Celebrate National Trivia Day With 20 Challenging Trivia Questions!
By Kristin Myers on January 4, 2022 at 4:35 PM EST
Updated on January 4, 2022 at 4:44 PM EST
Today is National Trivia Day!
National Trivia Day is celebrated annually on January 4 of every year to give trivia fans a chance to flex their cerebral muscles! Take a look at the history behind this historic day and then try answering a few questions to test your trivia smarts!
History Of National Trivia Day
There are many different claims made about the origins of National Trivia Day, but most attribute the annual celebration's founding to Robert Birch of Puns Corps. The first holiday is said to have been celebrated in 1980, a year before the board game Trivial Pursuit became a smash success.
The origins of "trivia" are much older. Two college students at Columbia University, Ed Goodgold and Dan Carlinsky, are credited with creating the first college quiz bowls after pop culture trivia questions became a hit in the 1960s. The two later published in a book called "Trivia" in 1966, which was ranked on the New York Times bestseller list.
The first episode of "Jeopardy!" actually debuted slightly earlier, on March 30, 1964. It went off air until 1975 before it was brought back in 1984 and continues now to the present day.
This year, to celebrate National Trivia Day, we took a look back at some of the best "Final Jeopardy!" questions in order to find some of the best trivia questions to challenge your brain in this new year!
So read on and see how many questions you can get right!
Test Your Trivia Knowledge With These 20 'Jeopardy!' Questions
Although "Jeopardy!" rewrote the script of forcing contestants to answer in the form of a question, we have reworded the questions into actual questions, so all you have to do is provide the answer! Tap into your inner trivia star and see how many of these questions you can get right!
#1 - What classic 1952 movie was based on the story 'The Tin Star'?
Answer: "High Noon"
#2 - Introduced in 1963, what internationally known character wears a size 29EEE shoe?
Answer: Ronald McDonald
#3 - Can you name one of the two Republicans to appear on the ticket as president or vice president 3 elections in a row since 1850?
Answer: Richard Nixon OR George H.W. Busy
#4 - Which historical artifact's restitchings over the centuries helped perpetuate the story of King Harold II being struck in the eye with an arrow?
Answer: The Bayeux Tapestry
#5 - Of the 56 people to sign the Declaration, the greatest number, nine, represented what state?
Answer: Pennsylvania
#6 - What state capital rose from the ruins of a Hohokam Indian settlement?
Answer: Phoenix, Arizona
#7 - Whose "Fictional Memoir" about his last African safari was published in 1999, 38 years after his death?
Answer: Ernest Hemingway
#8 - In 1992, what New York actor was the first man with 2 acting Oscar nominations in the same year for different films?
Answer: Al Pacino
#9 - Which capital's name is from the Greek for "Three Towns"?
Answer: Tripoli, Libya
#10 - What artist, who lived from 1904 to 1989, had a first name that means "savior" in Spanish?
Answer: Salvador Dali
#11 - First held in May 1875, what is the oldest continuously held major sporting event in the United States?
Answer: The Kentucky Derby
#12 - What famous item was first sent May 24, 1844 and had a famous last one sent on January 27, 2006?
Answer: a telegram
#13 - Alphabetically, what dog breed is last on the recognized list of the American Kennel Club?
Answer: Yorkshire Terrier
#14 - Napoleon's plans to invade England were dashed by what October 21, 1805 battle?
Answer: Battle of Trafalgar
#15 - In the 16th century, who wrote, "Whoever wishes to found a state…must start with assuming that all men are bad…?"
Answer: Machiavelli
#16 - Created on the 3rd day, what was the first form of life on Earth, according to Genesis?
Answer: plant life
#17 - What soft drink was named for a digestive enzyme and a native African plant?
Answer: Pepsi-Cola
#18 - Areology is the scientific study of which planet?
Answer: Mars
#19 - Which 1994 novel begins in the fictional town of St. Petersburg and ends in Pikesville, 1,100 miles down the Mississippi?
Answer: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
#20 - Five of the women condemned in Salem in 1692 were finally exonerated by a bill signed on which day in 2001?
Answer: Halloween (October 31)
Were you able to get all 20 questions correct? If so, you must be a trivia master! If you haven't already, you might consider taking the "Jeopardy!" Anytime Test to try out for the show. You never know what could happen!
