Learn history from the people who made it

Guides for history projects, questions to ask famous people from the past, comparisons, era guides and fact checks. Each one is written from the historical record and names its sources.

Questions to ask

Questions to ask Abigail Adams23 interview questions for Abigail Adams tied to the letters she wrote, from Remember the Ladies in 1776 to the White House, with sample answers in her words.
Questions to ask Abraham Lincoln25 interview questions for Abraham Lincoln, grouped by theme, with what his letters and speeches say, sample answers in his own words, and traps to avoid.
Questions to ask Ada Lovelace22 questions to ask Ada Lovelace about Babbage, her 1843 Notes and Byron, with what the record says, sample answers in her words and where to read her Notes.
Questions to ask Alexander Graham Bell23 interview questions for Alexander Graham Bell on the telephone, the patent fight, deaf education and flight, with the record behind each and his own words.
Questions to ask Alexander Hamilton24 interview questions for Alexander Hamilton from Nevis to Weehawken, with what The Federalist and his reports say, sourced sample answers and musical myths.
Questions to ask Alexander the Great20 questions for Alexander the Great on Aristotle, Persia, Egypt, India and his death, with what Arrian and Plutarch report and where their versions differ.
Questions to ask Archimedes22 questions to ask Archimedes about pi, the lever, floating bodies and the siege of Syracuse, sorting his own works from stories written centuries later.
Questions to ask Aristotle28 questions for Aristotle on happiness, the golden mean, biology, Alexander and slavery, each matched to the work that answers it, with sourced sample answers.
Questions to ask Benjamin Franklin26 interview questions for Benjamin Franklin, from runaway apprentice to signer of 1776, with what his writings say, sample answers and myths to avoid.
Questions to ask Charles Darwin26 interview questions for Charles Darwin by stage of his life, with what his notebooks and letters show, answers in his words and where to read them free.
Questions to ask Charles Dickens21 questions for Charles Dickens on the blacking factory, A Christmas Carol, reform and his marriage, with the record for each and answers from his letters.
Questions to ask Confucius20 questions for Confucius on learning, good government, ritual, family and his travels, with the Analects passage behind each answer and free translations.
Questions to ask Davy Crockett22 interview questions for Davy Crockett on the frontier, Congress, Indian Removal and the Alamo, with the record behind each, legend checks and his own words.
Questions to ask Edgar Allan Poe20 interview questions for Edgar Allan Poe on The Raven, detective stories, money and grief, with what the record says and sample answers from his letters.
Questions to ask Queen Elizabeth I20 questions for Elizabeth I on her mother, marriage, Mary Queen of Scots, the Armada and her image, with sample answers from her speeches and letters.
Questions to ask Emily Dickinson20 questions for Emily Dickinson on Amherst, faith, her poems, Higginson and Sue, with what her letters say, sourced sample answers and free manuscripts.
Questions to ask Ernest Shackleton22 questions for Ernest Shackleton on the 1909 turn back, the Endurance, the James Caird voyage and leadership, with sourced answers from his book South (1919).
Questions to ask Florence Nightingale24 interview questions for Florence Nightingale on Scutari, statistics and nursing reform, with what her reports say and sample answers in her own words.
Questions to ask Franklin D. Roosevelt24 interview questions for Franklin D. Roosevelt on polio, the Depression, the New Deal and the war, with the record behind each and answers in his own words.
Questions to ask Frederick Douglass26 interview questions for Frederick Douglass, each matched to the autobiography or speech that answers it, with sample answers in his words and myths to drop.
Questions to ask Galileo23 questions to ask Galileo Galilei about the telescope, the trial of 1633 and his daughter, with what his books and letters say and answers in his words.
Questions to ask Harriet Tubman22 interview questions for Harriet Tubman with what the record shows, how her words reached us, sample answers from Sarah Bradford's books and myths to avoid.
Questions to ask Isaac Newton25 questions to ask Isaac Newton for an interview or wax museum, grouped by theme, with what his letters and Principia say and where to read them.
Questions to ask Jane Austen20 interview questions for Jane Austen on writing, money, marriage and her world, with what her letters say, sample answers in her own words, and free sources.
Questions to ask Johann Sebastian Bach24 questions to ask Bach about Lübeck, a Weimar jail cell, the Brandenburg Concertos and Leipzig, with what his letters and the 1754 obituary record.
Questions to ask John Adams25 interview questions for John Adams, built around 1776, the Boston Massacre trial and his presidency, with answers from his diary and letters to Abigail.
Questions to ask Julius Caesar20 questions for Julius Caesar on the pirates, Gaul, the Rubicon, the calendar and the Ides of March, with what his Commentaries and Suetonius say for each one.
Questions to ask Leonardo da Vinci24 questions to ask Leonardo da Vinci about the Mona Lisa, mirror writing, flight and anatomy, with what his notebooks say and where to read them free.
Questions to ask Louis Pasteur21 questions to ask Louis Pasteur, from swan-neck flasks to the rabies treatment of 1885, with what his papers and notebooks show and answers in his words.
Questions to ask Ludwig van Beethoven24 interview questions for Beethoven tied to his letters, the Heiligenstadt Testament and his conversation books, with sample answers for the 2027 bicentenary.
Questions to ask Marco Polo20 interview questions for Marco Polo on the journey, Kublai Khan's court and his book, plus questions that test whether he went to China, with free sources.
Questions to ask Marie Curie23 interview questions for Marie Curie, grouped by theme, with what her papers and letters say, sample answers in her words and where to read them.
Questions to ask Mark Twain20 interview questions for Mark Twain on the river, Huck Finn, money, empire and grief, with sourced sample answers and a warning about his many fake quotes.
Questions to ask Michelangelo23 questions to ask Michelangelo about David, the Sistine ceiling and the Last Judgement, with what his letters, poems and Condivi's Life say about each.
Questions to ask Orville Wright24 interview questions for Orville Wright, from the bicycle shop to Kitty Hawk and the Smithsonian feud, with the record behind each and answers in his words.
Questions to ask Plato21 questions for Plato on Socrates, the Academy, the cave, philosopher kings, Atlantis and Sicily, with the passage that answers each one and free translations.
Questions to ask Socrates20 questions for Socrates on wisdom, the oracle, Athens and his trial, with what Plato and Xenophon report for each and why they do not always agree.
Questions to ask Sojourner Truth22 interview questions for Sojourner Truth, with what she really said at Akron in 1851, the record behind each question and sample answers you can cite.
Questions to ask Srinivasa Ramanujan21 interview questions for Srinivasa Ramanujan, from Kumbakonam to Cambridge, with what his letters to Hardy say and where to read his notebooks.
Questions to ask Susan B. Anthony24 interview questions for Susan B. Anthony, from the 1872 vote and 1873 trial to the 1869 split, with what the record shows and answers in her own words.
Questions to ask Theodore Roosevelt26 interview questions for Theodore Roosevelt, from sickly boy to Bull Moose, with what his speeches and Autobiography say and sample answers in his own words.
Questions to ask Thomas Edison25 interview questions for Thomas Edison on the phonograph, the light bulb, Menlo Park and the current war, with what his papers show and answers in his words.
Questions to ask Vincent van Gogh24 questions to ask Vincent van Gogh about Theo, Arles, The Starry Night and colour, with what his 820 surviving letters say and where to read them free.
Questions to ask William Shakespeare25 interview questions for Shakespeare grouped by theme, what the documents say for each, sample answers from real records, and where to read his works free.
Questions to ask Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart24 questions to ask Mozart about his childhood tours, Vienna, his operas and Salieri, with what the family letters say and sample answers in his own words.

Guides for students and teachers

Anniversaries and days

Side by side

Eras

Lists

Myth or fact