50 Trivia Questions for Kids Only the Smartest Can Get Right
Updated: Jan. 20, 2023Test their knowledge (and yours) with a fun family trivia night!
Trivia time
If you’re looking to liven up your family game night, or maybe are just in need of conversation starters with your children, test some fun tidbits of knowledge with these trivia questions for kids. In addition to creating more family bonding, trivia games can help beef up your child’s education and get them psyched to learn new things. “Trivia games can be a terrific way to engage our kids in conversation on a wide range of topics that they may or may not have been introduced to yet in their education,” says Susan Newman, teacher, parenting expert, professor at Columbia College Chicago, and founder of School2Life.
“Trivia games, and social games in general, are a great platform that engages players and requires them to use relevant and practical skills such as thinking on their feet and providing a response in a timely manner,” Newman says. “We learn to stay cool under pressure!” These types of games take the approach of “education via conversation,” she says, engaging critical thinking, communication, and social skills in a fun, relaxed environment. What’s more, you might learn something, too. Are you ready? Here’s our list of trivia questions for kids, with answers! And check out these riddles for kids while you are at it!
Answer: B. Tiger
Here’s the answer for the first of our trivia questions for kids: The tiger is the biggest big cat around. The largest tiger subspecies, the Siberian tiger, can weigh over 650 pounds and measure more than ten feet in length. But other cats have their claim to fame, too: The lion’s roar can be heard five miles away, and the cheetah is the fastest land mammal on Earth. Find out how many tigers are left in the world.
Trivia question #2:
What land animal can open its mouth the widest?
A. Alligator
B. Crocodile
C. Baboon
D. Hippo
Answer: D. Hippo
The hippopotamus has the widest mouth of any land animal. It can open its jaws more than three feet and 150 degrees! Inside the mouth are huge teeth, which can grow to over a foot and a half long. But these mouthy traits aren’t really for eating—the hippo diet is mostly grass. Instead, these mouth displays are mainly used for showing dominance and fighting with other hippos. Their massive mouths and teeth also make them a danger to humans, too, if they feel threatened. The hippo has one of the most dangerous animal bites you can get.
Trivia question #3:
What is the largest animal on Earth?
A. The African elephant
B. The blue whale
C. The sperm whale
D. The giant squid
Answer: B. The blue whale
The African elephant may be the biggest land animal, but the largest animal anywhere on Earth is the blue whale, which can weigh up to 400,000 pounds (or 200 tons)—that’s approximately 33 elephants! They are also the loudest animal, with their calls able to be heard by other blue whales hundreds of miles away. Sperm whales are the largest toothed whales but are comparatively much smaller at “only” up to 45 tons. The mysterious giant squid is tiny by comparison, at less than one ton. Check out these 11 whale shark facts you probably didn’t know.
Answer: A. The bat
The flying squirrel and the colugo (also sometimes called a “flying lemur,” although it’s not really either) only glide, and the bald eagle is a bird, not a mammal. That leaves the bat! This notorious nocturnal animal isn’t actually scary, but quite cool. It’s able to fly with winged membranes stretching over thin bones that allow it to flap its wings.
Trivia question #5:
What is an animal called that eats plants and meat?
A. Carnivore
B. Herbivore
C. Omnivore
D. Pescatarian
Answer: C. Omnivore
Carnivores eat meat, herbivores eat plants, and omnivores eat basically anything—in Latin, “omni” means “all.” (Pescatarian is a human diet similar to a vegetarian, but which also includes fish.) Omnivores are opportunistic eaters that will eat many things they come across; for example, omnivorous bears will eat berries, twigs, fish, other animals—even sometimes dead ones. Raccoons, foxes, birds, dogs, and even most humans are omnivores. Here are more animal trivia questions that will test your smarts.
Trivia question #6:
Why do sea otters hold hands?
A. Because they love each other
B. To show they’re in the same family
C. So they don’t float away when they’re sleeping
D. Because they’re playing
Answer: C. So they don’t float away when they’re sleeping
This has to be one of the most adorable sights in the natural world: Sea otters stay together in floating groups called “rafts” and sometimes link their paws to hold on. But, they also keep from floating away by listening for each other and keeping close body contact—even if that doesn’t include holding hands. They also wrap themselves in seaweed called kelp to anchor themselves. Check out these adorable photos of baby otters that’ll make your day better.
Answer: D. All of the above.
Although they’re often lumped in with other creepy-crawlies, spiders are not insects but arachnids. And actually, spiders survive by feeding on insects. You can recognize a spider because it has two body sections, eight legs, and doesn’t ever have wings; insects have three body sections, six legs, and can have wings. In addition, spiders have eight eyes and no antennae; insects have two eyes and do have antennae. You have to see 14 of the most elaborate spider webs ever found in nature.
Trivia question #8:
What does the duck-billed platypus do that hardly any other mammals do?
A. Quacks like a duck
B. Lays eggs
C. Builds nests
D. Waddles
Answer: B. Lays eggs
The duck-billed platypus is one of only two mammals that lay eggs, called “monotremes”: the other is the echidna, or spiny anteater, which looks kind of like a porcupine. Both animals live in Australia and have evolved little since prehistoric times. The platypus lays one or two eggs in her burrow, keeping them warm with her body, while the echidna develops a pouch to keep her egg in until it hatches. Can you guess these animals based on close-ups of their fur?
Trivia question #9:
Why do snakes stick out their tongue?
A. To scare predators
B. To lick their prey
C. To make a hissing sound
D. To “smell” the air
Answer: D. To “smell” the air
The snake sticks out its tongue to gather chemical info from the environment around it, and then carries it back to two receptors on the roof of its mouth. This is also why its tongue is forked: one for each receptor. This isn’t the only cool snake sense: Some, like pythons and rattlesnakes, have “pit holes” under their eyes that can sense heat from prey. Here are more fun facts about animals you probably didn’t know before.
Answer: C. Extinction
The most famous animals to have become extinct are the dinosaurs, which died out about 65 million years ago. Scientists don’t know exactly why, but it was likely a mass extinction event, either a meteor slamming into Earth or a massive volcanic eruption. But since then, many other animals have gone extinct as well; today, many animals are endangered, or are in danger of becoming extinct, because of human actions such as hunting the animals or destroying their habitat. That’s why conservation, or protecting animals and their habitat, is so important. Find out more “facts” about animals you have all wrong.
Astronomy trivia:
Trivia question #11:
What’s the biggest planet in our solar system?
A. Jupiter
B. Saturn
C. Neptune
D. Mercury
Answer: A. Jupiter
Jupiter is a massive planet of swirling gasses, twice as big as all the other planets combined. Jupiter is made up mostly of hydrogen and helium, but scientists don’t know if there’s a solid core below—if there is, it’s probably only the size of Earth. This “gas giant,” though, could fit 11 Earths across it; for comparison, if the Earth was a grape, Jupiter would be a basketball. Its Great Red Spot is a storm that’s been going on for more than a century. Mercury, on the other hand, is our solar system’s smallest planet. Here are some astronomy facts you never learned in school.
Answer: D. Jupiter
It’s Jupiter again! Despite its massive size, its rotation is quick: It turns around on its axis once every ten hours, which is called a Jovian day. But Jupiter also has a long year: It takes 12 Earth years for Jupiter to make just one rotation around the sun. Surprisingly, even though Mercury is the smallest planet, it has the second-longest day, at 1,408 hours; Venus has the longest day at 5,832 hours.
Answer: C. The sun
Yep, our own solar system has a star right in the middle of it: the sun. A star is a mass of gas that produces light and heat from nuclear fusion in its center. The planets orbit around the sun and reflect its light during the day. The stars we see in the night sky, such as Polaris and Sirius, are all within our own galaxy, the Milky Way; Andromeda is another nearby galaxy. Here are more of the most baffling mysteries about the universe.
Trivia question #14:
Who was the first person to walk on the moon?
A. Buzz Aldrin
B. Neil Armstrong
C. Michael Collins
D. Alan Shepard
Answer: B. Neil Armstrong
Part of the three-man crew of Apollo 11, which also included Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, Neil Armstrong was the first man to step onto the moon, on July 20, 1969. “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind,” he famously said. Aldrin soon followed, but Collins stayed with the Apollo capsule and circled the moon. Armstrong and Aldrin walked around for three hours studying the surface and gathering samples. Alan Shepard also walked on the moon as part of Apollo 14 in 1971; he was also the first American ever in space, in 1961. In total, 12 people have walked on the moon. Check out 13 things you didn’t know about space travel.
Trivia question #15:
What’s a blue moon?
A. When the moon turns blue
B. When the moon falls on Halloween
C. The second full moon in a month
D. When a Hunter’s Moon falls on Halloween
Answer: C. The second full moon in a month
In 2020, a “blue moon” fell on Halloween, October 31, which was also the night of the Hunter’s Moon. But what exactly is a blue moon—or a Hunter’s Moon? While not an official astronomy term, a blue moon generally means the second full moon in a month. But the actual reason why it’s called “blue,” since it’s not actually blue in color, isn’t totally known. The Harvest Moon is the full moon closest to the first day of autumn (September 22, 2020), and the Hunter’s Moon is the first full moon after that. In October 2020, the first full moon of the month, the Harvest Moon, happened on October 1. This made the full moon on October 31 a Hunter’s Moon and a blue moon. The last time a full moon appeared on Halloween in all US time zones was back in 1944; the next time will be 2039.
Answer: A. When the Earth is in between the sun and the moon
Lunar eclipses happen during a full moon when the Earth gets in between the sun and the moon, and the moon appears orange-red from the light going around the Earth. It doesn’t happen that frequently because the Earth has to be in just the right position to totally block the sun. Total solar eclipses, in which the moon is in between the Earth and the sun and “blocks” the sun, are very rare: They’re visible from any specific spot on Earth only every 375 years. The sun doesn’t move, so it can never be between the Earth and the moon.
Answer: C. East
Technically, the sun doesn’t actually rise or set—it’s the Earth that’s moving, not the sun. But the sun appears to rise in the east every morning, and set in the west every night, because of the direction the Earth rotates each day. North of the Arctic Circle and south of the Antarctic Circle, the sun doesn’t set during parts of the summer (called a “midnight sun”) and doesn’t rise during parts of the winter (called a “polar night”) because of the tilt of the Earth’s axis. Find out 14 crazy facts about Earth you never learned in school.
Earth science and physics trivia:
Trivia question #18:
Does ice sink or float in water?
A. Sink
B. Float
C. Sometimes it sinks, sometimes it floats
D. Ice is water, so this is a trick question
Answer: B. Float
Ice is actually the solid form of water, so they are not exactly the same thing. And ice, whether it’s ice cubes in a glass or a frozen layer of ice on a lake, always floats. Why? Most solid objects, like rocks, are heavier than water, so they sink. But ice is a bit different because it has less density: As water freezes, it sort of spreads out, so it ends up with less mass in the same amount of space. This is a special property of water, because most substances are less dense as a liquid than as a solid. This is one of those science trivia questions people always get wrong.
Answer: B. Gravity
Gravity is the invisible force that draws objects to its center. All things that have mass, or are solid, have gravity; the more mass you have, the more gravitational pull you have. Because the Earth is so big, it pulls you to it, which is why you fall back to the ground when you jump up, or why objects fall downward. Electromagnetism and nuclear force are other forces in the science field of physics. In the Star Wars movies, “The Force” is a mystical energy that the Jedi knights use. Speaking of Star Wars—how many of these movie trivia questions can you answer correctly?
Answer: A. Oak
Hickory trees have hickory nuts, and walnut trees have, well, walnuts. Maple trees are known for their sap, which makes maple syrup, but it also has edible seeds. Only one tree, though, has the classic acorn that squirrels love to gather in the fall: the oak tree. There are around 90 kinds of oak trees in North America, and they produce more nuts than all the continent’s other nut trees together. In a “mast year” when trees make massive amounts of acorns, a large oak tree could drop up to 10,000 of them! These rare trees are national treasures.
Trivia question #21:
What’s the difference between a hurricane and a typhoon?
A. Typhoons are stronger than hurricanes.
B. Typhoons happen over land; hurricanes over water.
C. Hurricanes are slower-moving.
D. Nothing except where they happen.
Answer: D. Nothing except where they happen.
A typhoon and a hurricane are the same weather phenomenon, called a tropical cyclone. This is a rotating system of storms over warm ocean water. The only difference is that “hurricane” is used to refer to storms in the Atlantic Ocean, as well as the central and eastern Pacific. In the northwestern Pacific, they’re called typhoons; in the South Pacific and the Indian Ocean, they’re just called tropical cyclones. While they may not have many differences, however, cyclones and hurricanes can equally cause lots of damage. Find out how hurricanes get their names.
Answer: A. 7
These amazing optical displays are one of the most beautiful sights in nature, and one of the answers to our trivia questions for kids. The colors of the rainbow can be remembered by an acronym, or the first letter of each word: ROY G BIV. That’s red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. Rainbows happen when the sun refracts, or bends, through water droplets in the air. The light gets separated into shorter and longer wavelengths of color, with the shortest wavelength, violet, on one side and the longest, red, on the other. If you’re in just the right place after it rains, you can see it. Here are more crazy, colorful facts about rainbows.
Human body trivia:
Trivia question #23:
What’s the hardest substance in our body?
A. Bones
B. Hair
C. Nails
D. Teeth
Answer: D. Teeth
Teeth enamel is the hardest substance in the human body, even stronger than bone. Teeth enamel is 96 percent mineral, more than any other part of your body, which is what makes it so hard. On the other hand, bones are mostly made of collagen, which is softer and flexible. But because collagen is alive, it can repair, so if you break a bone, it will heal. But if you damage your tooth enamel, it can’t repair the damage because it isn’t made of living cells.
Answer: C. 206
The official count of bones in the adult human body is 206. Some doctors debate this because it depends on what exactly you count as separate bones. Babies are born with many more bones, around 300, but end up with less when they’re grown up because some of those bones grow together. Your biggest bone is the femur or thigh bone in your leg. The smallest is called the stirrup bone, which is in the ear: It’s only three millimeters long, or one-tenth (.1) of an inch. Here are more bizarre human body features you didn’t know existed.
Answer: D. The eye
A muscle around the eye called the orbicularis oculi is the fastest muscle in the human body. It can close the eyelid in 100 milliseconds, or one-tenth (.1) of a second. This fast motion is likely where the expression “in the blink of an eye” came from! People blink in order to clean their eyeballs and keep them moist, but scientists think we may also blink in order to give our brain a brief moment of rest.
Geography and geology trivia:
Trivia question #26:
What is the largest body of water on Earth?
A. The Pacific Ocean
B. The Atlantic Ocean
C. The Indian Ocean
D. The Caspian Sea
Answer: A. The Pacific Ocean
Over 70 percent of the Earth is covered in water, and oceans make up 96.5 percent of it. The Pacific Ocean is the largest ocean in the world, taking up 63 million square miles. All of the land on Earth could fit inside it! The Atlantic Ocean is the second biggest, and the Indian Ocean is third. Really a lake, the Caspian Sea is the largest inland body of water on Earth. Here are some fascinating facts about the world’s oceans.
Trivia question #27:
What is the largest country on Earth?
A. The United States
B. Canada
C. China
D. Russia
Answer: D. Russia
At over six million square miles, Russia is by far the world’s largest country, stretching all the way from the border with Europe to the Pacific Ocean. It takes up 10 percent of all the land on Earth! Canada comes in second, the US third, and China fourth. China, though, has the most people living in it, with a population of nearly a billion and a half. Can you pass this Geography 101 quiz?
Answer: C. Vatican City
Although its name has the word “city” in it, Vatican City is actually its own tiny country surrounded by the city of Rome, Italy. It’s less than a square mile, and the smallest nation in the world out of 254 total countries. Also called the Holy See, it’s where the Pope lives: He is the head of the government there, as well as of the Catholic Church around the world. Monaco, a little country in Europe on the Mediterranean coast, is the second smallest country and is also less than a square mile. Most of the other tiny countries are islands. Luxembourg, a country in Europe, comes in at number 179, and Madagascar, off the coast of Africa, is number 48.
Trivia question #29:
What is the coldest place on Earth?
A. The North Pole
B. Antarctica
C. Siberia
D. Cape Horn, South America
Answer: B. Antarctica
Sorry, Santa: The North Pole isn’t the coldest place on Earth. It’s actually Antarctica, in the area surrounding the South Pole, where scientists measured the lowest temperature ever: minus 144 degrees Fahrenheit. It was recorded there during a polar night when there wasn’t sunlight to warm things up. Although Siberia, Russia, doesn’t get this cold, it’s still the coldest place on Earth where people actually live. Cape Horn is the southernmost point of South America, nearest to Antarctica.
Answer: B. 7
Officially, there are seven continents: North America, South America, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia, and Antarctica. But if you guessed eight or six, you may be partially right. Some scientists think Europe and Asia should be considered one continent, since they are connected and are really one landmass—if so, that would make six continents. Then there’s another “hidden” continent that’s mostly (94 percent) submerged in the Pacific Ocean: Zealandia. The only parts of Zealandia above water are New Zealand and French island territories called New Caledonia.
Answer: C. Mount Everest
When measured by height above sea level, Mount Everest in Nepal is the tallest mountain in the world at 29,029 feet. It’s generally thought to be the highest spot on Earth. But, if you measured “tallest” as farthest from the Earth’s center (in other words, closest to outer space), Mount Chimborazo in Ecuador would be the winner. This is because it’s closer to the equator, where the Earth “bulges” out, which gives it a head start. If you measured from base to peak, Mount Everest doesn’t win either: That honor would go to the volcano Mauna Kea in Hawaii, whose base is deep under the Pacific Ocean. The Burj Khalifa in the United Arab Emirates is the tallest building in the world, at 2,716 feet. These are more of the tallest skyscrapers in the world.
Trivia question #32:
What is the deepest place in the world?
A. The Mariana Trench
B. Death Valley
C. Crater Lake
D. Veryovkina Cave
Answer: A. The Mariana Trench
The Mariana Trench is the deepest place on Earth. At 35,814 feet under the Pacific Ocean, it’s deeper than Mount Everest is tall. Only three people have ever been to the bottom of the trench, which is called “Challenger Deep:” explorer Jacques Piccard, Navy submariner Don Walsh, and filmmaker and explorer James Cameron. Death Valley contains the lowest point in North America. Crater Lake, in Oregon, is the deepest lake in the United States at 1,943 feet deep. Veryovkina Cave, in the country of Georgia, is the deepest known cave in the world, at 7,257 feet deep.
World History and culture trivia:
Trivia question #33:
What ship sank in 1912?
A. The Mayflower
B. USS Arizona
C. The Titanic
D. USS Constitution
Answer: C. The Titanic
The Titanic was a passenger ship that set sail from England for New York, but never made it to her destination. Although the ship was called “unsinkable,” the Titanic hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic Ocean on her first (or “maiden”) voyage. The ship sank in freezing water on April 15, 1912, and over 1,500 people lost their lives. No one knew where exactly the Titanic sank until explorer Robert Ballard found the wreck in 1985, two miles below the ocean’s surface. These Titanic mysteries may never be solved.
The Mayflower was the ship that carried some of the earliest English settlers to America in 1620, where they established the colony of Plymouth and celebrated the first Thanksgiving. USS Arizona was the ship that was attacked and sank in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in World War II. USS Constitution, launched in 1797, is the oldest ship still in service by the US Navy: You can still see it in Boston today.
Answer: A. Tombs
The pharaohs, or kings, of ancient Egypt built pyramids to house their bodies after death, and also buried gold, jewels, and other things the Egyptians believed the pharaoh would need in the afterlife. The most famous pyramids are the three pyramids at Giza, outside of the city of Cairo. They were built between 2550 and 2490 BCE (that’s over 4,600 years ago). The Great Pyramid, the biggest pyramid ever, was originally 481 feet high and is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still standing. And they’re some of the most beautiful man-made structures in the world.
Trivia question #35:
Where was the Aztec Empire?
A. Present-day Mexico
B. South America
C. Africa
D. North America
Answer: A. Present-day Mexico
The Aztecs, or as they called themselves, the Mexica, lived in present-day Mexico. They migrated there from somewhere else that they call Aztlán, although we don’t know exactly where that was, in the 13th century. In 1521, the Spanish conquistador Hernando Cortes invaded and destroyed their city of Tenochtitlan. He built what would become Mexico City on the spot. Today, many impressive ruins of Aztec complexes and pyramids remain in Mexico.
Trivia question #36:
What is the most important symbol in Chinese culture?
A. The dog
B. The rat
C. The monkey
D. The dragon
Answer: D. The dragon
While all of these creatures have a place as one of the 12 symbols of the Chinese zodiac, the dragon has an even greater meaning. Unlike in European culture in which a dragon is dangerous and often evil, Chinese dragons are said to be good luck. The Chinese emperors believed they were descended from dragons, and dragons decorated their robes and palaces. Dragons are also featured as part of Chinese New Year celebrations in January or February, as well as Dragon Boat races in the spring. Find out more on why Chinese dragons are so important in Chinese culture.
Answer: C. New Orleans, Louisiana
The birthplace of jazz was New Orleans in the early 20th century. The musical style was created by African-Americans who were descended from enslaved people brought to America from Africa. The musicians mixed African musical elements, including folk songs and rhythm, with European instruments and harmony. New Orleans was a very diverse city with a thriving cultural scene, as it is today.
Trivia question #38:
Where did the Olympics begin?
A. Ancient Rome
B. Ancient Greece
C. Medieval England
D. Australia
Answer: B. Ancient Greece
Although almost every country in the world participates in the huge sports competition known today as the Olympics, they actually began in ancient Greece. First recorded in 776 BCE but probably originating years before that, the ancient games took place every four years at Olympia, as part of a festival honoring the Greek god Zeus. The festival was eventually banned in 393 CE by a Christian emperor. Many centuries later, a man from France got the idea to start up the athletic competition again, and the first modern Olympics took place in Athens, Greece, in 1896. These Olympic moments changed history.
Trivia question #39:
What did the Wright Brothers successfully invent?
A. The computer
B. The car
C. The telephone
D. The airplane
Answer: D. The airplane
Brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright were the first people to successfully fly a powered airplane with a pilot. They achieved this feat on December 17, 1903, in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The computer didn’t really have one inventor—the idea was first thought up by mathematician Charles Babbage in the 1830s, and the first “analytical machines” were made in the 1940s as code-breaking devices during World War II. As with the computer, many people contributed to the invention of the car, but the first successful gas-powered car and car company in the US was created by the Duryea Brothers in 1893. Credit for the invention of the telephone is given to Alexander Graham Bell, who had the first successful patent in 1876. Find out the coolest things invented by kids.
Answer: C. France
The Statue of Liberty, or “Liberty Enlightening the World,” was a gift from France for the United States of America’s centennial or 100th birthday. The whole statue, which was crafted in France, wasn’t done by the centennial, so only the arm holding the torch was shown at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876. The whole thing was finished by 1884, disassembled, shipped to New York, and reconstructed in 1886. Here’s some United States Trivia your history teacher never told you.
Trivia question #41:
What does July 4th celebrate?
A. The adopting of the Declaration of Independence
B. The signing of the Declaration of Independence
C. The end of the American Revolution
D. The end of the Civil War
Answer: A. The adopting of the Declaration of Independence
Trick question! On July 4, 1776, the final version of the Declaration of Independence was officially agreed on by the members of the Second Continental Congress. The document declared that the colonies would separate from Great Britain. But it wasn’t actually signed until August 2, because it had to be written up nicely and printed first. The American Revolution wasn’t over until 1783, and the Civil War happened later, from 1861 to 1865. Check out these facts about America that most Americans don’t know.
Trivia question #42:
What holiday celebrates the end of slavery in the US?
A. July 4
B. Thanksgiving
C. Juneteenth
D. Memorial Day
Answer: C. Juneteenth
Abraham Lincoln had declared that all enslaved people in Confederate states were free in the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. But this couldn’t totally be enforced until the Civil War ended in the spring of 1865, and even then, slavery was still going on in farther-away places, like Texas. When Union troops arrived in the city of Galveston, Texas, their general read an order on June 19, 1865, that all slaves in the state were free. The following year in Texas, the anniversary was celebrated on June 19, and the holiday’s name was eventually shortened to “Juneteenth.” The 13th amendment to the Constitution officially abolishing slavery was ratified on December 6, 1865. Today, Juneteenth is recognized by nearly every state, but still isn’t a federal holiday. Find out more about why we celebrate Juneteenth.
Answer: B. Barack Obama
Although the other Black leaders on our list would have made great presidents, only Barack Obama actually held the office, from 2009 to 2017. He was the 44th president and the first Black president in US history. Martin Luther King, Jr, was a Civil Rights activist in the 1960s before his assassination in 1968. Frederick Douglass was an escaped slave, abolitionist, activist, and writer. John Lewis was also involved in the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s, and later served as a Congressman until his death in 2020. Here are some US presidential trivia questions everyone gets wrong.
Answer: D. 13
There are 13 stripes on the US flag—seven red and six white—that represent the original 13 colonies. In the blue square in the top left, each star represents a state: The flag started out with 13, but now there are 50. The white stars on a blue background were to represent “a new constellation,” according to the 1777 act establishing a new flag for the country. Find out 20 reasons the American flag is even cooler than you thought.
Trivia question #45:
What is the biggest state by land area?
A. Texas
B. Alaska
C. California
D. Montana
Answer: B. Alaska
The US’s northernmost state, Alaska, is also its biggest by far, at 570,641 square miles. Texas, in second place, doesn’t even come close with 261,232 square miles. California is third at 155,799 square miles, then Montana with 145,546. Texas, California, and Montana together don’t even add up to the size of Alaska! California, though, is the most populated state, with over 39 million people. Check out more US geography facts you didn’t learn in school.
Answer: C. Circumference
The circumference of a circle measures the length all around its border. The radius is the measurement from the center of a circle straight to the edge. The diameter is the distance straight across, and the area is all the space inside the circle. Here are some math riddles only the smartest can get right.
Answer: C. Octagon
The classic red stop sign has eight sides, making it an octagon. A hexagon has six sides. A trapezoid and a parallelogram have the same number of sides (four), but they are different because of how their sides relate to each other: A parallelogram has two pairs of equal sides that are parallel (going in the exact same direction). With a trapezoid, only one pair of sides is parallel.
Trivia question #48:
What comes after a trillion?
A. Billion
B. Quadrillion
C. Quintillion
D. Googol
Answer: B. Quadrillion
After a billion comes a trillion, which is 1,000 billions. Then, a quadrillion is 1,000 trillions: There are 15 zeros in a quadrillion. A quintillion is next, with 1,000 quadrillions and 18 zeros. Googol is an even bigger number, with 100 zeros. It’s actually what the search engine Google is named after. These hard math problems will make your head spin!
Answer: D. 12
A cube is a 3D shape with six square faces. Each square face has four edges, but because they share some of the same edges, there are only 12 in total. Other 3D shapes have different numbers of edges: A square pyramid (a pyramid with four triangular sides and a square base) has eight edges. A triangular pyramid (a pyramid with three triangular sides and a triangular base, also called a tetrahedron) has six.
Trivia question #50:
What is a three-digit number in which the second digit is four times as big as the third digit, and the first digit is three less than the second digit?
A. 282
B. 693
C. 141
D. 241
Answer: C. 141
This is one of the hardest trivia questions for kids! First, separate the question into two parts: The second digit is four times the third digit. In 141, the second digit (4) is four times the third digit (1). The next part of the question: The first digit is three less than the second digit. In 141, 4−3=1. None of the other numbers fit all the rules! If you got this one right, next check out 50 trivia questions only geniuses will get right.
