Let’s Get Quizzical: Strange History

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Looking for something to do this weekend? Don’t worry, we’ve got you sorted. Put your best Quizmaster hat on, set up a Zoom or a FaceTime with your mates, and get quizzing! Add this round to a longer quiz, or just keep it short and sweet. This one’s all about history...answers at the bottom.

QUESTIONS

1. Many of history’s biggest man-made disasters were caused by lack of what?

a) Knowledge

b) Sleep

c) Time

d) Food

2. Abraham Lincoln was a President and a champion what?

a) Wrestler

b) Ballroom Dancer

c) Artist

d) Gymnast

3. The Pope once declared war on what?

a) Nuns

b) Cats

c) Sandwiches

d) Pop Music

4. Cleopatra was ______

a) Egyptian

b) German

c) American

d) Greek

5. What animals were once worshipped as gods?

a) Whales

b) Pigs

c) Turkeys

d) Lions

6. True or false: ‘Mary had a little lamb’ is based on real life?

True

False

7. ______ was first sold as a medicine?

a) Pepsi

b) Cheese

c) Salt

d) Ketchup

8. What became more readily available when the Berlin Wall came down?

a) Bananas

b) Jam

c) Shrimp

d) Pasta

9. What exotic pet did King Henry III have?

a) Tiger

b) Peacock

c) Polar bear

d) Orangutan 

10. True or false: King Henry VIII taxed beards?

True

False

ANSWERS

1. The answer is b) Sleep!

Disasters such as The Challenger explosion, the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown and the Exxon Valdez oil spill were all caused in one way or another by exhaustion or lack of sleep. Time to catch up on those zzz’s!

2. The answer is a) Wrestler!

Standing at 6ft 4in, Lincoln was not only tall, but a bit of a machine! Before becoming president he was a champion wrestler, taking part in around 300 matches and earning a reputation as a tough fighter. Wouldn’t wanna get in his way!

3. The answer is b) cats!

Meow! The 13th Century Pope, Pope Gregory IV really didn’t like our furry feline friends. He believed that black cats were ‘instruments of Satan’ and ordered that they be exterminated throughout Europe. Ouch!

4. The answer is d) Greek!

Although Cleopatra was born in, and became Queen of Egypt, Historians say her family origins actually go back to Macedonian Greeze and Ptolemy I Soter - one of Alexander the Great’s generals. 

5. The answer is c) Turkeys!

In 300B.C., the Mayan people worshipped turkeys! They were symbols of power and prestige and were honoured so much that they were domesticated to have roles in religious rites. 

6. The answer is True!

That’s right, in the late 1860s, Mary Sawyer, an 11 year old girl living in Boston was once followed to school by her pet lamb! She went on to help raise money for an old church by selling wool from the lamb. 

7. The answer is d) Ketchup!

In 1834, a physician named John Cook sold ketchup as a cure for indigestion! It wasn’t popularised as a condiment until the late 19th century. Nice!

8. The answer is a) Bananas!

Before the Wall came down, East Germany only got brown bananas, so when it did come down, they went nuts for the ripe yellow bananas! There’s even a joke that they rose up for ‘bananas , not democracy’ and when long lines formed, Germans would say ‘are they handing out bananas or what?!’

9. The answer is c) Polar bear!

Henry was gifted the bear from Haakon IV of Norway, and sheriffs were ordered to pay four pence every day to put towards the bear’s care in 1251. It went fishing in the Thames and was a huge tourist attraction!

10. The answer is True!

In 1535, King Henry VIII, who had a beard himself, introduced a tax on beards! It was a graduated tax, depending on the beard wearer’s social position. So, the higher your standing in society, the larger amount of money you’d have to pay. More facial hair = more status.