Black History Trivia
50 Trivia Questions & Answers
Discover iconic people and events of black history with these engaging trivia questions. These questions will educate and inspire you as you learn about the rich and diverse stories of black people, the civil rights movement, and more!
Who was the first African American to be elected as President of the United States?
Barack Obama Click to see the answer
Who was the first African woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize?
Wangari Maathai
Who was the first African American to be elected to the U.S. Senate in the post-Reconstruction era?
Hiram Revels
Who was the first African American to be appointed as a Supreme Court justice in the United States?
Thurgood Marshall
Who was the first African American to win an Academy Award for Best actor?
Sidney Poitier
Who was the first African American to be elected as the Governor of a U.S. state?
Lawrence Douglas Wilder
Who was the first African American to be appointed as the U.S. Secretary of State?
Colin Powell Click to see the answer
Who was the first African American to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize?
Gwendolyn Brooks
Who was the first African American to be appointed as the U.S. Surgeon General?
Joycelyn Elders
Who was the first African American to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature?
Toni Morrison
Who was the first African American to be appointed as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations?
Edward R. Dudley
Who was the first African American to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics?
Ralph Bunche
Who was the first African American to be appointed as the U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development?
Robert Clifton Weaver
Who was the African politician to be awarded the 1960 Nobel Peace Prize?
Albert J. Luthuli
Who was the first African American to be appointed as the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services?
Patricia Roberts Harris
Who was the Youngest African American to win a Nobel Prize?
Martin Luther King Jr. Click to see the answer
Who was the first African American to be appointed as the U.S. Secretary of Transportation?
William Coleman Jr.
What year did Nelson Mandela win the Nobel Peace Prize?
1993
Who was the first African American to be appointed as the U.S. Secretary of Education?
Rod Paige
Who was the first African American to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Peace?
Ralph Bunche
Who was the first African American to win a Grammy Award?
Ella Fitzgerald
Who was the first African American to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics?
W. Arthur Lewis
Who wrote "Bars Fight," the first known poem by a Black American, in 1746?
Lucy Terry
Who wrote "Clotel: The President's Daughter," the first novel published by an African American in 1853?
William Wells Brown
Who was the first African American to be appointed as the U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs?
Jesse Brown
Who was the historian who created Black History Month?
Carter G. Woodson
Who was the first African American to be appointed as the U.S. Secretary of Labor?
Alexis Herman
Who is credited with creating the first public school for African American children in the early 1770s?
Anthony Benezet Click to see the answer
Who produced the first-ever commercially successful rap record?
Sylvia Robinson
Who was the first Black American to host a TV show and was a renowned singer and jazz pianist?
Nat King Cole
Who was the first African American to be appointed as the U.S. Secretary of Commerce?
Ron Brown
Who was the African American president awarded the Nobel Prize in Peace?
Barack Obama
Who became the first female African American self-made millionaire by creating a line of haircare products for African American women?
Madam C.J. Walker
Who was the Liberian politician who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011?
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
Who was the leader of the civil rights movement and famous for leading the Montgomery Bus Boycott in the 1950s?
Martin Luther King Jr.
Who was the first African American woman to be elected to the U.S. Congress?
Shirley Chisholm
Who was a prominent civil rights leader and the first African American to be elected as mayor of Atlanta, Georgia?
Maynard Jackson
Who was the African American to be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom?
Rosa Parks
Who was the first African American woman to win a medal at the Olympic Games?
Alice Coachman
Who was a prominent civil rights advocate and leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)?
Stokely Carmichael
Who was the first African American to be elected as the Governor of Virginia?
L. Douglas Wilder
Which African American politician became the106th mayor of New York City in 1990?
David Dinkins
Who was a prominent civil rights leader and the first African American to be elected as mayor of Chicago, Illinois?
Harold Washington Click to see the answer
Who assisted with the creation of Shockwave, essential technology for the development of web animation in 1995?
Lisa Gelobter
Who was a prominent civil rights leader and the first African American to be elected as mayor of Los Angeles, California?
Tom Bradley
Who was a founder of the Combahee River Collective, an anti-capitalist revolutionary organization?
Barbara Smith
Who was the first African American to play in Major League Baseball?
Jackie Robinson
Who was the first African American to hold a patent in the United States?
Thomas L. Jennings
Who was the first African American to graduate from Harvard University?
Richard Theodore Greener
Who was the first Black woman economist in the United States?
Sadie Alexander
