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History by Letter - J

Can you name these historical people, places, and things that begin with J?
Quiz by Geoguy
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Last updated: March 24, 2024
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First submittedJune 4, 2014
Times taken108,095
Average score80.0%
Rating4.46
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Answer
Country that attacked Pearl Harbor
Japan
Stone used to make the burial suits of Chinese emperors
Jade
Last name of two different U.S. Presidents, both of whose predecessors were assassinated
Johnson
Unidentified serial killer in Victorian London
Jack the Ripper
Peasant girl who became a French military leader
Joan of Arc
Author of the U.S. Declaration of Independence
Thomas Jefferson
Polish pope elected in 1978
John Paul II
Napoleon's wife
Josephine
City on the island of Java formerly known as Batavia
Jakarta
Term for a King's fool
Jester
City conquered by Crusaders in 1099
Jerusalem
Calendar used in Europe between 45 BC–1582 AD
Julian Calendar
Notable technology pioneer who died of pancreatic cancer in 2011
Steve Jobs
Byzantine emperor who reconquered Italy
Justinian
King who commissioned a Bible in 1604
King James I
Sport in which Henry VIII was seriously injured
Jousting
Style of music which originated in New Orleans around 1900
Jazz
Roman client state led by King Herod
Judea
The largest naval battle of WWI, it happened off the coast of Denmark
Battle of Jutland
Elite soldiers who guarded the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire
Janissaries
+3
Level 82
Aug 12, 2014
Wow... I got so lucky on this one. Finished with 100% and 2:15 left... but... Napoleon's wife and composer of The Entertainers I both got with complete and total guesses. The latter was my first guess and I don't think I ever heard of the guy, and it's not even a common name. Divine inspiration?
+7
Level 75
Feb 23, 2022
Clearly you had heard of him. You just don't have a conscious memory of it. It's a name that likely passed your earhole at some point in your life.
+1
Level 51
Aug 12, 2014
Could have sworn I spelled Justinian correctly...
+5
Level 67
Aug 12, 2014
As a point of fact, while "John Paul" reveals John Paul II as the answer, and John Paul II had a far longer Papacy and was better known as a result, John Paul I was also elected in 1978 immediately preceding John Paul II.
+4
Level 41
Sep 10, 2014
I was going to point this out, too. I suggest the problem may be removed by restating the question, for example to "Polish cardinal elected pope in 1978", or simply the second pope elected in 1978".
+4
Level ∞
Jun 14, 2016
Changed to Polish pope
+2
Level 38
Feb 27, 2017
I also think that if you're going to specify which pope, you should require 'the second' or 'II' to be entered as well. No sense to be pedantic over the clue and not the answer.
+2
Level 89
Mar 31, 2019
So you'll get it right no matter what. Besides being killed by Michael Corleone JP1 didn't do much.
+4
Level 37
Jul 31, 2019
Michael Corleone did not kill JP1. He killed the Cardinal who was part of the conspiracy to kill JP1.
+1
Level 41
Sep 10, 2014
A very nice quiz, but, besides the "Pope prooblem" discussed above, Josephine de Beauharnais should be identified as Napoleon's _first_ wife (picky, I know, but it is nice to be precise if we can) (:
+9
Level 75
Feb 26, 2017
Marie Louise doesn't begin with J.
+3
Level 65
Apr 15, 2015
Please accept Bob for Jakarta.
+3
Level 48
Feb 26, 2017
Hear, hear.
+1
Level 56
Jan 17, 2016
Justinian - good question!! Bit of a head scratcher.
+2
Level 38
Feb 26, 2017
If you're going to accept Jack for Jack the Ripper, you should accept Joan for Joan of Arc.
+5
Level ∞
Jun 21, 2019
Good point. No longer accepting just Jack.
+1
Level 77
Sep 28, 2023
It's about time someone spoke out against Just Jack. Starz in their Eyes is his only catch song, and it's not even that good.
+1
Level 59
Mar 26, 2024
Fast forward some years, and just Joan is accepted while just Jack is not
+1
Level 75
Feb 26, 2017
Trivial fact - between the times of Batavia and Jakarta the capital was named Djakarta. One of the many things I learned that changed after I finished school.
+3
Level 84
Jun 17, 2020
I too remember Djakarta, before they dropped the D, and vaguely remember Tchad before they dropped the T! Anyone care to wager when Djibouti will drop their D??
+2
Level 37
Apr 5, 2022
I THOUGHT that I had seen a country named Tchad!
+2
Level 68
Dec 4, 2020
Tchad did not drop the T. It's still there in French, which is the official language (with Arabic). Anglophones just got too lazy to learn how to spell it right. For the same reasons, francophone Djibouti will not drop its D. In both cases, the letter is necessary to pronounce the names correctly.
+2
Level 63
Dec 8, 2018
I propose changing the question to "Popes elected in 1978," which would bring up the short-lived papacy of John Paul I and the much longer reign of his successor. Just sayin'.
+10
Level 89
Mar 31, 2019
Wow... I got so lucky on this one. Finished with 100% and 3:15 left... but...unidentified serial killer of Victorian London and Christian messiah I both got with complete and total guesses. The latter was my first guess and I don't think I ever heard of the guy, and it's not even a common name. Divine inspiration?
+6
Level 79
Feb 28, 2020
I'm sensing déjà vu...
+2
Level 75
Feb 28, 2020
It's deja vu all over again.
+1
Level 20
May 15, 2019
I typed in Jerusalem so many times and it didn't register so I was like "ok I guess it's not an answer" OMG WTH
+1
Level 50
Dec 30, 2019
Never knew of Jack the Ripper until this quiz lmao
+1
Level 67
Jan 30, 2020
I was literally guessing randomly for Judea I had no clue I don't even know how it crossed my mind
+5
Level 75
Feb 28, 2020
Apparently on this quiz it was divine inspiration.
+1
Level 67
Feb 27, 2022
Apparently so
+4
Level 76
Aug 15, 2020
Ok, my time to be nitpicky: the post-Triassic question isn't actually about history, but pre-history.
+1
Level 44
Oct 26, 2020
Oof. Forgot Lyndon B. Johnson
+2
Level 75
Feb 24, 2021
All US presidents are either called Jefferson, Jackson or Johnson. FACT.
+1
Level 66
Feb 23, 2022
According to Wikipedia, “events before the invention of writing systems are considered prehistory”, so I would suggest replacing the question about the geological eras with something more recent.
+2
Level 63
Jul 23, 2023
Can you accept Jean d'Arc (or Jeanne) for Joan of Arc?
+3
Level 74
Aug 25, 2023
How about accepting joker for jester?
+1
Level 78
Sep 26, 2023
How about accepting Jefferson for Jackson and Jackson for Jefferson, but not Jackson for Jackson nor Jefferson for Jefferson?
+1
Level 68
Dec 21, 2023
I am surprised 90% knew “Jack the Ripper”. Probably because most people here are from the UK or the US?
+1
Level 67
Jan 30, 2024
Jolly good quiz.
+1
Level 82
Feb 7, 2024
John Paul II = JP2
+2
Level 74
Mar 24, 2024
The fact that JP2 is a type in for John Paul II makes me happy!
+1
Level 63
Feb 25, 2024
Billy Joel also wrote a song called “The Entertainer”

I know he’s not ragtime but maybe consider adding that as a type-in because I thought of that first

+2
Level 51
Feb 26, 2024
james vi/i didn't commission a bible. He commissioned a translation of the protestant christian bible.
+2
Level 76
Mar 24, 2024
With the latest update, you can probably drop the disclaimer about prehistory.
+1
Level ∞
Mar 24, 2024
Done