Unusual Records Quiz – Printable Version
20 multiple-choice questions with an explained answer key, ready to print.
Print the sheet (or save it as a PDF from the print window), hand it out, then mark it together using the answer page: every answer is explained. Perfect for a party, a birthday, a classroom, a care home or a team activity.
Name: ………………………………Score: ……… / 20
- What is the tallest tree in the world?
- A. Bristlecone pine
- B. Giant sequoia
- C. Eucalyptus regnans
- D. Hyperion
- What is the largest freshwater lake in the world by volume?
- A. Lake Tanganyika
- B. Lake Superior
- C. Lake Baikal
- D. Lake Victoria
- What is the longest bridge in the world?
- A. Hangzhou Bay Bridge
- B. Golden Gate Bridge
- C. Danyang-Kunshan Bridge
- D. Akashi Kaikyō Bridge
- What is the tallest building in the world?
- A. Abraj Al-Bait
- B. Merdeka 118
- C. Shanghai Tower
- D. Burj Khalifa
- What is the heaviest land mammal after the elephant?
- A. White rhinoceros
- B. Polar bear
- C. Hippopotamus
- D. Giraffe
- What is the maximum speed of a cheetah?
- A. 95 km/h
- B. 110 km/h
- C. 150 km/h
- D. 80 km/h
- What is the name of the largest impact crater on Earth?
- A. Vredefort crater
- B. Sudbury crater
- C. Chicxulub crater
- D. Popigai crater
- What is the highest city in the world, perched at about 5,100 metres in the Andes?
- A. La Paz, Bolivia
- B. La Rinconada, Peru
- C. Lhasa, Tibet
- D. Quito, Ecuador
- According to a famous story, how long did the 'war' between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly last, without a single shot fired?
- A. 3 days
- B. 35 years
- C. 1,000 years
- D. 335 years
- In what year was the first Guinness Book of Records published?
- A. 1925
- B. 1955
- C. 1975
- D. 1995
- How old was the Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment when she died in 1997, the officially verified record for human longevity?
- A. 112
- B. 122
- C. 130
- D. 116
- Where is Wadi al-Salam, considered the largest cemetery in the world, with several million graves?
- A. In Cairo, Egypt
- B. In Paris
- C. In Jerusalem
- D. In Najaf, Iraq
- Which Hindu pilgrimage, held in India on the banks of the Ganges, is often described as the largest human gathering in the world?
- A. Holi
- B. The Kumbh Mela
- C. Diwali
- D. Ganesh Chaturthi
- Which body of water in Antarctica is considered the saltiest on the planet, so salty that it almost never freezes despite the extreme cold?
- A. The Dead Sea
- B. Don Juan Pond
- C. The Great Salt Lake
- D. Lake Assal
- How long did Louis XIV's reign last, a record for the sovereign of a major country?
- A. 45 years
- B. 58 years
- C. 90 years
- D. 72 years
- Which country has the largest number of Nobel Prize laureates?
- A. The United Kingdom
- B. The United States
- C. Germany
- D. France
- Where is the lowest point on dry land, more than 400 metres below sea level?
- A. On the shores of the Dead Sea
- B. In Death Valley
- C. At the bottom of the Grand Canyon
- D. In the Qattara Depression
- How long did the longest recorded flight by a chicken last?
- A. 2 seconds
- B. 1 minute
- C. About 13 seconds
- D. 5 minutes
- Which country is the most visited in the world by international tourists?
- A. The United States
- B. Spain
- C. China
- D. France
- In which city is the oldest university in the world still operating, founded in 859?
- A. Cairo
- B. Bologna
- C. Oxford
- D. Fez
Answer key — Unusual Records Quiz
- D. HyperionHyperion measures 115.85 metres tall.
- C. Lake BaikalIt contains 20% of the Earth's unfrozen fresh water.
- C. Danyang-Kunshan BridgeIt measures 164.8 km long.
- D. Burj KhalifaThe Burj Khalifa in Dubai measures 828 metres.
- A. White rhinocerosThe white rhinoceros can weigh up to 3.6 tonnes.
- B. 110 km/hThe cheetah is the fastest land animal.
- A. Vredefort craterLocated in South Africa, it is 300 km in diameter.
- B. La Rinconada, PeruThis mining town attracts thousands of gold seekers despite the thin air, the cold and the lack of running water.
- D. 335 yearsDeclared in 1651, it was supposedly forgotten… until a symbolic peace treaty was signed in 1986.
- B. 1955The idea came from a shooting-party debate in 1951: Sir Hugh Beaver, managing director of the Guinness brewery, wondered which was the fastest game bird in Europe.
- B. 122Born in Arles in 1875, she claimed to have met Van Gogh. She stopped smoking at 117 and put her longevity down to olive oil, port…
- D. In Najaf, IraqIt covers more than 6 km² and has been in use for over 1,400 years.
- B. The Kumbh MelaTens of millions of pilgrims bathe in the sacred waters. The crowds are so large they can be seen from space, and entire temporary cities are built for the occasion.
- B. Don Juan PondIts water is about 18 times saltier than the ocean. It only freezes below about -50 °C: a mini-lake that intrigues scientists looking for liquid water on Mars.
- D. 72 yearsHe became king at 4 in 1643 and died in 1715. He outlived his son and grandson: his great-grandson, Louis XV, succeeded him.
- B. The United StatesIt has more than 400, far ahead of the UK and Germany. Many American laureates were born abroad and drawn by the country's universities.
- A. On the shores of the Dead SeaThe Dead Sea's level drops by about a metre a year, so the record keeps getting deeper…
- C. About 13 secondsChickens fly little and badly, but they do fly! The certified record is about 13 seconds, over roughly a hundred metres.
- D. FranceIt welcomes around 90 to 100 million foreign visitors a year.
- D. FezThe University of al-Qarawiyyin in Morocco was founded by a woman, Fatima al-Fihri.