24 World Records & Firsts Quiz Questions and Answers
This page lists 24 real questions from the Quizlino World Records & Firsts Quiz category, each with four options, the correct answer and, where available, a short explanation. They are arranged from easy to hard, so you can start at the level that suits you.
- Cover the answer line, read the question and decide on your option first.
- Check the answer, then read the explanation even if you were right.
- Make a note of the questions you missed and come back to them after a few days.
- When you feel ready, play the timed World Records & Firsts Quiz to test yourself properly.
World Records & Firsts: Easy Questions
Warm-up questions that most players can answer.
Q1. What is the largest animal that has ever lived?
Answer: D. Blue whale
Explanation: Blue whales can be about 30 metres long and weigh up to 200 tonnes.
Q2. What is the tallest animal in the world?
Answer: D. Giraffe
Explanation: Giraffes can reach around 5.5 metres tall.
Q3. Which is the longest-living land animal known, with some reaching over 180 years?
Answer: B. Giant tortoise
Explanation: Jonathan, a Seychelles giant tortoise on St Helena, is believed to have hatched around 1832.
World Records & Firsts: Medium Questions
A step up in difficulty, for players who know the basics.
Q4. What is the world's largest coral reef system?
Answer: D. Great Barrier Reef
Explanation: It is so big it can be seen from space.
Q5. Which is the world's most spoken language by total number of speakers (native + learners)?
Answer: B. English
Explanation: Mandarin has the most native speakers, but English has the most speakers overall.
Q6. In 1953, who became the first people confirmed to reach the summit of Everest?
Answer: C. Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay
Explanation: Hillary was from New Zealand and Tenzing was a Sherpa from Nepal.
Q7. What is the world's busiest airport by passenger numbers in most recent years?
Answer: D. Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta
Explanation: Atlanta has topped the list in most years since 1998.
World Records & Firsts: Hard Questions
Challenging questions for confident players.
Q8. What is the largest desert in the world, including cold deserts?
Answer: D. Antarctic Desert
Explanation: A desert is defined by low rainfall, and Antarctica gets very little.
Q9. What is the most visited country in the world by international tourists?
Answer: C. France
Explanation: France has welcomed close to 90–100 million international visitors a year.
Q10. Which country has the most islands in the world?
Answer: D. Sweden
Explanation: Sweden has around 267,000 islands, though most are uninhabited.
Q11. What is the largest lake in the world by surface area?
Answer: D. Caspian Sea
Explanation: Despite its name, the Caspian Sea is a lake. Lake Baikal is the deepest.
Q12. Who was the first person to sail solo around the world?
Answer: B. Joshua Slocum
Explanation: Slocum completed his voyage in 1898. Knox-Johnston was the first to do it non-stop (1969).
Q13. Which plant has the largest single flower in the world?
Answer: A. Rafflesia arnoldii
Explanation: It can be about 1 metre across and smells like rotting meat.
Q14. Who was the first person to fly non-stop solo across the Atlantic, in 1927?
Answer: C. Charles Lindbergh
Explanation: He flew the 'Spirit of St. Louis' from New York to Paris in about 33.5 hours.
Q15. Which creature has the strongest bite force ever measured in a living animal?
Answer: B. Saltwater crocodile
Explanation: Saltwater crocodiles have been measured biting with over 16,000 newtons of force.
World Records & Firsts: Expert Questions
The toughest questions in the category, for true fans of the subject.
Q16. What is the coldest temperature ever officially recorded on Earth?
Answer: C. −89.2°C at Vostok Station, Antarctica
Explanation: It was recorded on 21 July 1983.
Q17. What is the hottest air temperature ever officially recorded on Earth?
Answer: B. 56.7°C in Death Valley, USA
Explanation: The 1913 Death Valley record stands after the 1922 Libyan reading was ruled invalid.
Q18. Which is the oldest known living individual tree, at over 4,800 years old?
Answer: B. A Great Basin bristlecone pine named Methuselah
Explanation: Methuselah grows in California's White Mountains; its exact location is kept secret.
Q19. Who was the first person to break the four-minute mile, in 1954?
Answer: D. Roger Bannister
Explanation: Bannister ran 3:59.4 in Oxford, England.
Q20. Which country was the first to give women the right to vote in national elections, in 1893?
Answer: C. New Zealand
Explanation: Kate Sheppard led the campaign.
Q21. What is the longest wall in the world?
Answer: A. Great Wall of China
Explanation: Including all its branches, it stretches over 21,000 km.
Q22. What was the first animal to orbit the Earth?
Answer: B. Laika the dog
Explanation: Laika flew aboard Sputnik 2 in 1957.
Q23. Which country built the world's first public railway to use steam locomotives, opened in 1825?
Answer: C. England (Stockton and Darlington Railway)
Explanation: George Stephenson's Locomotion No. 1 pulled the first train.
Q24. Which country has the most ancient pyramids — around 200 or more?
Answer: D. Sudan
Explanation: The Nubian pyramids of ancient Kush in Sudan outnumber Egypt's, though they are smaller.
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