History
What year did World War I begin and when did it end?
1914-1918
In 476 AD, the "Eternal City" was captured by Odoacer, marking the official end of the Western half of which great ancient empire?
The Roman Empire.
Which large island nation, located northwest of mainland Europe, is separated from France by the English Channel?
The United Kingdom (or Great Britain)
Introduced in 1999 for electronic payments and 2002 as physical notes, what is the name of the official currency used by 20 of the 27 European Union member states?
The Euro (€).
Widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language, which playwright wrote Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and Macbeth during the Elizabethan era?
William Shakespeare.
Which ancient civilization is credited with being the "Birthplace of Democracy" and built the Parthenon?
(Ancient) Greece.
In 1517, a monk named Martin Luther reportedly nailed his "95 Theses" to a church door in Wittenberg, triggering which religious movement that split the Catholic Church?
The Reformation (or Protestant Reformation).
Which mountainous, landlocked country is famous for its neutrality and is bordered by Germany, France, Italy, Austria, and Liechtenstein?
Switzerland.
Headquartered in Brussels, what is the name of the unique economic and political union that allows for the "four freedoms": the free movement of goods, services, capital, and people across its member states?
The European Union (EU).
Originating in Italy in the late 16th century, what form of musical theater combines classical music, staged drama, and powerful vocal performances (often sung in Italian, French, or German)?
Opera.
The invention that ended the monopoly of the elite on information
The Printing Press
Beginning in 1789, which violent upheaval saw the overthrow of King Louis XVI, the rise of the guillotine, and the end of the absolute monarchy in France?
The French Revolution.
The Danube River, the second-longest river in Europe, flows through or borders ten different countries. Which capital city does it pass through directly after leaving Vienna and before reaching Belgrade?
Bratislava (Slovakia).
Written by Scottish economist Adam Smith in 1776, which foundational book argued against "mercantilism" and laid the groundwork for modern free-market economic theory in Europe and beyond?
The Wealth of Nations.
Which 19th-century artistic movement, led by painters like Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, focused on capturing the effects of light and "fleeting moments" rather than realistic detail?
Impressionism
The 1648 treaties that ended the Thirty Years' War
Peace of Westphalia
In 1571, the Battle of Lepanto saw a coalition of European maritime powers decisively defeat the navy of which expanding empire, halting their advancement in the Mediterranean?
The Ottoman Empire.
Located entirely within the borders of Italy, what is the name of the world's oldest surviving republic, which sits atop Mount Titano near the Adriatic coast?
San Marino.
In 1951, six European countries signed a treaty to pool their heavy industries, creating a precursor to the EU designed to make war "not merely unthinkable, but materially impossible." What was this organization called?
The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).
During the 18th-century Enlightenment, which French philosopher and author of The Social Contract famously wrote, "Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains"?
Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
The Italian city-state whose ships brought the Black Death from Caffa to Europe
Genoa
Following the death of the childless King Sebastian I at the Battle of Alcácer Quibir in 1578, which major European kingdom suffered a succession crisis that resulted in it being ruled by the Spanish Habsburgs for 60 years in what was known as the Iberian Union?
The Kingdom of Portugal.
The town of Baarle-Hertog is a collection of 22 tiny exclaves belonging to one country, which are situated entirely inside the territory of another country (which itself has counter-exclaves inside those pieces of land). Which two European nations share this incredibly complex "checkerboard" border?
Belgium and the Netherlands.
In the 1630s, the Dutch Republic experienced one of the world's first recorded speculative "asset bubbles," where the price of a single contract for a specific luxury item reached the cost of a mansion before the market catastrophically crashed. What was the specific item?
Tulip Bulbs (Tulip Mania).
In Central and Eastern European folklore, particularly in Slavic traditions, what is the name of the supernatural being (often depicted as an ambiguous old woman) who lives in a hut that stands on giant chicken legs and flies around in a giant mortar?
Baba Yaga.