18^th Century

In 1782 the word ‘quiz’ appears for the first time in the English language. The word had a totally different meaning back then: strange person’.

There is also a slightly less probable explanation for the origin of the word. In 1791 an actor from Dublin bet that within 24 hours he could introduce a new word to the language. That night he covered the city walls with the nonsense word ‘quiz’. The whole of Dublin talked about it the next day. No one knew what ‘quiz’ meant, but the conclusion was that the bizarre event was some sort of test for the population. A new word was born.  

20^th Century

The 30s
The 1930s saw the big breakthrough for the quiz as a game of knowledge. Worldwide radio stations introduced quiz shows. In the United States, shows like ‘Information Please’ drew vast amounts of listeners. The UK’s addition to the market was the programme ‘Spelling Bee’, in which guests were asked to spell a series of words.

The 50s
In the 50s the quiz went from strength to strength, debuting on a new medium of television. In the US the streets emptied when shows like ‘Twenty one’ and the famous ‘The $64,000 Question’ were on the ‘tube’. The first UK quiz show was ‘Take Your Pick’ on the ‘new’ ITV network, running from 1955-1961. Presented by Michael Miles, it became famous for such innovations as the ‘Yes/No interlude’, in which contestants had to last 60 seconds without saying yes or no or nodding and shaking their heads. It was succeeded by rival show ‘Double Your Money’, presented by the legendary Hughie Green. Similar to ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire’, contestants were allowed to answer questions and potentially double their money to a jackpot of ₤1,000, a sum raised to ₤5,000 in 1957.

The 70s
Continuing the family-friendly theme popular in game shows, ‘The Generation Game’, presented by Bruce Forsyth, involved four couples in which the two members of each team were a generation apart. The most memorable section of this quiz wass the great ‘conveyor belt’, in which contestants would win every item they could remember passing before them on a conveyor belt.

The 80s
In 1981 the quiz made its way into the living room with the introduction of the board game Trivial pursuit. Invented by two Canadian journalists, “Triv” reached its peak in 1984, when 20 million copies were sold in the US alone.

The 90s
In 1994 the quiz hit the big screen with the worlsside movie hit ‘Quiz Show’. The film was based on a true scandal revolving around the 1950s American TV quiz ‘Twenty one’, when a brilliant but unpopular repeat winner was bribed to give a wrong answer. Directed by Robert Redford, it received four Oscar nominations.

In 1998 Who wants to be a millonaire? debuted on ITV. The show became an instant success and is now aired the world over, from Algeria to Azerbaijan, and from Venezuela to Vietnam.

21^st Century

After the radio in the 30s, the television in the 50s and the home in the 80s, the quiz is taking on the internet in the 21st century. In 2000 HIMES launched the first online quiz in which players can win real cash: Superquiz.

In that same year ‘The weakest link’ is broadcasted for the first time. Just like ‘Who wants to be a millionaire?’, this television quiz became an instant phenomenon. Much of the credit goes to the ‘bitchy’ hostess Anne ‘You are the weakest link - goodbye!’ Robinson.

In 2003 the very first World Quizzing Championship was organised in Birmingham. A year later an official International Quizzing Association (IQA) was founded. From then on the Quiz World Cup took place in several countries. The 2006 edition was held in 15 locations at the same time. Britain’s Kevin Ashman became world champion for the third time in a row.

In 2007 HIMES makes online quizzing even more exciting with the launch of the multiplayer quiz platform QuizWinners.com. No longer do players just compete with a computer. Now they challenge each other, live or in a tournament, for real cash prizes.