Famous People Trivia Questions for Kids (with Answers)
Use this printable trivia list for warm-ups or revision. Tap any question to reveal the answer and fun fact — then play the full interactive round in Brain Play (ten random questions from the same bank).
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Questions & answers
Tap a question to reveal the answer. 35 questions below.
1. Who wrote the Harry Potter book series?Show answer
- J.K. Rowling — correct
- Roald Dahl
- David Walliams
- Enid Blyton
J.K. Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter book while sitting in cafés in Edinburgh, Scotland.
2. Which scientist is famous for the theory of gravity after seeing an apple fall?Show answer
- Albert Einstein
- Isaac Newton — correct
- Marie Curie
- Charles Darwin
Isaac Newton helped explain how gravity keeps planets in orbit around the Sun.
3. Who painted the Mona Lisa?Show answer
- Vincent van Gogh
- Pablo Picasso
- Leonardo da Vinci — correct
- Claude Monet
Leonardo da Vinci was also an inventor who sketched flying machines centuries before aeroplanes existed.
4. Which explorer was the first person to walk on the Moon?Show answer
- Christopher Columbus
- Neil Armstrong — correct
- Marco Polo
- Amelia Earhart
Neil Armstrong said 'That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind' when he stepped onto the Moon in 1969.
5. Who wrote 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'?Show answer
- J.K. Rowling
- Roald Dahl — correct
- Lewis Carroll
- Michael Morpurgo
Roald Dahl kept a special red notebook where he wrote down story ideas — including Willy Wonka!
6. Which scientist discovered penicillin, the first widely used antibiotic?Show answer
- Louis Pasteur
- Alexander Fleming — correct
- Gregor Mendel
- Jane Goodall
Alexander Fleming noticed mould killing bacteria by accident — a messy lab led to a life-saving discovery.
7. Who was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize?Show answer
- Rosalind Franklin
- Marie Curie — correct
- Ada Lovelace
- Florence Nightingale
Marie Curie actually won two Nobel Prizes — one for physics and one for chemistry.
8. Which artist cut off part of his own ear?Show answer
- Pablo Picasso
- Salvador Dalí
- Vincent van Gogh — correct
- Michelangelo
Vincent van Gogh painted over 2,000 artworks in just ten years, including the famous 'Starry Night'.
9. Who wrote 'Romeo and Juliet'?Show answer
- Charles Dickens
- William Shakespeare — correct
- Jane Austen
- Geoffrey Chaucer
William Shakespeare invented hundreds of words still used in English today, including 'eyeball' and 'lonely'.
10. Which civil rights leader gave the famous 'I Have a Dream' speech?Show answer
- Nelson Mandela
- Martin Luther King Jr. — correct
- Mahatma Gandhi
- Rosa Parks
Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his speech to over 250,000 people in Washington, D.C. in 1963.
11. Who developed the theory of evolution by natural selection?Show answer
- Charles Darwin — correct
- Galileo Galilei
- Stephen Hawking
- Nikola Tesla
Charles Darwin travelled around the world on HMS Beagle, studying plants and animals on different islands.
12. Which Egyptian queen was famous for her beauty and ruled ancient Egypt?Show answer
- Nefertiti
- Cleopatra — correct
- Hatshepsut
- Boudicca
Cleopatra could speak many languages and was one of the most powerful rulers of her time.
13. Who invented the telephone?Show answer
- Thomas Edison
- Alexander Graham Bell — correct
- Nikola Tesla
- Guglielmo Marconi
Alexander Graham Bell's first words on the telephone were to his assistant: 'Mr Watson, come here, I want to see you.'
14. Which British nurse became known as 'The Lady with the Lamp' during the Crimean War?Show answer
- Mary Seacole
- Florence Nightingale — correct
- Elizabeth Garrett Anderson
- Edith Cavell
Florence Nightingale checked on wounded soldiers at night with a lamp — and helped modernise hospitals.
15. Who was the first person to reach the South Pole?Show answer
- Robert Falcon Scott
- Roald Amundsen — correct
- Ernest Shackleton
- Edmund Hillary
Roald Amundsen, from Norway, reached the South Pole in December 1911 using sled dogs.
16. Which scientist is famous for the equation E = mc²?Show answer
- Isaac Newton
- Albert Einstein — correct
- Stephen Hawking
- Richard Feynman
Albert Einstein won the Nobel Prize for explaining the photoelectric effect, not for his theory of relativity.
17. Who wrote 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'?Show answer
- C.S. Lewis — correct
- J.R.R. Tolkien
- Philip Pullman
- Terry Pratchett
C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien were friends who met regularly to discuss stories at Oxford University.
18. Which artist co-founded the Cubist art movement?Show answer
- Claude Monet
- Pablo Picasso — correct
- Henri Matisse
- Georgia O'Keeffe
Pablo Picasso created an estimated 50,000 artworks in his lifetime — paintings, sculptures, and more.
19. Who led India to independence using peaceful protest?Show answer
- Jawaharlal Nehru
- Mahatma Gandhi — correct
- Subhas Chandra Bose
- Indira Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi's name means 'great soul' — he encouraged non-violent resistance against unfair laws.
20. Which inventor held over 1,000 patents, including for the light bulb?Show answer
- Alexander Graham Bell
- Thomas Edison — correct
- Nikola Tesla
- James Watt
Thomas Edison said, 'I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.'
21. Who was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean?Show answer
- Amelia Earhart — correct
- Amy Johnson
- Valentina Tereshkova
- Bessie Coleman
Amelia Earhart disappeared in 1937 during an attempt to fly around the world — her story still fascinates people today.
22. Which scientist spent decades studying chimpanzees in Tanzania?Show answer
- Dian Fossey
- Jane Goodall — correct
- Rachel Carson
- Rosalind Franklin
Jane Goodall named the chimpanzees she studied instead of giving them numbers — a revolutionary approach at the time.
23. Who painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel?Show answer
- Leonardo da Vinci
- Raphael
- Michelangelo — correct
- Donatello
Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling lying on his back on scaffolding — it took about four years.
24. Which South African leader spent 27 years in prison before becoming president?Show answer
- Desmond Tutu
- Nelson Mandela — correct
- Steve Biko
- Thabo Mbeki
Nelson Mandela won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 for helping end apartheid peacefully.
25. Who wrote 'Pride and Prejudice'?Show answer
- Charlotte Brontë
- Jane Austen — correct
- Emily Brontë
- Mary Shelley
Jane Austen published her novels anonymously at first — readers did not know the author was a woman.
26. Which astronomer was put on trial for saying the Earth moves around the Sun?Show answer
- Copernicus
- Galileo Galilei — correct
- Johannes Kepler
- Tycho Brahe
Galileo improved the telescope and discovered moons orbiting Jupiter — proof that not everything circles Earth.
27. Who was the first British person to climb Mount Everest?Show answer
- George Mallory
- Edmund Hillary — correct
- Chris Bonington
- Ranulph Fiennes
Edmund Hillary, from New Zealand, reached the summit with Tenzing Norgay on 29 May 1953.
28. Which composer became deaf but still wrote some of the greatest symphonies?Show answer
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- Ludwig van Beethoven — correct
- Johann Sebastian Bach
- Franz Schubert
Beethoven continued composing even when he could no longer hear — he felt the vibrations through the floor.
29. Who wrote 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'?Show answer
- Lewis Carroll — correct
- Beatrix Potter
- A.A. Milne
- Kenneth Grahame
Lewis Carroll told the Alice story to entertain a real girl named Alice Liddell during a boat trip.
30. Which ancient Greek philosopher taught Alexander the Great?Show answer
- Socrates
- Plato
- Aristotle — correct
- Pythagoras
Aristotle wrote about logic, biology, politics, and ethics — his ideas influenced science for centuries.
31. Who invented the World Wide Web?Show answer
- Bill Gates
- Tim Berners-Lee — correct
- Steve Jobs
- Alan Turing
Tim Berners-Lee, a British scientist, created the web in 1989 so scientists could share information easily.
32. Which artist is famous for painting water lilies in his garden at Giverny?Show answer
- Claude Monet — correct
- Pierre-Auguste Renoir
- Edgar Degas
- Paul Cézanne
Claude Monet planted his own garden just so he could paint the flowers and pond from his doorstep.
33. Who was the first woman in space?Show answer
- Valentina Tereshkova — correct
- Sally Ride
- Mae Jemison
- Helen Sharman
Valentina Tereshkova orbited Earth 48 times in 1963 — the Soviet Union sent her into space before any American woman.
34. Which British Prime Minister led the UK during most of World War II?Show answer
- Neville Chamberlain
- Winston Churchill — correct
- Clement Attlee
- Anthony Eden
Winston Churchill was also a talented painter and won the Nobel Prize in Literature for his speeches and books.
35. Who wrote 'The Hobbit' and 'The Lord of the Rings'?Show answer
- C.S. Lewis
- J.R.R. Tolkien — correct
- George R.R. Martin
- Ursula K. Le Guin
J.R.R. Tolkien invented entire languages for the elves in his stories before writing the books.
Famous People Trivia Questions for Kids (with Answers)