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History: What Came First? #2

We give you two things. You guess which appeared earliest on the historical timeline.
Technically a couple of these are prehistoric
Three answers from stoooopot
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: July 15, 2021
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First submittedJuly 15, 2021
Times taken45,930
Average score75.0%
Rating4.74
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1. The Telephone or the Telescope
Telephone
Telescope
Telephone: 1876. Telescope: 1600s.
2. The Saxophone or the Violin
Saxophone
Violin
Saxophone: 1840s. Violin: 1500s.
3. Mexico City or Washington D.C.
Mexico City
Washington D.C.
Mexico City: 1521. Washington: 1791
4. Disneyland or Disney World
Disneyland
Disney World
Disneyland: 1955. Disney World: 1971.
5. The French Revolution or the Russian Revolution
French Revolution
Russian Revolution
French Revolution: 1789–1799. Russian Revolution: 1917–1923.
6. The Beatles or Elvis
The Beatles
Elvis
The Beatles formed in 1960. Elvis's first single was in 1956.
7. Buddha or Jesus
Buddha
Jesus
Buddha was born about 500 years before Jesus
8. Back to the Future or The Empire Strikes Back
Back to the Future
The Empire Strikes Back
Back to the Future: 1985. The Empire Strikes Back: 1980.
9. The Roman Empire or the Roman Republic
Roman Empire
Roman Republic
The Republic transformed into the Empire
10. Lenin or Marx
Lenin
Marx
Karl Marx: 1818–1883. Vladimir Lenin: 1870–1924.
11. Bach or Beethoven
Bach
Beethoven
J. S. Bach: 1685–1750. Ludwig van Beethoven: 1770–1827.
12. Sharks or Whales
Sharks
Whales
Sharks: 420 million years ago. Whales: 40 million years ago.
13. The Mona Lisa or the Venus de Milo
Mona Lisa
Venus de Milo
Mona Lisa: early 1500s. Venus de Milo: 125 BC.
14. Marinara Sauce or Pasta
Marinara Sauce
Pasta
Marinara Sauce: 1500s or later. Pasta: 1200s or before.
15. Bicycles or University of Oxford
Bicycles
University of Oxford
Bicycles: 1800s. University of Oxford: 1096.
16. Steel or Wine
Steel
Wine
Steel: 1800 BC. Wine: 6000 BC.
+7
Level 76
Jul 17, 2021
I didn't know the answer to most of these, but one of the ones I definitively knew was the least-guessed answer.
+5
Level 67
Jul 23, 2021
Was it the one about Rome? I was kicking myself when I saw the answer. I was breezing through the quiz and didn't stop to think. Every country goes from autocracy to democracy, right? Then of course I remembered upon seeing the answer that Caesar very famously crossed the Rubicon to overtake the Senate when it wanted him to relinquish his war powers. D'oh.
+14
Level 78
Jul 23, 2021
Rome is not even a rare exception among countries in history that went from democracy/republic to autocracy/monarchy, far from it.
+4
Level 75
Jul 23, 2021
Rome went from monarchy (kingdom) to democracy (republic) and back to monarchy (empire).
+2
Level 89
Jul 17, 2021
I got the question right, but I'm surprised bicycles came around so recently.
+1
Level 66
Mar 23, 2024
Not at all surprised about the bikes, but when thinking about the the telephone 1876 feels so recent, it is like only a 100 years before my big sister was born. Even writing this down it feels crazy haha. 100 years feels so few, but then if you consider it a short amount of time, saying my sister was born close to the 1800s is madness haha.
+3
Level 69
Jul 18, 2021
Chicken or the egg?

But seriously, is it really pasta if there's no marinara on it?

+16
Level 90
Jul 23, 2021
Hard to have marina if you don't have tomatoes which are new world plants.
+3
Level 68
Jul 24, 2021
Alfredo?
+4
Level 33
Mar 22, 2023
As an italian, Alfredo is just a guy's name to me and marinara is a type of pizza, not a sauce.
+3
Level 66
Mar 23, 2023
What even is marinara? Tomatoes/onions/herbs/garlic? Okay its a common pasta sauce but there's thousands of other pasta dishes.

Also why do Americans say they put this on pizza? Aren't you putting sugo on pizza?

+1
Level 76
Apr 12, 2023
Oh the irony of having that username and asking that question.
+7
Level 86
Jul 20, 2021
Venus de Milo, not Botticelli's Venus. D'oh!

And yet, Botticelli's Venus is apparently older than the Mona Lisa, too.

+1
Level 63
Dec 22, 2022
I made the exact same mistake, if I'd stopped to think for a second I would have realised my mistake but by then I was too busy wondering who came first.
+1
Level 47
Dec 24, 2022
glad i wasnt the only one!!
+1
Level 60
Apr 5, 2023
Me too!
+1
Level 92
Jul 20, 2021
Doh! I read Buddha but thought Muhammad and got it wrong.
+1
Level 79
Jul 23, 2021
Got all but the Disney one right, good questions.
+1
Level 79
Jul 23, 2021
Got all right but the Roman one!!
+3
Level 54
Jul 23, 2021
While Lenin read a book on Marx - American Pie (Don McLean)
+5
Level 78
Jul 23, 2021
He's actually referring to John Lennon, not Vladmir Lenin, although he wrote the line that way because Lennon and Lenin sound the same. "While Lennon read a book on Marx, the quartet practiced in the park". The quartet is the Beatles, and the line refers to the band's (and the 1960's counterculture's in general) fondness for Communism.
+3
Level 76
Jul 23, 2021
If you look at the actual handwritten lyrics from Don McLean, he spelled it "Lennin," probably in order to keep it ambiguous.
+3
Level 66
Jul 28, 2021
Came here to pay homage to Don McLean for helping me with that one as well. Turns out I had a true belief that wasn't necessarily a justified one. That said, for the ambiguity (which I also believe was intended) to truly work it would have to follow that Marx predates Lenin. So maybe I had a partially justified, true belief. Might have to consult the epistemology experts on this one.
+1
Level 71
Jul 23, 2021
D'oh! I somehow read Marx as Stalin. I probably would've gotten 4/5 if it wasn't for that.
+4
Level 91
Jul 23, 2021
Can we please include initials or full names for Bach/Beethoven? There are many composers with the last name Bach most born before Beethoven, but some after. I realize it is implies to be Johann Sebastian Bach, but Maria Bach was a fairly prolific composer and pianist as well with Beethoven being between them.
+5
Level 69
Jul 23, 2021
Jesus came before Buddha. My source is the Bible.
+3
Level 38
Jul 23, 2021
?? Jesus was born in 4 BC, or around that time, I thought this was well known.
+2
Level 57
Jul 23, 2021
Read the gospel of John and you might understand the joke better.
+4
Level 68
Jul 24, 2021
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. (John 1:1-2) Also see Colossians 1:15-17.
+3
Level ∞
Jul 23, 2021
Lol, no.

But Buddha is, kind of, a Catholic saint.

+2
Level 76
Jul 23, 2021
Buddha is in the Bible?
+1
Level 65
Jul 23, 2021
Nice one. Thanks QM
+2
Level 47
Jul 23, 2021
I got all of them right. But I want to mention Steel the quiz is saying steel was first 18 century BC. While I haven't done any major internet searching I can't find that this is right. Is it possible you meant 1800 AD?
+2
Level 90
Jul 23, 2021
Indian/Persian smiths were producing steel as a byproduct of other metalworking almost 4000 years ago. But it was never produced in appreciable amounts until the 1700s.
+2
Level 66
Jul 23, 2021
I'm amazed the least guessed answer is the Roman one.
+2
Level 72
Jul 23, 2021
Well, the low percentage suggests it's in fact the most guessed answer. Incorrectly guessed, but guessed nonetheless.
+1
Level 90
Jul 23, 2021
Even if the Beatles released a single a few years before Elvis, wouldn't he still have come first?
+2
Level ∞
Jul 23, 2021
Yeah, any way you slice it Elvis came first otherwise we wouldn't have asked that question.
+3
Level 71
Jul 23, 2021
Yes, indeed, and even if you twist the question to mean "the Beatles" and not "The Beatles"--that is, if there's such a thing as "a Beatle"--all of them were born after Elvis Presley, thus appearing to history later.
+1
Level 16
Jun 14, 2022
Yup! they were all after Elvis...

*SIGH*

(read my name)

+1
Level 69
Jul 23, 2021
Absolutely shocked that they were getting drunk in 6000 BC. Who knew that people had fun back then
+4
Level 78
Jul 23, 2021
Better to get drunk than to die of some waterborne disease.
+2
Level 65
Mar 22, 2023
I've heard the hypothesis that agriculture was first developped to produce beer. Food came as a side effect.
+3
Level 82
Jul 26, 2021
Kind of amazed that the one most missed was the Rome one. I thought that was one of the most obvious - I mean... have people not heard of Julius Caesar, crossing the Rubicon, his assassination to preserve the republic, the first emperor Augustus? I thought the events of the downfall of the Roman Republic were basically the most famous in ancient history, with the possible exception of Alexander's conquests, but apparently not.
+2
Level 60
Sep 9, 2021
Maybe, they are confusing the Empire with the Kingdom?
+1
Level 43
Mar 22, 2023
That's unfortunately what I did, realising my mistake only after finishing this quiz :(
+2
Level 49
Oct 15, 2021
This doesnt change the correct answer but shouldnt Mexico city say since the 1300s or sth like that since it is the same city as Tenochtitlan??
+1
Level 72
Nov 15, 2021
I liked this history quiz. Thank you.
+1
Level 60
Dec 15, 2021
got all of them :)
+2
Level 16
Jun 14, 2022
I got tripped up with the 'pasta or marinara sauce'... I thought it was a trick question... why am I so stupid...
+1
Level 29
Mar 22, 2023
i got bhudda elvis and bach wrong
+2
Level 61
Mar 22, 2023
Love this quiz. Only weakness I think is the Empire Strikes Back/Back to the Future question because....who cares? I mean, the two films are merely five years apart. They don't have any kind of generative relationship, for instance, that we see in Elvis LEADING to the Beatles. So it could have been any two films from the same decade — which came earlier? A decent question, I guess, but lacking the wit of the others.
+1
Level 65
Mar 22, 2023
In BTTF1 Marty, wearing his hazmat suit and playing a Van Halen riff on his walkman, introduces himself to his father as Darth Vader (from the planet Vulkan) to convince him to date his mother.

So here is the connection. Yes yes Vader appeared first in A New Hope but he was only a glorified enforcer in this movie, his role became more important in The Empire Strikes Back.

+1
Level 59
Mar 22, 2023
You should also add lighter or matches (lighter came sooner)
+1
Level 60
Apr 24, 2023
100%! This never happens! Yay!