Great Explorers Quiz

Question 1

Who is credited with 'discovering' America in 1492?

Accepted Answer

Christopher Columbus

Answer

Amerigo Vespucci

Answer

Vasco da Gama

Answer

John Cabot

Question 2

Who was the first person to circumnavigate the globe?

Accepted Answer

Ferdinand Magellan's crew

Answer

Christopher Columbus

Answer

Francis Drake

Answer

Vasco da Gama

Question 3

Which explorer first reached India by sailing around Africa?

Accepted Answer

Vasco da Gama

Answer

Christopher Columbus

Answer

Bartolomeu Dias

Answer

Ferdinand Magellan

Question 4

Who was the first European explorer to reach the tip of Africa?

Accepted Answer

Bartolomeu Dias

Answer

Vasco da Gama

Answer

Henry the Navigator

Answer

Diogo Cão

Question 5

Which explorer gave America its name?

Accepted Answer

Amerigo Vespucci

Answer

Christopher Columbus

Answer

John Cabot

Answer

Giovanni da Verrazzano

Question 6

Who was the first person to reach the South Pole?

Accepted Answer

Roald Amundsen

Answer

Robert Falcon Scott

Answer

Ernest Shackleton

Answer

Richard Byrd

Question 7

What was the name of Columbus's three ships?

Accepted Answer

Nina, Pinta, Santa Maria

Answer

Victoria, Trinidad, Concepción

Answer

Discovery, Resolution, Adventure

Answer

Endeavour, Resolution, Adventure

Question 8

Who led the first European expedition to the North American mainland?

Accepted Answer

John Cabot

Answer

Christopher Columbus

Answer

Giovanni da Verrazzano

Answer

Jacques Cartier

Question 9

Which explorer first crossed the Pacific Ocean?

Accepted Answer

Ferdinand Magellan

Answer

Christopher Columbus

Answer

James Cook

Answer

Francis Drake

Question 10

Who mapped most of the Pacific coastline of Australia and New Zealand?

Accepted Answer

James Cook

Answer

Abel Tasman

Answer

Willem Janszoon

Answer

Matthew Flinders

Question 11

Who was the first European to see the Pacific Ocean from the Americas?

Accepted Answer

Vasco Núñez de Balboa

Answer

Christopher Columbus

Answer

Hernán Cortés

Answer

Francisco Pizarro

Question 12

Which explorer conquered the Aztec Empire of Mexico?

Accepted Answer

Hernán Cortés

Answer

Francisco Pizarro

Answer

Diego Velázquez

Answer

Juan Ponce de León

Question 13

Who explored the Mississippi River and claimed it for France?

Accepted Answer

René-Robert de La Salle

Answer

Samuel de Champlain

Answer

Jacques Cartier

Answer

Jacques Marquette

Question 14

Which explorer conquered the Inca Empire of South America?

Accepted Answer

Francisco Pizarro

Answer

Hernán Cortés

Answer

Juan Ponce de León

Answer

Diego de Almagro

Question 15

Who was the first explorer to reach the North Pole?

Accepted Answer

Robert Peary (disputed)

Answer

Roald Amundsen

Answer

Frederick Cook

Answer

Robert Falcon Scott

Question 16

What was the name of Charles Darwin's famous ship?

Accepted Answer

The Beagle

Answer

The Endeavour

Answer

The Resolution

Answer

The Discovery

Question 17

Who first crossed the Australian continent from south to north?

Accepted Answer

John McDouall Stuart

Answer

Matthew Flinders

Answer

Burke and Wills

Answer

Edward John Eyre

Question 18

Which Portuguese prince sponsored many early voyages of exploration?

Accepted Answer

Prince Henry the Navigator

Answer

King Manuel I

Answer

King João II

Answer

Alfonso de Albuquerque

Question 19

Who led the Lewis and Clark Expedition across North America (1804-06)?

Accepted Answer

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark

Answer

Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin

Answer

Zebulon Pike and John Fremont

Answer

James Monroe and James Madison

Question 20

Which explorer was the first to sail around the world solo non-stop?

Accepted Answer

Robin Knox-Johnston

Answer

Francis Chichester

Answer

Joshua Slocum

Answer

Bernard Moitessier