Can You Crush This General Knowledge Quiz? (2024)

Rosa Parks' bravery in 1955 resulted in a boycott of the bus system in Montgomery, Alabama. City officials were forced to end segregation on buses.

While the letter "y" sometimes behaves like a vowel and other times like a consonant, the letter "w" is a consonant termed a "semivowel." Students often memorize vowels as "a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y."

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Who was the original "King" of rock n' roll?

Elvis, the "King," is widely considered to be rock n' roll's first major star. While estimates vary, he's said to have sold over a billion records worldwide.

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Agent 007, featured in many movies dating back to 1962, is known as _______ Bond?

Sean Connery was the first actor to portray the suave agent, back in 1962's "Dr. No." The most recent Bond, as of 2015, is Daniel Craig, who debuted in the franchise's 2006 movie, "Casino Royale."

Many people mistakenly believe that dodos were stupid birds hunted to extinction. In fact, scientists believe that animals brought to their island in the Indian Ocean by the Dutch ate the birds' eggs and competed for their food, dooming the birds to extinction.

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What plant is traditionally the primary ingredient in wine?

Traditionally, grapes are crushed and fermented to make wine. Some varieties of wine include flavors from other fruits, such as peaches. Although stories persist of people stomping grapes with their bare feet to extract the juice, this was rarely done throughout history. Instead, some form of press was generally used.

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The human brain communicates with the rest of the body through networks of what?

Nerves propagate signals throughout the body, sending and receiving information. They don't work alone, however. Hormone signals and other chemical messages compliment the electrical information surging through your body.

"Singin' in the Rain" is a bubbly musical and love story that debuted in the 1950s. The story is woven around the struggles of filmmakers as they adjust to making movies with sound.

Fluoride is commonly found in U.S. drinking water, toothpaste and other tooth care products. There is data both favoring and disfavoring its use in water, however, and many European countries have opted not to use it.

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The famous "I want YOU for the U.S. Army" poster from WWI features an image of whom?

Uncle Sam is a popular personification of the USA. The poster was designed and drawn by James Montgomery Flagg, a famous American artist who lived from 1877 to 1960.

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Which of these was not one of Snow White's seven dwarfs?

The seven dwarfs from Disney's "Snow White" were Bashful, Doc, Dopey, Happy, Grumpy, Sleepy and Sneezy. These names were invented by Disney writers; in traditional texts, the dwarfs are anonymous or have different culturally significant names.

While it's popular to say the apple fell on Isaac Newton's head, there's no real evidence to suggest this is so. He did, however, have the idea in an apple orchard while wondering why apples always fell straight down.

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The election of Pope Francis - Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio - made headlines because he was the first man from the Americas to be elected, and the first non-European man to become pope in over one thousand years.

It might not be accurate to say that Lincoln taught himself how to read and write without any assistance, but it is true that much of his childhood education was self-taught. His parents were probably both illiterate, but his stepmother encouraged his love of learning and helped him get books.

Henry the Eighth desperately wanted a male heir, and he was willing to break with the Church to secure a wife who could give him one. Jane Seymour was the only one of his six wives to bear a son.

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The theory holds that an infinitesimally small point in space, densely packed with matter, burst outward into the universe as we know it. Interestingly, the universe is still expanding and shows no signs of stopping!

The Trojan war was said to have begun over a woman: a young Trojan man named Paris stole away the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen, from her husband, Menelaus. He came to get her back, and the Trojans refused.

The Salem Witch Trials occurred in the late 1600s, resulting in the death of nineteen and imprisonment for many more. The trials occurred after several hundred years of witch hunts in Europe that resulted in the murder of tens of thousands of European women.

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Yellowstone National Park spans territory in Wyoming, Idaho and Montana. Old Faithful, one of the park's most famous geysers, is located in the Wyoming portion of the park.

Hawaii (the "Big Island"), Maui, Oahu, and Kauai are some of Hawaii's most famous islands. Mauna Loa is a volcano on the big island that is active.

Having a "Vegemite sandwich" is a very Australian thing to do, and many tourists try the stuff when they visit. It's made of yeast and is said to taste somewhat like beer and somewhat like soy sauce.

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"Calvin and Hobbes" ran from 1985 to 1995. The main characters were named after the famous Protestant theologian, Calvin, and the British philosopher, Hobbes, although Hobbes' personality was modeled after the author's cat named Sprite.

Serotonin is known to have many beneficial effects, including lifting a person's mood, reducing anxiety and even increasing libido. Many pharmaceutical products attempt to increase serotonin for individuals who can't produce enough on their own.

Voldemort (also called He Who Must Not Be Named) is the series' main villain, who Harry must face before the story can come to a close. His real name is Tom Riddle.

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The Periodic Table of Elements includes all discovered and manufactured elements known to man. As of 2016, the periodic table displays 118 elements.

Tolkien is a writer beloved by many, and not just those who gravitate to the fantasy and sci-fi genres. Both "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" were adapted for the big screen by director Peter Jackson.

The North Star is so named not because it is the brightest star in the sky, but because its position in the night sky doesn't appear to change. This is because it's almost perfectly aligned with the Earth's axis of rotation!

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Pandas were classified as endangered for a long time because they mainly feed on bamboo shoots, leaves, and stalks, so changes in their habitat were catastrophic. Occasionally, pandas will also eat small rodents and a few other select plants.

The Sons of Liberty, a group of revolutionaries that included Samuel Adams, threw tea overboard in protest of Britain's tariffs. The tea lost was worth about one million U.S. dollars in today's currency.

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Where is Mount Kilimanjaro?

Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest of all African mountains, is actually a volcano. Two of its three peaks are extinct, but its main peak, Kibo, is only dormant, meaning it could (in theory) erupt sometime in the future.

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Approximately 700 million people in Africa speak English. Arabic is the second most common language on the continent, spoken by more than 100 million people.

The bright red bird known as a cardinal is a popular choice for state bird: seven states (Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia) claim it as their official state bird!

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What is the Taj Mahal?

The Taj Mahal was built under the orders of Emperor Shah Jahan after the most beloved of his three queens, Mumtaz Mahal, passed away. Its immense size and exquisite beauty draw millions of visitors each year.

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Where do penguins live?

New Zealand, Antarctica, Australia, and South America are just some of the places penguins call home. They rarely travel north and can tolerate a wide range of temperatures.

Peanuts are actually legumes - think beans and lentils. Pistachios and cashews are both technically seeds, but are commonly grouped with real nuts for cooking purposes.