Fun Summer Trivia All About July
By July, school may be out for the summer, but history definitely doesn’t take a vacation. From mysterious phenomena to record-breaking movies to adventures in space, July is packed with fascinating facts.
Think of this as a warm-up for our history-filled outdoor scavenger hunts all over the country, from New York City’s Central Park to the Santa Monica Pier. Or for our trivia games, which you can add to any event or occasion and play as an in-person group or virtually!
But what about that fascinating history? Let’s dive into some fun July trivia that might surprise you and give you a few cool facts to share all month long.
July Trivia Questions
1. Which classic fantasy adventure begins on a “dull, sultry July afternoon” before exploring a tale of talking animals, bizarre parties, and deadly croquet?
A. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
B. Snow White
C. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
D. Dungeon Crawler Carl
A. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
2. Celebrated on July 14th, Bastille Day commemorates the storming of the Bastille prison in 1789, a major catalyst for the French Revolution. In addition to military parades and fireworks, which of the following is a huge Bastille Day tradition across France?
A. Pool parties
B. Horse races
C. Fireman’s balls
D. Poodle lookalike contests
C. Firemen’s Balls — Since 1937, Bastille Day has seen fire stations around the country host huge all-night block parties known as the Bals des Pompiers.
3. Which movie released in July holds the month’s box-office record, having made $1.66 billion in theaters?
A. Independence Day (1996)
B. The Dark Knight (2008)
C. Minions (2015)
D. The Lion King (2019)
D. The Lion King (2019)
4. Which Zodiac signs are associated with birthdays falling in July?
A. Leo & Scorpio
B. Cancer & Leo
C. Cancer & Libra
D. Gemini & Scorpio
B. Cancer & Leo
5. What sport’s most prestigious tournament holds its finals every year in July in London?
A. Golf
B. Soccer
C. Cycling
D. Tennis
D. Tennis — Wimbledon typically starts the last Monday in June and wraps up with men’s singles finals two weekends later.
6. Which U.S. state adopted July 4th as an official holiday in 1781, more than two years before the Revolutionary War ended, paving the way for the national celebration?
A. New York
B. Massachusetts
C. Virginia
D. Hawaii
B. Massachusetts
7. On what day in 1776 did the Constitutional Congress officially vote to declare independence from Great Britain?
A. July 2nd
B. July 4th
C. July 13th
D. Trick question, because they never did
A. July 2nd
8. John Adams famously died on July 4, 1826, exactly 50 years after the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. Though not all historians agree on this, what were his last words reported to be?
A. “Thomas Jefferson still survives.”
B. “God bless America.”
C. “I must go in, the fog is rising.”
D. “Eat my shorts.”
A. “Thomas Jefferson still survives.” — If those were Adams’ last words, then he was unknowingly mistaken. Amazingly, Thomas Jefferson also died on July 4, 1826, only a few hours before Adams.
9. On July 20, 1969, the Apollo 11 mission put Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong on the moon. Which one of the following is NOT true about the mission?
A. The American flag planted on the moon was purportedly bought at a Sears department store.
B. Afraid of getting locked out, Aldrin and Armstrong kept the door of the lunar module open using a piece of velcro.
C. Because the mission was so dangerous, the astronauts couldn’t get affordable life insurance and left behind autographs for their families to sell instead.
D. To save weight on the trip home, the mission left stuff on the moon, including 46 bags of human waste.
D. 46 bags of human waste — This one was mostly true, but they actually left 96 bags of human waste on the moon. Even in space, when you gotta go, you gotta go.
10. What phenomenon, released in the U.S. on July 6, 2016, had tens of thousands of people wandering aimlessly in public, prompting the addition of warnings to pay attention to your surroundings and to not trespass on private property?
A. Foursquare
B. Beyoncé’s Lemonade
C. Pokémon GO
D. TikTok
C. Pokémon GO
11. What is the most valuable color grade of July’s birthstone, the ruby?
A. Orangey
B. Brownish
C. Vivid Red
D. Pigeon Blood
D. Pigeon Blood — Those are all some of the real color grades for rubies, but somehow “pigeon blood” red comes out on top.
12. What was the codename for a world-first event that took place on July 16, 1945, and became a central plot point of a Christopher Nolan biopic that released on July 21, 2023?
A. Trinity Test
B. Operation Mincemeat
C. V-J Day
D. Saving Private Ryan
A. Trinity Test — Trinity marked the first detonation of a nuclear weapon, a main focus of the Manhattan Project, which was featured in the film Oppenheimer.
13. The largest comet visible from Earth was discovered on July 23, 1995, by two different amateur astronomers—one of whom didn’t even own a telescope. What was that comet named?
A. Halley’s Comet
B. Hale-Bopp
C. Bernardinelli-Bernstein
D. The Great Comet of 1811
B. Hale-Bopp
14. July was renamed in honor of Julius Caesar, who implemented the solar-based Julian Calendar, a few years after his death in 44 B.C. What was it called before that?
A. Quintilis
B. Septilis
C. Brutember
D. Spartacus
A. Quintilis — That’s Latin for “fifth month.” At the time, July was the fifth month, because January and February hadn’t been invented yet.
15. In July 1518, a bizarre phenomenon gripped the French town of Strasbourg. As many as 400 people suddenly and mysteriously started doing the same thing for weeks on end, leading them to collapse from exhaustion, hunger, thirst, and even heart attacks. What is that phenomenon called?
A. Ebola
B. The Laughter Epidemic
C. The Dancing Plague
D. The Summer Olympics
C. The Dancing Plague — Blamed at the time on “hot blood,” the cause of this mysterious fit of mass hysteria remains unknown to this day.
Find More Fun
For a more challenging experience, join one of our outdoor scavenger hunts all over the country, from New York City’s Central Park to the Santa Monica Pier. Or try your hand at one of our virtual trivia games, which include summer-ready fun with the likes of Fun in the Sun: A Virtual Summertime Trivia Game. Our games are available to private groups of any size at just about any time, and most of our virtual games can also be played in-person.
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Image credits: Balloon photo from Unsplash; Zodiac photo by James Lee on Unsplash; Ruby photo by Jason D on Unsplash