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History by Letter - Z

Can you name these historical people, places, and things beginning with the letter Z?
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Quizmaster
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Last updated: January 10, 2020
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First submittedJuly 31, 2014
Times taken76,877
Average score45.0%
Rating4.18
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Answer
Airship such as the Hindenburg
Zeppelin
Former name of the D. R. Congo
Zaire
King of the Greek gods
Zeus
South African tribe ruled by Shaka
Zulu
First name of U.S. President Taylor
Zachary
"ism" about a Jewish homeland in the Middle East
Zionism
Island nation that merged with Tanganyika in 1963
Zanzibar
Modern nation formerly known as Southern Rhodesia
Zimbabwe
Dutch bay that was dammed and turned into Lake Ijssel
Zuiderzee
Chiapas rebels that have warred with Mexico since 1994
Zapatistas
Mesopotamian pyramid with steps
Ziggurat
Paradox enthusiast of ancient Greece
Zeno
1943 Los Angeles riots between soldiers and Mexican youth
Zoot Suit Riots
Most-decorated Soviet general of WWII
Georgy Zhukov
Once the state religion of the Persian Empire
Zoroastrianism
Three-letter word for a Gulag inmate
Zek
German proposal that Mexico invade the U.S.
Zimmermann Telegram
Lavish Broadway revue of the early 1900s
Ziegfeld Follies
Famous video of the JFK assassination
Zapruder Film
French writer who said "J'accuse" during the Dreyfus Affair
Émile Zola
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42 Comments
buck1017
+25
Level 78
Aug 4, 2014
Ouch...zat zucked.
kalbahamut
+5
Level 79
Nov 25, 2014
Since X was skipped over I decided to make one:

History by Letter - X

MilanIsNotTheBaws
+2
Level 60
Oct 6, 2014
Eugh.. 5.. I am just so... terrible at these. Must try harder.
ander217
+1
Level 73
Oct 28, 2014
Kept trying zapatas, zapatos, zapas...didn't remember the "ist" part.
Quizmaster
+6
Level ∞
Jan 13, 2017
Zapata will work now since this quiz is hard enough already.
ander217
+1
Level 73
Jan 8, 2018
Thank you. It helped.
pweent
+3
Level 90
Nov 18, 2014
I was hoping to see Zouave, Zagreb, or Zheng He here. Oh well!
kalbahamut
+9
Level 79
Nov 25, 2014
Zheng He deserves a spot on the list IMO.
kalbahamut
+11
Level 79
Nov 29, 2014
... because he is pretty famous, historically relevant, has a name that starts with Z, and accomplished more in his life than Zachary Taylor?
buck1017
+2
Level 78
Jan 27, 2017
He was also the dude with the crazy wolverine claws in Dynasty Warriors...anybody...anyone at all...?
kalbahamut
+5
Level 79
Dec 22, 2021
someone previously had asked "why?" I'm not talking to myself again I swear.
plattitude
+3
Level 94
Nov 25, 2014
Or the Zoot Suit Riots
Quizmaster
+3
Level ∞
Jan 13, 2017
Replaced Zazou with Zoot Suit Riots because Zazou was only getting guessed 2% of the time!
ander217
+2
Level 73
Sep 25, 2020
That makes me think of the M*A*S*H scene where Klinger comes in with a wild outfit and B.J. asks, "Klinger, do you know how many zoots had to be killed to make that suit?"
kalbahamut
+1
Level 79
Nov 25, 2014
First column was easy. Second column things started to fall apart... I got really close on Zapruder. I knew it was something like that.
SpankyMcFabulous
+1
Level 44
Dec 5, 2014
Both Ziegfled and Zola had films made about them that won the Best Picture Oscar, both longer than they needed to be but very interesting all the same!
PoetsCorner
+1
Level 87
Sep 9, 2021
And only one year apart from each other: 1936 and 1937. The Zola film was (in my opinion) the significantly better work of the two.
Dimby
+1
Level 83
Jan 4, 2023
A best picture nominee featured the JFK film, too!
raphus
+1
Level 65
Jan 14, 2017
Anyone who regularly plays Scrabble knows Zek.
foxpenguin
+1
Level 67
Feb 11, 2017
Zebulon Pike?
fitheach
+1
Level 58
Jan 8, 2018
Who? Anyway, normal practice is to have the surname start with the relevant letter (unless someone is known by their first name for whatever reason).
ander217
+1
Level 73
Sep 25, 2020
I have something in common with Zebulon Pike. When I was young my parents took us to Colorado and we were going to drive to the top of Pike's Peak. Unfortunately there had been a storm which led to a bus accident that day on the road to the top and the road was closed. So, like Zebulon, I never made it to the top of the mountain, either.
Qikiq
+3
Level 89
Aug 10, 2017
Got everything but the gulag inmate within 30 seconds. Spent the rest of the time typing za-with every letter of the alphabet, then ze-with every letter - got it! Don't think I'll forget zek now.
Sammy87
+1
Level 60
Jan 8, 2018
Pretty sure I’ve seen “Zoroastr” as an alternative spelling
ander217
+2
Level 73
Sep 25, 2020
Zarathustra worked for me - she spake thus.
trebek
+1
Level 68
Jan 8, 2018
There are other films of the jfk "coup". Zapruders is the best.
Quizmaster
+1
Level ∞
Jan 8, 2018
Good to know. Updated the clue
lucd13
+8
Level 70
Jan 14, 2018
In Dutch, IJ is a digraph - so it should be Lake IJssel (capital I and capital J).
pinkysbrain
+1
Level 87
Jul 30, 2020
just wasted so many seconds trying to spell zeigfreid . run out of time and find out its Ziegfeld . so it seems I've been wrongly calling it ziegfreid follies for years. doh.
RobNobody
+5
Level 80
Sep 25, 2020
Man, I was so close to getting "Zeno," but I just couldn't quite get there.
jennraven
+2
Level 67
Jan 4, 2023
How paradoxical
Glacial
+1
Level 32
Sep 26, 2020
why doesnt anyone know what zimmerman telegram is like we even learn that at school...
GrammarBeane1
+1
Level 83
Sep 26, 2020
The letter Z has ceased to look like a real letter now...
Firey
+1
Level 49
Nov 26, 2021
I forgot about the zimmermann telegram even though I watched and oversimplified video (I think it was mentioned)
Firey
+1
Level 49
Nov 26, 2021
Not gonna lie you can kinda cheese the gulag inmate by just trying every letter in the alphabet with different vowels behind it.
Froststar101
+1
Level 73
Dec 15, 2021
...and if you had infinite monkeys and infinite time, you might even end up with the complete works of Shakespeare
Arcturus742
+1
Level 49
Feb 11, 2025
Hmm… I think one monkey would suffice with infinite time.
Zuulen
+1
Level 60
Jan 4, 2023
Only know Zek because of the first Jack Reacher movie. One of my 11 points lol..
TheLongDark
+1
Level 75
Feb 10, 2025
Difficult level "impssible" indeed! 100%!

Only knew "zek" because of a novel I read years ago that was partially set in a gulag.

Pharley
+1
Level 75
Feb 10, 2025
Difficult**l**y level: impossible
InterAlia
+2
Level 83
Feb 10, 2025
Having exhausted my knowledge of correct answers, I spent the balance of my time using the brute force method on the three letter answer and was rewarded.
taria64
+1
Level 32
Apr 19, 2025
Interesting way to spend a raining autumn Easter Sunday. Thoroughly enjoyed this quiz from start to end....Thank you
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