their parents, gobble their food, and tyrannize their teachers"?
A: Socrates, who lived in Greece from 470 to 399 B.C.

What Middle Eastern country's name includes the name of its first ruler?
A: Saudi Arabia. Ruler Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud unified his dual kingdoms of Hejaz and Nejd and their dependencies under the name Saudi Arabia in 1932.

What famous philosopher is known by the name given to him by hiswerestling teacher?
A: Plato, who was originally named Aristocles. According to historians the nickname Plato, which means "broad" in Greek, referred to either his broad shoulders or broad forehead.

Where was Nero when Rome burned in 64A.D.?
A: At his villa at Antium (now Anxio), 35 miles from Rome. And he wasn't fiddling--the violin had not yet been invented.

What European country was once known as the Batavian Republic?
A: The Netherlands, between 1795 and 1806, during the French Revolutionary Wars. The name came from the Batavi, a Germanic tribe that originally inhabited the region.

How many children did Cleopatra have?
A: Four with Julius Caesar a son, Caesarian; with Mk Anthony twins, Alexander Helios and Cleopatra Selene, and a son, Ptolemy Philadelphus.

According to Greek legend, who cut the Gordian Knot?
A: Alexander the Great (356-323 B.C.)

How is the Balinese national holiday known as Jnegi (pronounced nn-YYEH-pee) celebrated?
A: In silence. It is the national day of silence.

What was blamed for the deaths of Emperor Claudius and Tiberius, Czar Alexander I, Pope Clement VII and Charles V of France?
A: Mushroom poisoning.

What was Mahatma Gandhi's reply when he was asked what he thought of Western civiization?
A: "I think it would be a good idea."

Lutetia, which means "mid-water dwelling" in Latin, is the original name of what European city?
A: Paris. It was named Lutetia by te Romans in the first century B.C. after Julius Caesar's forces defeated the original settlers, a Gallic people known as the Parisii. The city became know as Paris in the early fourth century after the Romans were defeated by Barbarian invaders.

In 1872 what three cities, located near the Danube, merged into one?
A: Buda Obuda, and Pest joined to become Budapest.

What mountain is the largest on earth?
A: Mauna Loa (long Mountain)., Hawaii. A 13,680-foot-high volcano, its dome measures 75 miles by 64 miles.

In what year during this century did England have three kings?
A: In 1936--when George V died, Edward VIII abdicated to marry divorcee Wally Simpson, and George VI began his sixteen-year reign.