Presidents and leaders who served humankind quiz (50 questions)
Leaders can bring peace, schools and fairness, or they can fail to. Meet the presidents and leaders who are remembered for serving their people and the world.
About this quiz: the people, prizes and dates were checked against official and reference sources, and the stories are retold in makekite's own words with the help of AI. If you spot a mistake, please tell us on the contact page.
50 multiple-choice questions, with the answer explained after each one.
Answer each question, see why, and beat your best score.
All 50 questions and answers
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- Abraham Lincoln, the 16th US president, issued which 1863 proclamation about enslaved people?
- The Bill of Rights
- The Emancipation Proclamation
- The Declaration of Independence
- The Monroe Doctrine
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The Emancipation Proclamation. He also gave the Gettysburg Address, and supported the Thirteenth Amendment to end slavery.
- Franklin D. Roosevelt introduced a set of programs to fight the Great Depression. What was it called?
- The New Deal
- The Marshall Plan
- The Fair Deal
- The Great Society
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The New Deal. He was elected four times.
- Eleanor Roosevelt played a leading role in drafting which 1948 document at the United Nations?
- The Magna Carta
- The Kyoto Protocol
- The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
- The Geneva Convention
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The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. She chaired the UN Commission on Human Rights.
- Nelson Mandela became the President of South Africa in which year, after being freed from Robben Island?
- 1980
- 1994
- 2001
- 1963
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1994. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993, shared with F. W. de Klerk.
- Mahatma Gandhi led a famous 1930 march to protest a tax on what?
- Tea
- Cotton
- Rice
- Salt
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Salt. It was part of a campaign of non-violent resistance called satyagraha.
- Jawaharlal Nehru became what in 1947?
- First Prime Minister of independent India
- First President of India
- Governor-General of Pakistan
- Chief Justice of India
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First Prime Minister of independent India. He led India for the first seventeen years of independence.
- Rajendra Prasad, who chaired the Constituent Assembly, became which first holder of office in India?
- Prime Minister of India
- Chief Minister of Bihar
- Speaker of Parliament
- President of India
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President of India. He was the first to hold the post after the Constitution came into force.
- A. P. J. Abdul Kalam was the 11th President of India from 2002. What was his career before that?
- Cricketer
- Scientist and missile engineer
- Lawyer
- Film director
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Scientist and missile engineer. He was known as the 'People's President'.
- Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel is remembered as the 'Iron Man of India' for helping to unite what?
- The universities
- The newspapers
- The princely states into India
- The railways
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The princely states into India. He was India's first Deputy Prime Minister.
- Which Indian Prime Minister gave the slogan 'Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan'?
- Atal Bihari Vajpayee
- Lal Bahadur Shastri
- Jawaharlal Nehru
- Morarji Desai
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Lal Bahadur Shastri. The slogan honoured soldiers and farmers.
- Abdul Ghaffar Khan, called the 'Frontier Gandhi', led a non-violent movement. What was it called?
- Quit India
- Swadeshi
- Khilafat
- Khudai Khidmatgar
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Khudai Khidmatgar. The name means servants of God.
- Sarojini Naidu, a poet, was the first woman to hold which office in an Indian state?
- Chief Justice
- Chief Minister
- Governor
- Mayor
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Governor. She was nicknamed 'the Nightingale of India'.
- Julius Nyerere, the first leader of Tanzania, was called by what title meaning 'teacher'?
- Mwalimu
- Rais
- Baba
- Bwana
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Mwalimu. He worked to expand education across the country.
- Kwame Nkrumah led which country to independence in 1957?
- Kenya
- Senegal
- Ghana
- Nigeria
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Ghana. It was the first sub-Saharan African country to become independent from colonial rule.
- Seretse Khama became the first president of which country?
- Malawi
- Namibia
- Zambia
- Botswana
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Botswana. He led the country as it developed after independence.
- Mary Robinson was the first woman to be President of which country, and later became UN High Commissioner for Human Rights?
- Iceland
- Finland
- Ireland
- Chile
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Ireland. She served as President of Ireland from 1990 to 1997.
- Vigdís Finnbogadóttir became the first democratically elected female president in the world. Of which country?
- Ireland
- Iceland
- Norway
- Denmark
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Iceland. She was elected in 1980.
- Michelle Bachelet served as President of which country, and later as a UN High Commissioner for Human Rights?
- Chile
- Argentina
- Brazil
- Peru
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Chile. She is also known for her work with UN Women.
- Václav Havel was a playwright who became a president after which peaceful 1989 change?
- The Glorious Revolution
- The Velvet Revolution
- The Orange Revolution
- The Carnation Revolution
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The Velvet Revolution. He led Czechoslovakia and later the Czech Republic.
- Corazon Aquino became President of the Philippines after which 1986 movement?
- People Power
- The Green March
- The Salt March
- The Rainbow Movement
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People Power. She was the first female president of the Philippines.
- José Mujica, president of Uruguay, became known around the world for doing what?
- Giving most of his salary to charity and living simply
- Building a huge palace
- Hosting grand parties
- Travelling in a private jet
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Giving most of his salary to charity and living simply. He was known as the 'world's poorest president'.
- Julia Gillard made history in 2010 as the first woman to be what?
- Premier of Victoria
- Chief Justice
- Prime Minister of Australia
- Governor-General of Australia
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Prime Minister of Australia. She was Prime Minister from 2010 to 2013.
- John Curtin led Australia during which conflict?
- The Boer War
- The Second World War
- The Korean War
- The First World War
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The Second World War. He was Prime Minister from 1941 to 1945.
- Edmund Barton became the first Prime Minister of Australia after which event in 1901?
- The Boer War
- Federation
- Independence from Britain
- The gold rush
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Federation. The colonies joined to form the Commonwealth of Australia.
- Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka became the world's first what in 1960?
- Female prime minister
- Female UN ambassador
- Female chief justice
- Female president
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Female prime minister. She led Ceylon, now Sri Lanka.
- Emperor Ashoka of India changed his policies after a bloody war in which region?
- Gandhara
- Kalinga
- Avanti
- Magadha
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Kalinga. He then promoted dhamma, the path of non-violence and kindness, in edicts carved on pillars and rocks.
- Akbar, a Mughal emperor, is remembered for encouraging what among people of different faiths?
- Conquest
- Isolation
- Tolerance
- Taxation
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Tolerance. He invited scholars of many faiths to debate.
- Ellen Johnson Sirleaf served as President of which country from 2006?
- Ghana
- Nigeria
- Sierra Leone
- Liberia
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Liberia. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011.
- Lech Wałęsa, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, later became president of which country?
- Czechoslovakia
- Poland
- Hungary
- Romania
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Poland. He had led the Solidarity trade union.
- Martti Ahtisaari, the 2008 Peace Prize winner, was President of which country?
- Norway
- Sweden
- Finland
- Denmark
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Finland. He helped to end the conflict in Aceh in 2005.
- Lester Pearson, the 1957 Peace Prize winner, was Prime Minister of which country?
- Britain
- Australia
- New Zealand
- Canada
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Canada. He is remembered for his part in the peacekeeping force sent after the Suez crisis.
- Willy Brandt, who won the Peace Prize in 1971, was Chancellor of which country?
- East Germany
- West Germany
- Switzerland
- Austria
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West Germany. His policy of Ostpolitik aimed to improve relations with Eastern Europe.
- Kim Dae-jung won the 2000 Peace Prize while President of which country?
- Japan
- South Korea
- Taiwan
- North Korea
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South Korea. He worked for democracy and human rights, and for peace with North Korea.
- Jimmy Carter was which number of US president?
- The 45th
- The 39th
- The 16th
- The 32nd
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The 39th. He also helped to negotiate the Camp David peace talks and later won the Nobel Peace Prize.
- Kofi Annan served as which UN officer from 1997 to 2006?
- High Commissioner for Refugees
- President of the Security Council
- Secretary-General
- Director of UNICEF
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Secretary-General. He launched efforts such as the Millennium Development Goals.
- Óscar Arias Sánchez won the 1987 Peace Prize while serving as president of which country?
- Panama
- Costa Rica
- Guatemala
- Honduras
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Costa Rica. His plan helped end wars in Central America.
- Juan Manuel Santos won the 2016 Peace Prize while President of which country?
- Peru
- Venezuela
- Colombia
- Ecuador
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Colombia. He worked to end a conflict with the FARC guerrillas.
- Gro Harlem Brundtland, the first woman Prime Minister of Norway, led a report on what idea?
- Free trade
- Space travel
- Sustainable development
- Nuclear power
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Sustainable development. The report is known by her name.
- Benito Juárez, who was from a Zapotec family in Oaxaca, became president of which country?
- Spain
- Peru
- Argentina
- Mexico
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Mexico. He is remembered for reforms in the 19th century.
- Mahatma Gandhi was born in which Gujarati coastal town?
- Porbandar
- Ahmedabad
- Surat
- Rajkot
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Porbandar. He later studied law in London and worked in South Africa before leading India's freedom movement.
- Jawaharlal Nehru wrote which book while in prison, about India's history?
- Gitanjali
- The Discovery of India
- Hind Swaraj
- Autobiography of a Yogi
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The Discovery of India. Nehru was born in Allahabad.
- Which tall statue honours Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in Gujarat?
- Christ the Redeemer
- The Motherland Calls
- The Statue of Liberty
- The Statue of Unity
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The Statue of Unity. It honours his work in uniting the princely states.
- The wheel at the centre of India's national flag is called what?
- The Sudarshana Chakra
- The Dharma Wheel of Konark
- The Ashoka Chakra
- The Spinning Wheel
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The Ashoka Chakra. The design is based on a pillar at Sarnath from Ashoka's time.
- Abraham Lincoln was born in a log cabin in which US state?
- Kentucky
- Illinois
- Virginia
- Ohio
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Kentucky. He rose from a poor frontier family to become president.
- Franklin D. Roosevelt led the United States while living with the effects of which illness?
- Polio
- Tuberculosis
- Smallpox
- Malaria
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Polio. He did not let it stop him from serving as president.
- F. W. de Klerk, the South African president who freed Mandela, shared which prize with him in 1993?
- The Nobel Peace Prize
- The Templeton Prize
- The Nobel Prize in Literature
- The Pulitzer Prize
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The Nobel Peace Prize. They were honoured for the peaceful end of apartheid.
- Jimmy Carter helped to broker which 1978 agreements between Egypt and Israel?
- The Yalta Agreement
- The Oslo Accords
- The Treaty of Versailles
- The Camp David Accords
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The Camp David Accords. Anwar al-Sadat and Menachem Begin won the 1978 Peace Prize for negotiating peace between their countries.
- Kenneth Kaunda was the first president of which African country?
- Kenya
- Uganda
- Malawi
- Zambia
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Zambia. He led the country after independence in 1964.
- Dag Hammarskjöld was which number Secretary-General of the United Nations?
- The first
- The ninth
- The second
- The fifth
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The second. He was born in Jönköping, Sweden.
- Which Indian Prime Minister signed the 1966 Tashkent Declaration with Pakistan, shortly before he died?
- Morarji Desai
- Indira Gandhi
- Jawaharlal Nehru
- Lal Bahadur Shastri
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Lal Bahadur Shastri. He is remembered for a simple lifestyle and the slogan 'Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan'.