- 1. The fourth planet from our sun.
A) Mars
B) Earth
C) Jupiter
D) Uranus
E) Mercury
- 2. These bodies are considered minor planets which orbit the earth.
A) Asteroids
B) Dust
C) Stars
D) Moons
E) Particles
- 3. Earth and these many other recognized planets orbit our Sun (including Pluto).
A) Eight
B) Five
C) Six
D) Nine
E) Seven
- 4. Our Sun is one of an estimated 30 billion stars in this galaxy.
A) Canis Major
B) The Milky Way
C) The Whirlpool
D) The Andromeda
E) Starburst
- 5. This is the closest star to Earth.
A) Sun
B) Betelgeuse
C) North Star
D) Leo
E) Orion
- 6. Christopher Columbus’ nationality.
A) English
B) French
C) Spanish
D) Italian
E) Portuguese
- 7. Of the three ships on Columbus’ voyage, this is the one he was on.
A) Voyager
B) Mayflower
C) Nina
D) Santa Maria
E) Pinta
- 8. Native Americans still are called this because Columbus mistook their identity.
A) Tribal Warriors
B) Natives
C) Algonquin
D) Cherokee
E) Indians
- 9. The large land mass which prevented Columbus from sailing to the Orient.
A) Africa
B) South America
C) Europe
D) Asia
E) North America
- 10. Define non geographically what it means to be an American?
- 11. Not a “voyage of exploration” but more of a “business trip”, Columbus had set out to find a faster route to these commodities.
A) Spices
B) Rare metals
C) Silver
D) Gold
E) Elements
- 12. The first set of laws enacted by general consensus in North America.
A) Magna Carta
B) The Mayflower Compact
C) Declaration of Independence
D) Bill of Rights
E) Constitution
- 13. The date “1620” is chiseled on this piece of New England granite.
A) Eastern Rock
B) Plymouth Rock
C) Jamestown Rock
D) Moon Rock
E) Rock Quarry
- 14. Announcing the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence it was rung several times on July 8, 1776.
A) Town Hall Bell
B) American Bell
C) Liberty Bell
D) New York Bell
E) Boston Bell
- 15. Samuel Prescott and this other rider spread the word around the Boston area on April 18th, 1775 that a British attack was imminent.
A) Thomas Jefferson
B) Paul Revere
C) Ben Franklin
D) John Hancock
E) George Washington
- 16. This country’s navy helped American forces defeat the British fleet in a pivotal victory at Yorktown October 19th, 1871.
A) Hungary
B) England
C) Italy
D) France
E) Spain
- 17. He invented the light bulb in 1879.
A) Orville Wright
B) Thomas Edison
C) George Eastman
D) Edwin L. Drake
E) Wilbur Wright
- 18. Best known for the airplane, the Wright brothers’ main business was in this form of transportation.
A) Canoes
B) Trains
C) Bicycles
D) Cars
E) Boats
- 19. Robert Fulton’s invention of this form of energy made life a lot easier for a lot of people – and one mule named “Sal” on the Erie Canal.
A) Incandescent Light
B) Electricity
C) Wind Mill
D) Steam Engine
E) Solar Power
- 20. Development of this liquid resource as a fuel made feeding furnaces much easier because it flows.
A) Vinegar
B) Water
C) Lava
D) Tea
E) Oil
- 21. His invention of the reaper in 1831 tremendously increased the productivity of American farmers.
A) Cyrus Hall McCormick
B) George Eastman
C) Benjamin Franklin
D) Orville Wrigt
E) Wilbur Wright
- 22. After gold was discovered along the Klondike River a lot of prospectors packed up and left for what was to become this 49th state.
A) Hawaii
B) California
C) Alaska
D) New Mexico
E) Texas
- 23. These were pretty big boats and they sailed really fast – so it’s no wonder they earned this alliterative name.
A) Clipper Ships
B) Catamarans
C) Tug Boats
D) Cruise Ships
E) Dynamic Ships
- 24. Whalers from an island 30 miles off the coast of Massachusetts gave this name to the scary experience of being dragged behind a harpooned whale.
A) Nantucket Sleigh Ride
B) Whaler Ride
C) Boston Tug
D) Harpoon Wagon
E) Minute Men
- 25. The US government established this policy to justify the westward movement and settlement of Indian lands.
A) States' Right
B) Immigrant Expansion
C) Magna Carta
D) Manifest Destiny
E) Land Right
- 26. He led Native Americans against General Custer at the Battle of Little Big Horn and defeated him.
A) Poncho Villa
B) Sancho Panza
C) Don Quixote
D) Crazy Horse
E) Chief Joseph
- 27. A war fought by the United States between 1964-1973. The war originated from Ho Chi Minh leading a resistance to French control of his country. America became involved because they feared Ho Chi Minh’s revolution would lead to communist expansion in Asia. They also feared that a successful revolution would pose a threat to the free world’s strategic position in Asia.
A) Taiwan
B) Vietnam
C) Phillipines
D) Thailand
E) Korea
- 28. A crisis that brought America close to a Nuclear War with Russia under President John F. Kennedy in 1962. This crisis ended when a Russian ship turned around in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
A) Ballistic Futile Crisis
B) Khrushchev Stand Off
C) Cuban Missile Crisis
D) Castro Revolt
E) Russian Crisis
- 29. A case involving an act of breaking and entering directed by President Richard M Nixon during the 1972 Presidential election. This case lead to the first and only resignation by a US president when Nixon resigned in 1974.
A) Watergate Trial
B) Whitewater Trial
C) Softgate Trial
D) Stolengate Trial
E) Nixongate Trial
- 30. President of the United States assassinated in a motorcade in Dallas, TX on November 22, 1963.
A) Woodrow Wilson
B) Dwight D. Eisenhower
C) John F. Kennedy
D) Lyndon B. Johnson
E) Richard Nixon
- 31. A giant Rock concert at a farm in Upstate New York which “happened” August 15-17, 1969 to protest conflicts, and an attempt of American youth to find a new identity.
A) Snoopystock
B) Woodstock
C) Garfieldstock
D) Harmonystock
E) Peacestock
- 32. While Northern states based much of their economies on industry, Southern states were making their money in this “market sector”.
A) Engineering
B) Tourism
C) Transportation
D) Agriculture
E) Manufacturing
- 33. Cotton and this other crop were the mainstays of Southern economy.
A) Spinach
B) Lettuce
C) Carrots
D) Rice
E) Corn
- 34. The nation erupted into a civil war when the Southern secessionists attacked this fort on April 12, 1861.
A) Fort Howard
B) Fort Pierce
C) Fort Sumter
D) Fort Collins
E) Fort Byron
- 35. After four years of battle this Southern general surrendered to this Northern counterpart on April 9, 1865.
A) Ulysses S. Grant surrendered to Robert E. Lee
B) General George MacArthur surrended to General Dwight D. Eisenhower
C) Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant
D) General Abraham Lincoln surrendered to General George Washington
E) General Charles Cornwallis surrendered to General William Sherman
- 36. Although it is a centuries old practice in many areas of the world, this institution became one of the key issues of the Civil War.
A) Expansionism
B) Communism
C) Farming
D) Slavery
E) Fishing
- 37. This man and his brother Frank was one of the best known “outlaws” of the American West.
A) Doc Holiday
B) Wyatt Earp
C) Jesse James
D) Bill Hickok
E) John Wayne
- 38. Much higher than the Appalachians in the East, these mountains posed a great challenge to America’s westward expansion to the Pacific especially in building a Transcontinental Railroad.
A) Rocky Mountains
B) Alps
C) Sierra Nevada
D) Himylayaian
E) Blue Ridge Mountains
- 39. During the 19th Century railroad companies imported many laborers from this Asian country to do work on the difficult job of laying tracks.
A) Korea
B) China
C) Phillipines
D) Japan
E) Vietnam
- 40. The Central Pacific Railroad (building east) met this other company (building west) at Promontory, Utah, on May 10, 1869 to complete the Transcontinental Railroad.
A) Union Atlantic Railroad
B) North Atlantic Railroad
C) North Pacific Railroad
D) Union Pacific Railroad
E) South Pacific Railroad
- 41. American cowboys were mainly white, Hispanic or this other seldom known group.
A) Colombian
B) Canadian
C) African American
D) Brazilian
E) Peruvian
- 42. Designed by Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi in Paris, this object has become an American symbol.
A) The Statue of Heisman
B) The Statue of Liberty
C) The Statue of Lincoln
D) Eiffel Tower
E) The Statue of Washinton
- 43. Writing books on American life and boys like Tom and Huck, Samuel Clemens is best known by this Pen Name.
A) Ernest Hemmingway
B) Mark Twain
C) William James
D) William Faulkner
E) Herman Melville
- 44. America retired a lot of horses when Henry Ford introduced this new automobile.
A) Tin Escort
B) Bronco Lizzy
C) Mustang Pony
D) Pinto T Ford
E) Model T Ford or Tin Lizzy
- 45. First appearing on the movie screen in 1937, this Walt Disney film was the first fully featured animated film ever.
A) Mickey Mouse Club
B) Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
C) Pony Express
D) Little Rascals
E) Little Munchkins
- 46. Margaret Mitchell based this epic Civil War movie in Atlanta.
A) Gone With The Wind
B) Apocalypse Now
C) The Blue & The Gray
D) Lonesome Dove
E) North vs. South
- 47. This stern bearded figure – curiously with the same initials as our country – became the symbol of the United States, especially at war time.
A) Uncle John
B) Uncle Bill
C) Uncle Sam
D) Uncle Bob
E) Uncle Joe
- 48. The use of this chemical agent in World War I horrified the world and practice of such chemicals has been banned since the Geneva Convention.
A) Napalm Gas
B) Mustard Gas
C) Ketchup Gas
D) Potato Gas
E) Spice Gas
- 49. Nickname given to World War I’s soldier.
A) Dough boy
B) Pillsbury boy
C) Minute Man
D) Huckleberry
E) Winnie the Pooh Bear
- 50. In the Roaring 20s Americans went a little crazy and danced all night to the Lindy Hop and this other better known dance craze.
A) The Charleston
B) The Charlote
C) The Columbian
D) The Texan
E) The Raleigh
- 51. The name of the period when alcoholic beverages were illegal.
A) Inhibition
B) Prohibition
C) Appropriation
D) Bootlegging
E) A la Carte
- 52. The first personal to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean May 20, 1927.
A) Charles Lindberg
B) Mcdonald Douglas
C) James Cameron
D) Wilburn Wright
E) Orville Wright
- 53. The year of the Stock Market crash which lead to The Great Depression.
A) 1931
B) 1928
C) 1929
D) 1930
E) 1927
- 54. Trans-Atlantic flights of “lighter-than-air” craft came to an abrupt halt when this crashed in Lakehurst, New Jersey, in 1937.
A) Yurgenburg
B) Zietenburg
C) Geitenburg
D) Hindenburg
E) Lindenburg
- 55. This government agency – abbreviated TVA – was established to bring electricity to the rural Southeast.
A) Georgia Valley Authority
B) Alabama Valley Authority
C) United States Valley Authority
D) Tennessee Valley Authority
E) Florida Valley Authority
- 56. Until this slugger joined the team, the New York Yankees never won the pennant.
A) Ty Cobb
B) Jackie Robinson
C) Mickey Mantle
D) Babe Ruth
E) Don Mattingly
- 57. A devastating drought in the American Southwest in 1934 which ruined many farms earned the region this nickname.
A) The Dry Bowl
B) The Humid Bowl
C) The Dust Bowl
D) The Sun Bowl
E) The Sugar Bowl
- 58. This “super power” country avoided involvement in World War II until its naval base was attacked by Japan on December 7, 1941.
A) United States
B) China
C) Great Britain
D) Germany
E) Russia
- 59. Later a president, this general commanded US forces in Europe and lead the Normandy invasion.
A) George Washington
B) Douglas MacArthur
C) Robert E. Lee
D) Dwight D. Eisenhower
E) William Sherman
- 60. The site where the US planted an American flag to commemorate victory Fighting to control the tiny island of Iwo Jima – considered a vital advantage by both side Japan and the US.
A) Mount Erie
B) Mount Rushmore
C) Mount Hillside
D) Mount Suribachi
E) Mount Cresent
- 61. Japan realized that the U.S. meant business when an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 – and another on this city three days later.
A) Hokkaido
B) Honshu
C) Nagasaki
D) Ryukyu
E) Osaka
- 62. This famous American General was commander of the Allied forces in the Pacific in World War II. He lead the resistance to Japan’s invasion of the islands and said, “I shall return.”
A) General Washington
B) General Westgate
C) General MacArthur
D) General Eisenhower
E) General Humphries
- 63. America fought in this conflict to protect the Thirty Eight Parallel (1950-1953) – and ended with a truce, but American forces continue to maintain its borders decades later.
A) The Korean Conflict
B) Vietnam Conflict
C) Philippine War
D) Japanese Conflict
E) Taiwan Conflict
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