Note, however, that doesn't mean the hardest trivia questions. It’s remarkably easy to come up with dozens of hard trivia questions that require knowledge too obscure to answer -- or to be any fun. We’ll share a few examples of bad trivia questions below for reference.
One secret to creating great (and fun) trivia questions that aren't too challenging is to come up with ones that can have more than one correct answer. That way, you allow people to plumb the depths of their knowledge, and find not only the right answer but also enjoy that boost of self-confidence that comes with getting it right.
And really, when you’re having a trivia night with friends, isn’t that more important than stumping everyone? If you agree with that sentiment, then, by all means, avoid questions like those found in the first segment
Skip ahead:
- Hard Trivia Questions About American History
- Hard Trivia Questions About Geography
- Hard Trivia Questions About The Human Body
- Hard Trivia Questions About Sports
- Hard Trivia Questions About World War II
- Hard Trivia Questions About Everything Else!
Examples of Bad Trivia Questions for Your Game Night
Here are five examples of trivia questions that are too difficult to be considered fun. Why? Because they are almost surely unanswerable by most players. Thus, they risk leaving people feeling as if they came up short.
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1. What is the capital of Togo? (It’s Benin, but unless players have prepared specifically for geography, this is probably too obscure.)
2. What is the third-tallest mountain on Earth? (It’s Kangchenjunga, in the Himalayas, in the border region between Nepal and India. However, almost no one is going to readily answer that.)
3. What is the 10th decimal digit of pi? (It’s 5, but people who can recite pi to 3.14159, a standard number of digits recalled, will feel they perhaps should have known.)
4. Who was Teddy Roosevelt’s first lady? (It was Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt, but this is a “gotcha” question, because it's rather obscure, and because she wasn't his first wife.)
5. Name five former U.S. secretaries of state. (There are plenty to name, but this question asks for too many responses to be much fun!)
Now, let’s move on to some great hard trivia questions.
Hard Trivia Questions About American History
These questions have a single correct answer. Plus, U.S. history is a subject in which most American citizens can be expected to have at least some grounding.
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1. What is the oldest European-founded city in the United States? (St. Augustine, Florida, founded in 1565)
2. Name all four U.S. presidents who were assassinated while in office. (Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley and John F. Kennedy)
3. In which war did the most Americans die? (the American Civil War, in which an estimated 620,000 men, or 2 percent of the U.S. population at the time, lost their lives)
4. In what year did the first Ford Model T sell? (1908)
5. Who was the first U.S. president to appear on television? (Franklin Delano Roosevelt, on April 30, 1939, during the opening session of the New York World's Fair)
6. What does the middle initial "S" stand for in U.S. President Harry S. Truman's name? (This is a little tricky. Truman had no middle name. His parents gave him the middle initials as a compromise to honor both grandfathers, Anderson Shipp Truman and Solomon Young)
Hard Trivia Questions About Geography
Most of these have multiple correct responses, which is a great way to make a hard trivia question a bit easier to field. And it's more fun for a wider group of participants.
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1. In what state is the tallest mountain in the continental United States? (California)
2. Name two of the five deepest points in the world’s oceans. (Mariana Trench, Puerto Rico Trench/Milwaukee Deep, Java Trench, South Sandwich Trench, Molloy Hole)
3. Name five countries whose names begin with the letter G. (Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana)
4. What is tallest mountain in Australia? (Mount Kosciuszko)
5. What is the longest river in Europe? (Volga)
6. Which country's flag features a dragon? (Three possible answers: Bhutan, Malta or Wales)
Hard Trivia Questions About the Human Body
These questions can be fun with players of different ages. Kids often will know more about the human body than adults do, because they more recently learned about it.
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1. Name the three bones found in the inner ear. (Hammer, anvil, stirrup)
2. How many total chromosomes does a human cell have? (46 – 23 pairs, but 26 total)
3. What is the second-biggest organ in the human body? (Liver)
4. Name four types of bone found below your pelvis. (Femur, patella, tibia, fibula, tarsals, metatarsals, phalanges)
5. Does an average head of full hair have about 1,000, 7,500, 10,000 or 15,000 hairs? (10,000)
Hard Trivia Questions About Sports
These questions mostly have single answers, as statistics are such an important part of sports.
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1. Which sport is older, basketball or American football? (Football)
2. In which decade was baseball’s first perfect game thrown? (1880s)
3. Name five positions on a soccer/football team. (Goalkeeper, sweeper, center back, full back, defensive midfielder, central midfielder, attacking midfielder, wing back, winger, striker, forward)
4. This Major League Baseball team (currently) has the second-most World Series wins. (Cardinals, 11)
5. Who (currently) holds the all-time point record in the National Basketball Association? (Kareem Abdul-Jabar, 38,387)
6. In which year was the first football World Cup held? (1930)
Hard Trivia Questions About World War II
What can we say? People love trivia about the Second World War.
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1. On what day did Nazi Germany invade Poland? (Sept. 1, 1939)
2. Name three European countries that remained neutral during World War II. (Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey)
3. On what date was victory declared in Europe? (May 8, 1945)
4. Name three types of American World War II fighter planes. (P-51 Mustang, P-47 Thunderbolt, P-38 Lightning, P-40 Warhawk, F4 Corsair, F6 Hellcat, P-63 Kingcobra, etc.)
5. What was the deadliest battle of World War II? (Battle of Stalingrad, with approximately 2 million casualties)
Hard Trivia Questions About Everything Else!
Sometimes, it's more fun to take a wide-open approach. So here are 10 more great trivia questions from all sorts of topic areas.
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1. How many legs does a centipede have? (30)
2. Name one of the only African countries that were never colonized. (Ethiopia and Liberia)
3. How many humps does a dromedary camel have? (One)
4. Who was the youngest U.S. president ever? (Teddy Roosevelt, at 42)
5. In which decade were the first artificial Christmas trees manufactured? (1930s)
6. What is the hardest natural substance on Earth? (Diamond)
7. What is the best-selling album of all time? (Michael Jackson’s Thriller)
8. Who was the youngest British prime minister ever? (William Pitt the Younger, at 24)
9. What is the only mammal that is fully covered in scales? (Pangolin)
10. Who was the first Disney princess? (Snow White)
We Reviewed Aaptiv, The Workout App for Busy People
These days, it’s not always easy to dedicate time to getting a quality workout in.
There are hundreds of fitness apps that aim to inspire users to reach their fitness goals and live a healthier lifestyle. But if you’re looking for a good sweat session and you only have a little time to spare, there is a helpful app that stands out from the pack.
Aaptiv is an audio-based fitness app that comes with various workouts guided by personal trainers, complete with groovy tunes to keep your motivation going.
For a monthly subscription, you can access the same type of high-quality workout experience you would get at a boutique fitness studio -- at a fraction of the price. Whether you're looking to do some guided tempo runs, strength train, or perfect your downward dog, Aaptiv has got you covered in almost any area of your fitness journey.
What is Aaptiv?
Founded in 2015 by Ethan Agarwal, Aaptiv was created out of the need to provide good workouts to people who live on-the-go lifestyles.
It’s challenging to stay motivated or even build a relationship with a personal trainer when you’re constantly traveling for work, you're unable to get to the gym because you have to get the kids from soccer practice, or you're staying late at the office to make that good project perfect.
Aaptiv aims to bring the quality of a personal trainer, the results of effective workout programs, and the inspiration you need to stick to a routine straight to your smartphone. And you don't need a gym to use it.
How does it inspire us?
Aaptiv is a good fitness application with quality training programs led by qualified fitness professionals. You really feel like you’re in the gym with a trainer when you’re taking Mike’s 30-minute strength-training workout. As for the running workouts, they remind me of the kind of experience that you find at a Barry’s Bootcamp or in an Equinox Fitness precision-running class.
The great music, the trainer’s energy level, the challenging workouts and the timely reminders hold you accountable when you don’t feel like working out. There is also a workout challenge for the competitor in you.
You’re always in total control of what workouts you’re doing, and can select a workout that best fits your schedule, as well as save the workouts that you like the most. Plus, the classes/workouts change every week, with over 30 options to choose from in each type of class. You’ll never get bored or feel like you’re doing the same thing over and over again. All of these workouts are available to you for less than $10 a month.
Can it help you improve?
Aaptiv is for the experienced fitness enthusiast looking for a quality workout program guided by uplifting and inspiring trainers. Whether you're training for a marathon, running your first mile, looking to bulk up, or want to gain some peace of mind in a yoga class, Aaptiv will get you there and keep you on schedule to reach your goals.
Keep in mind that Aaptiv may not be for people who have never done strength training, since the strength workouts are audio guides and you can't see proper form in action. For example, doing an Arnold shoulder press without seeing the move may be extremely difficult for someone who’s never lifted weights before.
For beginner-level runners, Aaptiv is a great tool. However, if you’re a more experienced/stronger runner, you may not find much of a challenge in the outdoor running, in which the fastest tempo pace is seven minutes per mile. The same can be said for the yoga workouts. They are great audio-based sessions if you know what warrior pose is.
But if you have some basic fitness experience and you’re looking to get back on track with some quality workout programming and an upbeat trainer, Aaptiv is all you need.
What do you need to try it?
You’ll need a screen (phone, computer, or tablet). You'll also need some dumbbells for the strength-training workouts. If you have access to a gym, there are workouts built around specific pieces of equipment (i.e., rowing machine). If you're curious to try the yoga, get a mat to practice your soon-to-be-elite warrior pose. Lastly, depending on your location, you will need a pair of headphones to listen to the trainer cues.
You’ll need a valid credit/debit card to register. This is a subscription-based app so yes, you do have to cough up some coins to keep the good times going. You will also need to download the app using Google play or the Apple app store.
What’s included
Potential drawbacks
The major drawback using Aaptiv is that all of the workouts are audio-based. If you have never seen or done certain workouts, it’s a very challenging experience to simultaneously listen to instruction while executing your workout with proper form. I wouldn’t recommend the yoga or strength-training programs to someone who has little to no fitness experience.
However, if you have experience lifting weights, practicing yoga and are confident that you can nail a workout with great form, I think Aaptiv will work for you!
And while some users will consider the audio-based concept a drawback, others will see it as an advantage. We live in a world where we are often receiving audio affirmations and listening to podcasts. The feeling of being talked to directly is not only encouraging, it makes your experience feel unique and personalized.
With Aaptiv, you never feel like you’re getting lost in some overwhelmingly large group fitness class. You almost feel like you’re being treated with the same focus and attention as someone who is in the gym with their trainer.
Aaptiv is worth exploring during the free trial period because you can decide whether the audio-guided workouts and meditations are for you or not. Either way, you won’t complain about the actual workouts or even the music. But if you can listen to a Ted Talk or Soulection Radio, you will likely enjoy Aaptiv. If not, there is always YouTube.
Where can you try this?
Aaptiv is available for download here.
Once downloaded you’ll have to agree to subscribe. Rates are less than $10.00 monthly and include a 30-day free trial, so you have plenty of time to properly try everything the app has to offer.
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