2021 Trivia
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98 free 2021 trivia questions with answers — history quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
2021 was the year everything postponed from 2020 finally happened: the Tokyo Olympics with no crowds, a Euro 2020 final decided on penalties, Expo 2020 in Dubai. It was also the year a ship got stuck in the Suez Canal, a helicopter flew on Mars, a word game took over group chats and a Korean survival drama became Netflix's biggest show. These 98 questions span the news, science, sport and pop culture of the year: the January 6 attack and the inauguration two weeks later, the coup in Myanmar, the fall of Kabul, El Salvador's Bitcoin, Barbados the republic, COP26, the first malaria vaccine, Perseverance and Ingenuity, Webb's 18 mirrors, Bezos and Inspiration4, Verstappen and Hamilton, the Buccaneers at home, Squid Game, No Way Home's billions, Encanto, Dune, Wordle, Drivers License, Butter, Happier Than Ever, Bridgerton, Ted Lasso, Meta and Omicron. Easy questions ask who became president; hard ones ask how many flights Ingenuity made. Every answer is cited to a page we checked, with a short explanation so you learn something even when you miss. Play it solo or print it for a year-in-review quiz.
30 of 98 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which container ship blocked the Suez Canal for six days in March 2021?
Ever Given
Ever Given: it held up an estimated $9.6bn of goods a day, and at least 369 ships were queuing by the time it was refloated.
Q 02Which NASA rover landed in Mars's Jezero Crater on February 18, 2021?
Perseverance
Perseverance: it is collecting cores of Martian rock and soil so that a future mission could bring them back to Earth for study.
Q 03NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity carried a tiny swatch of fabric from which pioneering aircraft?
The Wright Flyer
The Wright Flyer: Ingenuity made the first powered, controlled flight on another planet, and though planned for five flights it made 72.
Q 04Which space telescope launched on Christmas Day 2021 aboard an Ariane 5?
James Webb
James Webb: it was too big to launch whole, so it flew folded up origami-style and then unfolded itself in space.
Q 05The infrared telescope launched on Christmas Day 2021 coats its mirror segments in which metal?
Gold
Gold: it boosts how well the mirrors reflect infrared light, the kind of light the telescope gathers from very distant galaxies.
Q 06Which September 2021 SpaceX flight was the first orbital mission with only private citizens aboard?
Inspiration4
Inspiration4: its commander paid for the flight himself and used it to raise millions of dollars for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
Q 07Which billionaire flew to space in July 2021 alongside his own brother?
Jeff Bezos
Jeff Bezos: he took along 82-year-old Wally Funk, who had passed astronaut tests in 1961 but waited 60 years to reach space.
Q 08Which US senator's bundled-up pose and big mittens became a meme at the 2021 presidential inauguration?
Bernie Sanders
Bernie Sanders: he put the meme photo on sweatshirts and gave the proceeds to charities in Vermont, including Meals on Wheels.
Q 09Which 22-year-old recited 'The Hill We Climb' at the 2021 inauguration?
Amanda Gorman
Amanda Gorman: she grew up with a speech impediment that made the letter R especially hard for her to say.
Q 10Rioters attacked the US Capitol during election certification on which day of January 2021?
6th
6th: a week later the House impeached Donald Trump for a second time, on a charge of incitement of insurrection.
Q 11A February 2021 coup in which country removed Aung San Suu Kyi from power?
Myanmar
Myanmar: the junta's crackdown on nationwide protests drove civilians to take up arms, turning an uprising into a civil war.
Q 12Which group captured Kabul on August 15, 2021?
The Taliban
The Taliban: President Ashraf Ghani quietly fled the country as they reached Kabul, then said in a statement that the Taliban had won.
Q 13Which country became the first to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender in 2021?
El Salvador
El Salvador: its 2021 law made businesses accept Bitcoin, but in 2025, under pressure from the IMF, the country dropped Bitcoin's legal-tender status.
Q 21What did the WHO endorse for the first time in October 2021?
A malaria vaccine
A malaria vaccine: the WHO backed it for young children across sub-Saharan Africa, where malaria remains a primary cause of childhood illness and death.
Q 22Which pair shared the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize?
Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov
Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov: Muratov later auctioned his Nobel medal for a record $103.5 million to help Ukrainian children displaced by the war.
Q 23Which band won Eurovision 2021 in Rotterdam?
Måneskin
Måneskin: after viewers accused their singer of taking cocaine on live TV, he took a drug test, which came back negative.
Q 14Which Caribbean nation became a republic on November 30, 2021?
Barbados
Barbados: at the midnight ceremony that removed Queen Elizabeth II as head of state, the singer Rihanna was named a national hero.
Q 15Which Caribbean president was assassinated at his home in July 2021?
Jovenel Moïse of Haiti
Jovenel Moïse of Haiti: police said the hit squad was largely made up of former Colombian soldiers, recruited through private companies.
Q 16Who was sentenced in June 2021 to 22 and a half years for the murder of George Floyd?
Derek Chauvin
Derek Chauvin: Floyd's death under his knee set off nationwide protests, and all four officers at the scene were fired.
Q 17Which candidate and party came first in Germany's 2021 federal election?
Olaf Scholz and the SPD
Olaf Scholz and the SPD: though they ran against Merkel's party, Scholz had been serving in her coalition as finance minister and her deputy.
Q 18Which COVID-19 variant did the WHO flag as of concern in November 2021?
Omicron
Omicron: first reported from South Africa on 24 November, it was flagged two days later amid a steep rise in cases and signs of reinfection risk.
Q 19In which city was the COP26 climate conference held in 2021?
Glasgow
Glasgow: a last-minute intervention by India watered down the pact's coal pledge from 'phasing out' to merely 'phasing down'.
Q 20Which city hosted the delayed Expo 2020, opening October 1, 2021?
Dubai
Dubai: after the fair closed, the site became Expo City Dubai, a new business and residential district that went on to host the COP28 climate summit.
Q 24What do gymnasts call the mid-air disorientation that sidelined Simone Biles at Tokyo?
The twisties
The twisties: Biles pulled out of four individual finals, then returned for the last one and won bronze on the balance beam.
Q 25Which country topped the Tokyo 2020 medal table with 39 golds?
United States
United States: it began the final day two golds behind, then won three more (the women's omnium, basketball and volleyball titles) to finish top.
Q 26Which sports made their Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020?
Karate, climbing, surfing, skateboarding
Karate, climbing, surfing, skateboarding: karate was then left out of Paris 2024, while the other three returned there.
Q 27Who won UEFA Euro 2020, played in 2021, beating England on penalties at Wembley?
Italy
Italy: they had failed even to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, their first miss since 1958, before Roberto Mancini rebuilt the side.
Q 28Which Denmark player suffered a cardiac arrest at Euro 2020?
Eriksen
Eriksen: his teammates formed a protective ring around him while medics revived him, and within a year he had returned to football with Brentford.
Q 29Which country won the 2021 Copa América, played in Brazil?
Argentina
Argentina: removed as host amid a Covid surge two weeks before kick-off, they went on to beat the hosts Brazil 1–0 in the final.
Q 30Which team won Super Bowl LV in February 2021 at its own home stadium?
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: quarterback Tom Brady had left the New England Patriots after two decades, and won a seventh Super Bowl at 43.