Pick a subject, choose your level, and dive in. Each quiz is written and fact-checked by hand, with an explanation after every answer.
260 quizzes · page 1 of 6
Ptolemy, al-Idrisi, portolan charts and the draughtsman who straightened the Underground.
Ptolemy's Geographia, written in the second century, was influential chiefly because it did…
A friendly tour of the planets, moons and the star at the middle of it all.
Which planet is closest to the Sun?
From Sumer to the Inca — eight questions for the serious history lover.
Which river was central to the rise of Ancient Egypt?
From the Nile to the Amazon — the great rivers that shaped where we live.
Which river is traditionally considered the longest in the world?
The games and machines that built the biggest entertainment industry.
Which company created the character Mario?
City-states, empire and the inheritance still in daily use.
Which Greek city-state was best known for its military discipline?
Selection, apprenticeships, entrance exams and how differently countries organise schooling.
The word kindergarten was coined in which country?
Ten capitals that trip up even confident travellers, from Canberra to Abuja.
What is the capital of Australia?
The breakthroughs that rewired daily life — and the people behind them.
Who is credited with introducing the movable-type printing press to Europe around 1440?
The roof of the world, range by range — and a few peaks that will surprise you.
What is the highest mountain above sea level?
The blue that covers most of the planet, from the Pacific to the Dead Sea.
What is the largest ocean on Earth?
The remarkable machine you live in, from your bones to your immune system.
What is the largest organ of the human body?
The building blocks of everything, and the table that organises them.
What is the chemical symbol for gold?
Record-breakers, oddities and the rules that sort the living world.
What is the largest animal ever known to have lived?
Three pounds of tissue, eighty-six billion neurons, and the most complex object we know of.
Which is the largest part of the brain, responsible for thought and voluntary movement?
Clouds, fronts, storms and the difference between a rainy day and a warming world.
In which layer of the atmosphere does nearly all weather occur?
The giants that ruled the Earth for 165 million years — and the day it all changed.
Roughly when did the last non-bird dinosaurs go extinct?
Every flag is a compressed piece of history. See how many you can read.
Which country's flag features a single red maple leaf?
The restless forces that build mountains, shake cities and reshape the map.
The Earth's rigid outer shell is broken into large moving pieces called?
Where ordinary words and objects actually came from.
The English word "salary" comes from the Latin word for which substance?
The paintings, novels and figures worth knowing by name.
Who painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel?
The rules, records and moments the world actually watched.
How often are the modern Summer Olympic Games normally held?
Landmark films, famous lines and the series people planned their week around.
Who directed Jaws and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial?
Instruments, composers and the words written on every score.
How many strings does a standard violin have?
What familiar dishes are made of, and where they came from.
Which spice is harvested from the stigmas of a crocus flower?
Beyond the planets: stars, distance and getting off the ground.
Which galaxy contains our Solar System?
The biggest, the fastest and the genuinely strange.
Which vertebrate is believed to have the longest lifespan?
The pantheons and legends still hiding in everyday language.
In Greek mythology, who is the king of the gods?
Roots, scripts and the names for things you already do with language.
Which language has the most native speakers worldwide?
The constants, shapes and terms worth actually knowing.
What is the value of pi to two decimal places?
The philosophers worth knowing and what they actually argued.
Which philosopher wrote "I think, therefore I am"?
The discoveries that changed what medicine could promise.
Insulin is produced by which organ?
What the words in every economic headline actually mean.
What is the currency of Japan?
The machinery of government, described rather than argued about.
How many states make up the United States of America?
Landmark buildings and the styles you can spot from the street.
In which city does the Eiffel Tower stand?
The canals, railways and machines that shortened the world.
Which canal connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea?
Comics and animation across America, Europe and Japan.
Superman first appeared in which comic publication?
The designers, fabrics and cities behind what people wear.
Which designer is credited with popularising the "little black dress"?
The major world religions, their books and their practices.
The Quran is the central religious text of which faith?
What the legal phrases everyone repeats actually commit a court to.
The principle that a defendant is treated as innocent until proven otherwise is called what?
Atmosphere, energy and the cycles that keep things running.
Which gas is the most abundant in Earth's atmosphere?
The expeditions that redrew the map, credited accurately.
Which expedition was the first to circumnavigate the globe?
The engineering principles behind structures and machines.
Reinforced concrete combines concrete with which material?
Classic puzzles and the logic that makes them work.
A standard sudoku grid is what size?
What happens when substances meet, and why.
What is the chemical formula for water?
Motion, energy and light, described without the equations.
The speed of light in a vacuum is closest to which value?
From the inside of a cell to the logic of natural selection.
What is generally considered the basic unit of life?
The planet from crust to core, and the processes shaping it.
What is the outermost solid layer of the Earth called?