Famous Feuds

About Famous Feuds

Give your memory a workout with Famous Feuds: 15 multiple-choice questions with a mix of 6 easy, 6 medium, 3 hard questions, free to play right in your browser. Historic rivalries and feuds between people and families Expect to spend about 7 minutes; every question comes with an explanation, so you learn something even when you miss.

A few sample questions

1. 1. The Hatfields and McCoys are perhaps America's most famous feuding families. In which U.S. states did they live?

   Answer: West Virginia and Kentucky

   The Hatfield-McCoy feud took place along the Tug Fork of the Big Sandy River, which forms the border between West Virginia (Hatfields) and Kentucky (McCoys). The feud lasted from about 1863 to 1891.

2. 2. Which two powerful Italian families had a famous rivalry that inspired Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet'?

   Answer: Montague and Capulet

   Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet' features the feuding Montague and Capulet families of Verona. While these are fictional names, the story may have been inspired by real medieval Italian family conflicts.

3. 3. The brothers who founded Adidas and Puma had a famous feud. What was their surname?

   Answer: Dassler

   Adolf (Adi) and Rudolf Dassler were brothers who ran a shoe company together in Germany. After a bitter falling out during WWII, Adi founded Adidas and Rudolf founded Puma, both headquartered in the same town of Herzogenaurach.

4. 4. Which two famous American politicians had a bitter rivalry that culminated in a deadly duel in 1804?

   Answer: Hamilton and Burr

   Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr's political rivalry ended in a duel on July 11, 1804, at Weehawken, New Jersey. Burr fatally shot Hamilton, who died the next day.

5. 5. The Wars of the Roses was a feudal conflict between which two English royal houses?

   Answer: Lancaster and York

   The Wars of the Roses (1455-1487) was a series of civil wars between the House of Lancaster (red rose) and the House of York (white rose) for control of the English throne.

Things you'll learn along the way

• ✓Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri were contemporaries in Vienna whose rivalry became legendary, though it was greatly dramatized in the play and film 'Amadeus.' Their actual relationship was more nuanced than pure rivalry.
• ✓William Randolph Hearst (New York Journal) and Joseph Pulitzer (New York World) waged a fierce circulation war in the 1890s. Their sensationalized reporting became known as 'Yellow Journalism' and helped push the U.S. into the Spanish-American War.
• ✓The Guelphs (supporting the Pope) and Ghibellines (supporting the Holy Roman Emperor) were rival factions in medieval Italy. Their conflict shaped Italian politics for centuries and features prominently in Dante's works.