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)
What It Means To Be A Leader
I see a lot of motivated, self-proclaimed successful people who use their status to talk down to "the masses", particularly Millennials, about how lazy they are, and how they don't put in the work to be successful. We've all read their endless lectures. Yes, I'm calling out many of my peers and mentors as well, because good leadership means taking the heat.
But this—this whining about others is anything but good leadership. It’s not that I’m offended, but rather that I do not find the generational narrative to be an effective one. I am not defending inaction or laziness, but I will not support petty leadership either.
The truth is that if you're going to bask in the glory of your own work ethic and success, then the only talking you should ever be doing is to motivate others to learn from your better habits. Offer your lessons. Take time to share your wisdom. Motivate and encourage others. Stop the dictation. That's how real leadership works. I don't care what your accolades are, I don’t care how old or young you may be; you must understand that not everyone is fulfilled in the same ways as you. You must understand that true leadership requires you to actually help people change for the better instead of simply telling them why they aren't enough, or why they aren't like you.
So, perhaps it's not Baby Boomers vs. Millennials, but all of us, as leaders, that should be putting in more work to communicate our challenges and thus, be of greater service to each other.
What It Means To Be A Leader
Do you want to be a leader? Congratulations, you get to spend your free time mentoring others, in addition to the grueling hours you spend 'putting in the work'. Indeed, the work itself may be more than others are doing, but it's not enough for leadership. Leadership requires you to use your platform to transform those around you, while being honest about your struggle: the period of time spent between whining and winning. There is little wisdom at either of those end points, yet there is incredible value in the journey between.
Talk about the mistakes you made along the way, and watch the gates of effort open. Ask others to question who they are and what they want, then give them credit for having learned the answer because leadership is also servitude: a double-edged sword that requires you to identify your own weaknesses before you can inspire another.
Leadership lacks ego, which is instead replaced with an intense responsibility and allegiance to people—to bring them to some vague promised land. To give the world something it has never seen from you. And yet, to get there, you may find yourself enduring a lot of sleepless nights, cold sweats, outstanding invoices, miscalculations, repeated rejections, the haunting failures of your past, and the viral idea that you could've done better.
Then there's the nagging question of whether you have what it takes – and the ethical question of what gives you the right to lead when you actually have no idea what's next. These fears are all very convincing. In fact, I would venture to say they are part of the human experience, but I've also [slowly] been learning that great leadership isn't measured by any of those fears. It's not about being right the first time, or 100% of the time. It's not about proving anyone wrong. It's not about fame. It's not about fortune. You don't magically become immune to the pain once you find yourself celebrated. There are ups and there are downs and there are a lot of people who you can help, and whose help you will need along the way.
We see, today, too many self-proclaimed “leaders” who say they have all the answers, and that is simply never true; they only prey upon your fear of uncertainty. Leadership means showing up & facing the uncertainty with honesty and integrity. Every day. For the sake of others and for the sake of your vision. You show up with conviction, you make it very clear that this is your best plan, you discuss, and you execute. And if that plan fails, you try again. And again. And again. And somehow, if you have the confidence to try despite the cloudiness, people are willing to give you a chance, and they're willing to stand with you because you actually admit to not having all the answers. It's scary, and yet, that is where I've learned to find the slightest bit of comfort in teammates and friends who are empowered by transparency, not wowed by a false bravado. These are the people who will make the ups more exhilarating and the downs less devastating.
I used to pinpoint success on words like "strategy" and "charisma" and "innovative" and a lot of other self-congratulatory crap that made me feel good, but the problem was when I failed, those words failed, too.
So, these days, I'm just grateful to be surrounded by people who are willing to give it a shot—to give me a shot—because, no matter what, I’m never giving up. And that, my friends, is all that matters. We just have to stop nagging and help each other overcome our challenges.
Yours truly,
A fellow Millennial