NEW YORK — A fast-paced 2025 news quiz challenges readers to match the year’s biggest headlines with the details that made them stick, Dec. 18, 2025.
Grab a pen, don’t scroll past the questions, and see how many you can answer from memory. Then check the answer key to see what you nailed (and what you half-remembered).
2025 news quiz: 10 questions, no peeking
U.S. politics: Who was sworn in as the 47th U.S. president on Jan. 20, beginning a second, nonconsecutive term?
A) Joe Biden
B) Donald Trump
C) Kamala Harris
Wildfires: When the Palisades and Eaton fires tore through the Los Angeles area in January, about how many people were ordered to evacuate?
A) 10,000
B) 50,000
C) 100,000+
Trade: What new tariff rate took effect on all Chinese imports to the U.S. on Feb. 4, igniting a fresh trade fight?
A) 10%
B) 25%
C) 2.5%
Space: Which company’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 landed on the Moon carrying NASA instruments on March 2?
A) SpaceX
B) Firefly Aerospace
C) Boeing
Middle East: The Gaza ceasefire and hostage-release agreement approved by Israel began Oct. 10. Under the deal, how soon were hostages supposed to be released after Israeli redeployment?
A) Within 24 hours
B) Within 72 hours
C) After 30 days
Money: The Treasury decided to suspend production of which circulating coin, citing a per-coin cost of about 3.69 cents?
A) Penny
B) Dime
C) Quarter
Canada: Which former central banker was sworn in as Canada’s prime minister March 14, replacing Justin Trudeau?
A) Mark Carney
B) Chrystia Freeland
C) Pierre Poilievre
Religion: Which pope died in April at age 88, the Vatican said, after a stroke and cardiac arrest?
A) Benedict XVI
B) Francis
C) John Paul II
Japan: Sanae Takaichi made history in October by becoming Japan’s first female ___?
A) Prime minister
B) Emperor
C) Central bank governor
Culture: Egypt staged a spectacle-laden opening Nov. 1 for what long-awaited museum near the Giza pyramids?
A) Grand Egyptian Museum
B) Louvre Abu Dhabi
C) British Museum Annex
Answer key for the 2025 news quiz
B) Donald Trump.
C) 100,000+.
A) 10%.
B) Firefly Aerospace.
B) Within 72 hours.
A) Penny.
A) Mark Carney.
B) Francis.
A) Prime minister.
A) Grand Egyptian Museum.
Want to check your work?
This 2025 news quiz draws on a mix of on-the-ground reporting and official releases. For quick refreshers, see
Reuters’ report on the Los Angeles wildfires,
Reuters’ account of the Feb. 4 China tariff move,
NASA’s write-up on Firefly’s Blue Ghost Moon landing,
Reuters’ breakdown of the Oct. 10 Gaza ceasefire agreement,
and the
U.S. Mint’s penny FAQs.
Why the year felt like a sequel
Several of 2025’s defining headlines were also chapters in longer stories. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, launched in February 2022, continued to shape diplomacy and security calculations, while the Gaza war traced back to Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, assault on Israel before the October 2025 ceasefire.
If you want the backstory behind this 2025 news quiz, revisit
Reuters’ first report from Kyiv as the invasion began
and
Reuters’ account of how the Hamas attack unfolded.
If you nailed this 2025 news quiz, send it to a friend and keep score — because the headlines will keep coming.
