General Knowledge

1. Which three-letter word is the noun used for the young of a beaver?

Kit

2. In which decade was the first ‘Now That’s What I Call Music’ album released?

1980s (1983)

3. “Check out Guitar George, he knows all the chords…” These are lyrics from which 1970s rock song?

Sultans of Swing – Dire Straits

4. How many squares are there on a standard Scrabble board?

225

5. Which video game character has been voiced by actresses including Shelley Blond, Keeley Hawes and Camilla Luddington?

Lara Croft

6. In which US state is Alcatraz?

California

7. ‘Perro’ is the Spanish word for which animal?

Dog

8. Which former ‘Fairground Attraction’ singer has since released ten solo albums to date?

Eddi Reader

9. Jim, Ray, Robby and John were the first names of which American rock band?

The Doors

10. Which actress played Professor Pomona Sprout in the Harry Potter films?

Miriam Margolyes

1. What is the highest possible hand in a game of poker?

A Royal Flush (10, J, Q, K, A)

2. Who wrote the cautionary poem, ‘Matilda who told lies and was burned to death’?

Hilaire Belloc

3. A car with the international license plate code of IL comes from which country?

Israel

4. According to the proverb, when should you not change your horses?

Midstream (Don’t change horses in midstream)

5. Name all six characters who represent the players in an original game of ‘Cluedo’.

Miss Scarlet, Colonel Mustard, Mrs White, Reverend Green, Mrs Peacock, Professor Plum

6. What is the current cost of a standard UK colour television license?

£147 (Correct as of 22/01/18 – If you are using the questions a long time after publication I suggest verifying this answer using this link http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/topics/tv-licence-types-and-costs-top2 )

7. Who was manager of the England football team at the time of their 1966 World Cup victory?

Alf Ramsey

8. In which year was Concorde first flown?

1969

9. How many players are there on a curling team?

Four

10. According to the McDonalds nutrition calculator, how many calories are there in one of their cheeseburgers: 200, 300 or 400 kcal?

300 kcal (https://www.mcdonalds.com/gb/en-gb/good-to-know/nutrition-calculator.html) (Correct as of 22/01/18 – I am aware that recipes change over time so again, if you are using this quiz a while after publication I would recommend verifying this)

1. Who are the two people to have hosted the BBC quiz show ‘Eggheads’?

Jeremy Vine and Dermot Murnaghan

2. What is the national currency of Romania?

Romanian Leu

3. According to the proverb, “A heavy purse gives to a …” what?

Light heart

4. How many sides has a tetradecagon?

14 (Many people may think it is 13, which is a tridecagon)

5. A United States President may be elected for a maximum of how many terms?

Two

6. Which 1984 pop song starts with the lyrics “I made it through the wilderness”?

Like a Virgin – Madonna

7. In which year was the first cloned mammal ‘Dolly the Sheep’ born?

1996

8. Which is the first sign of the zodiac alphabetically?

Aquarius

9. Who was the Wimbledon Ladies Singles Champion of 2017?

Garbiñe Muguruza

10. The names of how many US states begin with the letter ‘I’?

Four (Idaho, Illinois, Indiana and Iowa)

1. Which is the last book of the Old Testament?

Malachi

2. What was the year 1986 in Roman Numerals?

MCMLXXXVI

3. In which year was the young Prince George born?

2013

4. What nationality is Ernő Rubik, inventor of the Rubik’s Cube?

Hungarian

5. Which star of ‘Allo ‘Allo sadly passed away in January 2017 at the age of 75?

Gorden Kaye

6. The Reverend Richard Coles was formerly part of which 80s pop duo?

The Communards

7. Which English ventriloquist had a puppet called Lord Charles?

Ray Alan

8. At which stadium was the famous 1966 football World Cup final match played?

Wembley

9. The Mariana Trench, the deepest location on Earth, lies within which ocean?

Pacific Ocean

10. Which of the following is not a prime number: 199, 181 or 147?

147 (49X3)

1. In Sergei Prokofiev’s ‘Peter and the Wolf’ which instruments represent the wolf?

French horns

2. Who wrote the 1951 short novel ‘The Old Man and the Sea’?

Ernest Hemingway

3. What is Samuel L. Jackson’s middle name?

Leroy

4. What colour is a New York City taxi?

Yellow

5. In which year was Halley’s Comet last visible from Earth?

1986

6. The Shard is the tallest building in the UK, but which is second tallest?

One Canada Square

7. In which profession might the Stanislavski Method be used?

Acting

8. What is the capital of the Seychelles?

Victoria

9. In which decade did Alan Sugar found Amstrad?

1960s (1968)

10. Which of London’s theatres is the oldest to still be operating on its original site, despite being rebuilt four times?

Theatre Royal, Drury Lane (originally dating back to 1663)

1. Who is King of Sicily in Shakespeare’s ‘A Winter’s Tale’?

Leontes

2. A cube has how many edges?

12

3. Name all three yellow properties in the original UK version of Monopoly.

Leicester Square, Coventry Street and Piccadilly

4. Which English singer who turned 100 in March 2017 earned herself the nickname ‘The Forces’ Sweetheart’?

Vera Lynn

5. Who was the Queen’s first great-grandchild?

Savannah Phillips

6. Which colour was Roger Hargreaves’ character ‘Mr Tickle’?

Orange

7. How many times has Donald Trump been married?

Three (Ivana, Marla and Melania)

8. The ‘Durand Line’ is a border between which two countries?

Pakistan and Afghanistan

9. Who founded the ‘Gtech’ company in 2001 and is often to be seen advertising his products on TV?

Nick Grey

10. Which American singer has recorded albums entitled ‘Glory’, ‘Femme Fatale’ and ‘Blackout’?

Britney Spears

General Knowledge

1. Where on the body would you wear a mantilla?

Over the head (and shoulders – a type of silk scarf, mostly worn in Spain)

2. According to the proverb, what is ‘in the detail’?

The devil (The devil is in the detail)

3. Which is the last sign of the zodiac alphabetically?

Virgo

4. What is the scientific name for caustic soda?

Sodium hydroxide

5. What was the name of the last film to be directed by Stanley Kubrick?

Eyes Wide Shut

6. Who was the first monarch in the house of Hanover?

George I

7. DLXVII is what number in Roman numerals?

567

8. A griffin (or gryphon) is a mythical creature formed from which two animals?

A lion and an eagle (Body, tail and back legs of a lion, head and wings of an eagle)

9. What is the capital of the Australian state of Queensland?

Brisbane

10. In which 2008 film did Kate Winslet win an Oscar for her portrayal of fictitious war criminal Hanna Schmitz?

The Reader

1. Which member of the original line-up of the Rolling Stones was born first?

Bill Wyman (1936)

2. Which country won the 2017 UEFA Women’s Euro?

Netherlands

3. Who created the cartoon cat Garfield?

Jim Davis

4. How many furlongs are there in a mile?

8

5. In which year was the National Curriculum introduced into state schools in England, Wales and Northern Ireland?

1988

6. How many people have held the post of Prime Minister of the UK since Margaret Thatcher?

Five (John Major, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Theresa May)

7. In which continent is the coldest place on Earth?

Antarctica (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25287806)

8. Which English town has previously been named ‘Duroliponte’ and ‘Cantabrigia’?

Cambridge

9. On what date do the French celebrate Bastille Day?

14th July

10. Who is the current Prime Minister of Australia?

Malcolm Turnbull

1. What is the capital of the US state of Tennessee?

Nashville

2. What does ‘RP’ stand for when referring to the accent of Standard English in the UK?

Received Pronunciation

3. What is the name of the nearest star system to our sun?

Alpha Centauri

4. What do the fashionable initials DKNY stand for?

Donna Karan New York

5. Who hosts the ITV quiz show ‘Tenable’?

Warwick Davies

6. How many degrees are there in one and a half full turns?

540

7. According to the Kennel Club’s statistics for registered dogs, what was the most popular dog breed in the UK in 2016?

Labrador Retriever

8. What are the Duke of Cornwall’s four Christian names?

Charles Philip Arthur George

9. During the Brexit campaign, a bus famously quoted an amount that the EU allegedly cost the UK. How many pounds per week was this?

£350 million

10. “There was no possibility of taking a walk that day.” This is the opening line of which classic work of literature?

Jane Eyre – Charlotte Brontë

Free Quiz Questions

1. How many tarot cards are there in a pack?

78

2. The invention of blue jeans is attributed to Levi Strauss and who else?

Jacob Davis

3. An oval car sticker with the initials ‘GBM’ denotes a car from where?

The Isle of Man

4. ‘That’, ‘when’, ‘which’, ‘who’ and ‘whose’ are grammatical examples of which type of word?

Relative pronoun

5. New Orleans owns an airport which is named after which famous jazz musician?

Louis Armstrong

6. Tony Blair represented which constituency between 1983 and 2007?

Sedgefield

7. Which American actor starred in ‘Interstellar’ (2014), ‘Dallas Buyer’s Club’ (2013) and ‘How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days’ (2003)?

Matthew McConaughey

8. Which comedian has had performances and subsequent videos/DVDs entitled ‘Definite Article’, ‘Glorious’ and ‘Dress to Kill’?

Eddie Izzard

9. What is 0.07 multiplied by 0.3?

0.021

10. Who was the first ever celebrity winner of ‘Strictly Come Dancing’?

Natasha Kaplinsky (With partner Brendan Cole)

To download our free quiz questions as a PDF contestant question paper, with questions only plus spaces for contestant answers, please click on the grey link below:

For more free general knowledge quiz questions please click here.

1. Which actress is best known for playing Nora Batty in the long-running comedy ‘Last of the Summer Wine’?

Kathy Staff

2. Who was German Chancellor before Angela Merkel took over the post in 2005?

Gerhard Schroder

3. Of which US state is Salem the capital?

Oregon

4. Rn is the symbol for which chemical element?

Radon

5. Which American rock band are best-known for their 1967 hit ‘Happy Together’?

The Turtles

6. What is the traditional gift for a 15th wedding anniversary?

Crystal

7. Which ‘party board game’, which was created in 1998, is designed to test a variety of different skills and includes ‘Creative Cat’. ‘Word Worm’, ‘Data Head’ and ‘Star Performer’ categories?

Cranium

8. Which sign of the zodiac is represented by the ‘water bearer’?

Aquarius

9. The Danish currency, the krone, can be divided into 100 what?

øre

10. The ‘Game Gear’ was a 1990s hand-held gaming console developed by which company?

Sega

1. In which year were the Nobel Prizes first awarded?

1901

2. For what purpose is Makaton used?

Communication (Designed for those who struggle to communicate through speaking – Uses a combination of speech, signs and symbols)

3. “I used to be lunatic from the gracious days….” These are the opening lines to which Annie Lennox song?

No More I Love Yous

4. Which is the hottest planet in our solar system?

Venus

5. ‘Concho y Toro’ is a wine-producing company based in which country?

Chile

6. Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell were the two less-famous members of which rock trio?

The Jimi Hendrix Experience

7. ‘Chou’ is the French word for which vegetable?

Cabbage

8. Which actor has played Paul Robinson in ‘Neighbours’ since its very first episode in 1985, despite taking an extended break from the soap from 1993 to 2004?

Stefan Dennis

9. How many official languages are spoken in Switzerland?

Four: German, French, Italian and Romansh

10. Which two colours feature on the flag of Ukraine?

Blue and yellow (Two horizontal bands, blue on the top half and yellow below)

1. Which vitamin is also known as biotin?

B7

2. Cm is the abbreviation for which chemical element?

Curium

3. Which board game, first published in 2004, involves placing different-coloured railway cars between destination cities on a map?

Ticket To Ride

4. What is the collective noun for a group of buzzards?

Wake

5. In which US state are Carson City and Reno?

Nevada

6. Which English football club plays at Deepdale?

Preston North End

7. Which of the ‘X-Men’ characters was born James Howlett and is often known as Logan?

Wolverine

8. Which English trio, whose debut album ‘If You Wait’ was released in 2013, consists of Hannah Reid, Dan Rothman and Dominic Major?

London Grammar

9. Which recurring ‘Friends’ character was played by Maggie Wheeler?

Janice

10. Which word can be placed before ‘rising’, ‘wards’ and ‘set’ to make new words?

Up

1. Which hugely successful female American singer has released albums entitled ‘Wildest Dreams’, ‘Break Every Rule’ and ‘What’s Love Got To Do With It’?

Tina Turner

2. 3a + 21 = 30. What is the value of a?

3

3. Which actor and actress portrayed the ‘Gold Blend Couple’ on UK adverts running from 1987 to 1993?

Anthony Head and Sharon Maughan

4. What is the capital city of the Republic of Indonesia?

Jakarta

5. Which British actor played Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter film series?

Jason Isaacs

6. In which European city will you find the ‘Sagrada Familia’ cathedral and ‘Camp Nou’ stadium?

Barcelona

7. Which word beginning with ‘M’ is the correct name for a set of Russian nesting dolls?

Matryoshka (pronounced Matrushka)

8. In which English county will you find Drayton Manor Theme Park?

Staffordshire

9. According to the World Boxing Association, which weight class is just below ‘heavyweight’?

Cruiserweight

10. Which legendary US film actor got his first leading role in the 1930 western ‘The Big Trail’?

John Wayne

1. Stanley Kirk Burrell is the birth name of which American hip hop artist who was at the height of his fame in the early 1990s?

MC Hammer

2. Zara Phillips married which former England rugby union player in 2011?

Mike Tindall

3. Of what is calligraphy the art?

Decorative handwriting

4. In slang terms, how much money is a ‘pony’?

£25

5. Who invented the pneumatic tyre in 1887?

John Boyd Dunlop

6. ‘Celeste’ and ‘periwinkle’ are shades of which primary colour?

Blue

7. Which letter of the alphabet is represented in Braille as a single raised dot in the upper left-hand corner of the cell?

A

8. In biblical terms, the Decalogue is another word for what?

The Ten Commandments

9. Which character in the original Star Trek series was played by DeForest Kelly?

Dr. Leonard McCoy

10. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was the first ever president of which country?

Bangladesh

1. After which Welshman was Mount Everest named?

Sir George Everest

2. Nouakchott is the capital of which African country?

Mauritania

3. Which Grand Prix driver has won most Formula One races to date?

Michael Schumacher (Correct as of 25/05/2017)

4. In which year was the fall of Saigon and the end of the Vietnam War?

1975

5. Which British coin was introduced in February 1971 and was withdrawn from circulation in December 1984?

The halfpenny (decimal coin)

6. Which 1985 Dire Straits album spent ten weeks at number one in the UK albums chart?

Brothers in Arms

7. What is the fifth letter in the Greek alphabet?

Epsilon (έψιλον)

8. Who composed the three-act opera ‘La Traviata’?

Giuseppe Verdi

9. In how many films has Sylvester Stallone played Rocky Balboa?

Seven (Rocky, Rocky II, Rocky III, Rocky IV, Rocky V, Rocky Balboa and Creed)

10. What was the real first name of Che Guevara?

Ernesto

1. How many pairs of chromosomes do humans have?

23

2. In which year did Tony Blair become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom?

1997

3. How many cartoon images does each player have on their board in a game of ‘Guess Who?’

24

4. On which British island is Beaumaris castle?

Anglesey

5. How many sides does a heptadecagon have?

Seventeen

6. What is the name of the highest rank in the Royal Navy?

Admiral of the Fleet

7. On a standard dartboard, what is the lowest number that cannot be achieved with a single dart?

23

8. What is the official language of Sierra Leone?

English

9. What was the name of the Jersey Zoo gorilla who hit the headlines way back in 1986, when a five-year-old boy fell into his enclosure?

Jambo

10. Who had a number one hit in the UK in April 2017 with his debut solo single ‘Sign of the Times’?

Harry Styles

1. Who provided the voice of ‘Elsa’ in the 2013 film ‘Frozen’?

Idina Menzel

2. Which comic came first, ‘The Beano’ or ‘The Dandy’?

The Dandy (First published in 1937, the Beano came a year later)

3. Which actor is known for playing Older Jamal in ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ and Sonny Kapoor in ‘The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’?

Dev Patel

4. What is the capital of Lithuania?

Vilnius

5. Which Spanish pop duo had a 1993 hit in the UK with ‘La Macarena’?

Los del Río

6. Which scientific process can be defined as ‘a process by which molecules of a solvent tend to pass through a semipermeable membrane from a less concentrated solution into a more concentrated one’?

Osmosis

7. Which UK game show has been hosted by Nicky Campbell, Bradley Walsh and John Leslie?

Wheel of Fortune

8. Which is the largest denomination of a US Dollar bank note?

$100

9. In musical terms, which is longest; a crotchet or a quaver?

A crotchet (worth one ‘beat’, a quaver is worth half)

10. What is the name of the Harvard University symbologist who is the protagonist in Dan Brown’s ‘The Da Vinci Code’ and other similar works?

Robert Langdon

1. Two pairs of United States Presidents have been father and son – Can you give both surnames?

Bush and Adams (George Bush and George W. Bush, John Adams and John Quincy Adams)

2. What was the name of the 2016 film sequel to ‘Finding Nemo’?

Finding Dory

3. Who was the first ever presenter of University Challenge?

Bamber Gascoigne

4. What is the sum of the prime numbers between 30 and 50?

199 (31+37+41+43+47)

5. What was the first name of the German philosopher Nietzsche?

Friedrich

6. There are four ‘Tate’ museums – Where are they all?

Tate Britain (London), Tate Modern (London), Tate Liverpool and Tate St. Ives

7. What type of creature is a dugite?

Type of snake

8. Who wrote the thriller ‘Apple Tree Yard’, which was adapted into a four-part series by the BBC in 2016?

Louise Doughty

9. Who was the first narrator of the Channel Four show ‘Gogglebox’?

Caroline Aherne

10. In which year was Prince Harry born?

1984