World History Overview Quiz

African History

• Cecil Rhodes (1853-1902) was a businessman who named a colony that is now Zambia and Zimbabwe.
• Nelson Mandela (1918-2013) led the African National Congress and was South Africa's first black president.
• Ghana was a British colony called the Gold Coast until 1957.

Asian History

• Mao Zedong (1893-1976) was China's first Communist leader and initiated the Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution.
• The Battle of Okinawa was a significant World War II battle fought on Okinawa in Japan.
• Indira Gandhi (1917-1984) was India's first female Prime Minister, assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards.
• The Indus Valley Civilization was located on the India-Pakistan border.

Ancient History

• Cyrus the Great (c. 600-530 BC) founded the Achaemenid (Persian) Empire.
• Pharaohs were rulers of ancient Egypt, buried in the Valley of the Kings.
• Hieroglyphics were an ancient Egyptian writing system, deciphered using the Rosetta Stone.
• The ancient Olympic Games were athletic competitions that ran in Greece from 776 BC to 393 AD.

European History

• The Holocaust was the mass extermination of Jews by Nazi Germany during World War II.
• Elizabeth I (1533-1603) was the last Tudor monarch of England.
• Ferdinand Magellan (1480-1521) led the first circumnavigation of the world (though he died before completing the voyage).
• Vladimir Lenin (1870-1924) founded the Soviet Union.
• George III (1738-1820) was King of Great Britain during the American Revolution era.
• The Hapsburgs were a powerful Austrian dynasty.

Latin American History

• Yellow fever infections among Panama Canal workers caused Walter Reed to research a cure.
• Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) was a Mexican Surrealist self-portrait painter.
• Argentina hosted Adolf Eichmann, a Nazi war criminal, for several years.
• Machu Picchu is an Incan fortress and UNESCO World Heritage Site near Cusco.

U.S. History

• Dwight Eisenhower (1890-1969) was the 34th U.S. President and Supreme Allied Commander during World War II; he served from 1953 to 1961.
• Betsy Ross (1752-1836) is credited with creating the first American flag.
• The Mexican-American War was a 1846-48 war that ended with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
• Jamestown, Virginia was the first permanent English settlement in America.
• The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited segregation in public accommodations.
• Mike Pence served as Vice President from 2017 to 2021.
• Crazy Horse (1840-1877) was a Lakota Sioux leader.
• John Quincy Adams (1767-1848) was the sixth U.S. President; accused of a "corrupt bargain" in the 1824 election.