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)
The Circles of Life: Why You Must Travel to Challenge Your Prejudices
Some people think travel is a luxury. That isn’t necessarily true. While there is a definite cost to being on the road, I believe the reward far outweighs it. To me, travel is a necessity. Not because I’m looking for a high. I travel because I need to dispel my prejudice and come to a fuller understanding of humanity.
Why You Must Travel to Challenge Your Prejudices
Let’s say that your home is the center of an imaginary circle, the radius of which is the furthest distance you’ve been from home. Now imagine, for simplicity’s sake, that every time you stayed at a new place for more than seven nights, you formed a new circle, the radius of which is the furthest distance you’ve been from the center of that circle. We’re using seven nights in this instance because it’s the amount of time it takes before you consider something you do a “habit” (though others suggest it can be longer). For example, if you brushed your teeth seven nights in a row, you’ve formed a habit -- at which point not brushing your teeth makes you feel incomplete. The point is that after staying at a new place for a certain number of nights, it would have become a new “home.”
Within these circles, stories of people’s lives, their culture, experiences, emotions, food and way of living become a part of your story. The longer you stay in these circles, the more you understand about the intrinsic values of the community and how they perceive the world. The more you understand, the clearer the circle becomes.
It is possible that while learning about the people within a particular circle, you will also learn of intriguing places far away, of bizarre traditions and strange customs. Because of this exposure, you start to form fuzzy circles of understanding about the places you’ve heard about secondhand. You might even form opinions and prejudices about those places based on these external accounts.
Finding our common bond
The problem is that for some people, these fuzzy circles are all they know. By not going to these places themselves, they can only imagine what life must be like there based on stories they've heard in the media or from their friends.
For some, their curiosity will take them to these places. By going there and immersing themselves in that place’s culture, they learn about that locale’s story, and a connection is established. The veil of mystery is lifted and these curious individuals develop a clearer picture.
The more you travel, the more of these circles become clearer to you. Then, magic occurs when these circles intersect. Because within these intersections, the common bond of all the individual circles begins to surface. It might even become apparent that the differentiation between “your story,” “my story,” and “their story” loses its hold: “my story,” “your story,” and “their story” become “our story.”
We all dream the same dreams
It is within these intersections that humanity’s story steps into the spotlight. Perhaps one would even realize that we’re not so different after all; that we all wake up hoping, wishing, and striving to find our own happiness; that the tears that fall from your eyes are the same that fall from mine; that pain, sadness, pleasure, happiness, excitement, and the spectrum of human emotions are shared between us; that at the end of the day, we wish for nothing more than to share a few peaceful moments of life with our friends and loved ones.
It is within these intersections that myths are dispelled and prejudice gives way to understanding. It’s where love and respect are nurtured.
If you are able, take that trip you’ve been thinking about. First-hand experience of different cultures is the remedy to fear. Form your own circles of understanding, and perhaps you might come to the same intersecting conclusion that I’ve laid bare.
I travel for the taste, the sight, and the vibrant sound of a peculiar culture -- but for all my might, I haven’t been to a place that I haven’t felt at home. Imaginary borders and walls may separate people, but our shared humanity will bring us together. This is why I travel. Shall we go together?