- 1. The fourth planet from our sun.
A) Mercury
B) Earth
C) Uranus
D) Jupiter
E) Mars
- 2. These bodies are considered minor planets which orbit the earth.
A) Dust
B) Moons
C) Asteroids
D) Stars
E) Particles
- 3. Earth and these many other recognized planets orbit our Sun (including Pluto).
A) Nine
B) Seven
C) Six
D) Eight
E) Five
- 4. Our Sun is one of an estimated 30 billion stars in this galaxy.
A) The Milky Way
B) The Andromeda
C) Starburst
D) Canis Major
E) The Whirlpool
- 5. This is the closest star to Earth.
A) Orion
B) Betelgeuse
C) North Star
D) Sun
E) Leo
- 6. Christopher Columbus’ nationality.
A) Portuguese
B) English
C) Italian
D) French
E) Spanish
- 7. Of the three ships on Columbus’ voyage, this is the one he was on.
A) Santa Maria
B) Nina
C) Voyager
D) Mayflower
E) Pinta
- 8. Native Americans still are called this because Columbus mistook their identity.
A) Indians
B) Natives
C) Algonquin
D) Cherokee
E) Tribal Warriors
- 9. The large land mass which prevented Columbus from sailing to the Orient.
A) Asia
B) Africa
C) North America
D) Europe
E) South 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) Gold
B) Silver
C) Elements
D) Rare metals
E) Spices
- 12. The first set of laws enacted by general consensus in North America.
A) Constitution
B) Magna Carta
C) Declaration of Independence
D) The Mayflower Compact
E) Bill of Rights
- 13. The date “1620” is chiseled on this piece of New England granite.
A) Moon Rock
B) Eastern Rock
C) Plymouth Rock
D) Rock Quarry
E) Jamestown Rock
- 14. Announcing the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence it was rung several times on July 8, 1776.
A) American Bell
B) Boston Bell
C) Town Hall Bell
D) Liberty Bell
E) New York 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) John Hancock
B) Ben Franklin
C) George Washington
D) Thomas Jefferson
E) Paul Revere
- 16. This country’s navy helped American forces defeat the British fleet in a pivotal victory at Yorktown October 19th, 1871.
A) Italy
B) France
C) England
D) Spain
E) Hungary
- 17. He invented the light bulb in 1879.
A) Orville Wright
B) Thomas Edison
C) George Eastman
D) Wilbur Wright
E) Edwin L. Drake
- 18. Best known for the airplane, the Wright brothers’ main business was in this form of transportation.
A) Bicycles
B) Canoes
C) Boats
D) Cars
E) Trains
- 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) Solar Power
C) Wind Mill
D) Electricity
E) Steam Engine
- 20. Development of this liquid resource as a fuel made feeding furnaces much easier because it flows.
A) Oil
B) Vinegar
C) Lava
D) Water
E) Tea
- 21. His invention of the reaper in 1831 tremendously increased the productivity of American farmers.
A) Wilbur Wright
B) George Eastman
C) Benjamin Franklin
D) Cyrus Hall McCormick
E) Orville Wrigt
- 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) New Mexico
C) Texas
D) Alaska
E) California
- 23. These were pretty big boats and they sailed really fast – so it’s no wonder they earned this alliterative name.
A) Tug Boats
B) Clipper Ships
C) Dynamic Ships
D) Catamarans
E) Cruise 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) Harpoon Wagon
B) Nantucket Sleigh Ride
C) Whaler Ride
D) Minute Men
E) Boston Tug
- 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) Crazy Horse
B) Poncho Villa
C) Chief Joseph
D) Don Quixote
E) Sancho Panza
- 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) Thailand
B) Korea
C) Taiwan
D) Vietnam
E) Phillipines
- 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) Russian Crisis
B) Cuban Missile Crisis
C) Castro Revolt
D) Ballistic Futile Crisis
E) Khrushchev Stand Off
- 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) Nixongate Trial
B) Stolengate Trial
C) Watergate Trial
D) Softgate Trial
E) Whitewater Trial
- 30. President of the United States assassinated in a motorcade in Dallas, TX on November 22, 1963.
A) Dwight D. Eisenhower
B) John F. Kennedy
C) Richard Nixon
D) Lyndon B. Johnson
E) Woodrow Wilson
- 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) Garfieldstock
C) Peacestock
D) Harmonystock
E) Woodstock
- 32. While Northern states based much of their economies on industry, Southern states were making their money in this “market sector”.
A) Agriculture
B) Tourism
C) Engineering
D) Manufacturing
E) Transportation
- 33. Cotton and this other crop were the mainstays of Southern economy.
A) Corn
B) Spinach
C) Lettuce
D) Rice
E) Carrots
- 34. The nation erupted into a civil war when the Southern secessionists attacked this fort on April 12, 1861.
A) Fort Howard
B) Fort Sumter
C) Fort Byron
D) Fort Pierce
E) Fort Collins
- 35. After four years of battle this Southern general surrendered to this Northern counterpart on April 9, 1865.
A) Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant
B) General George MacArthur surrended to General Dwight D. Eisenhower
C) Ulysses S. Grant surrendered to Robert E. Lee
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) Communism
B) Slavery
C) Fishing
D) Farming
E) Expansionism
- 37. This man and his brother Frank was one of the best known “outlaws” of the American West.
A) Jesse James
B) Wyatt Earp
C) Bill Hickok
D) John Wayne
E) Doc Holiday
- 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) Himylayaian
C) Alps
D) Sierra Nevada
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) Japan
B) Vietnam
C) Korea
D) Phillipines
E) China
- 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) South Pacific Railroad
B) Union Atlantic Railroad
C) North Atlantic Railroad
D) North Pacific Railroad
E) Union Pacific Railroad
- 41. American cowboys were mainly white, Hispanic or this other seldom known group.
A) Canadian
B) Peruvian
C) Colombian
D) African American
E) Brazilian
- 42. Designed by Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi in Paris, this object has become an American symbol.
A) The Statue of Lincoln
B) The Statue of Washinton
C) The Statue of Heisman
D) Eiffel Tower
E) The Statue of Liberty
- 43. Writing books on American life and boys like Tom and Huck, Samuel Clemens is best known by this Pen Name.
A) William James
B) Mark Twain
C) William Faulkner
D) Herman Melville
E) Ernest Hemmingway
- 44. America retired a lot of horses when Henry Ford introduced this new automobile.
A) Tin Escort
B) Pinto T Ford
C) Bronco Lizzy
D) Model T Ford or Tin Lizzy
E) Mustang Pony
- 45. First appearing on the movie screen in 1937, this Walt Disney film was the first fully featured animated film ever.
A) Little Rascals
B) Pony Express
C) Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
D) Little Munchkins
E) Mickey Mouse Club
- 46. Margaret Mitchell based this epic Civil War movie in Atlanta.
A) The Blue & The Gray
B) North vs. South
C) Lonesome Dove
D) Gone With The Wind
E) Apocalypse Now
- 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 Joe
B) Uncle Bob
C) Uncle Sam
D) Uncle John
E) Uncle Bill
- 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) Spice Gas
D) Ketchup Gas
E) Potato Gas
- 49. Nickname given to World War I’s soldier.
A) Winnie the Pooh Bear
B) Minute Man
C) Huckleberry
D) Dough boy
E) Pillsbury boy
- 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 Texan
B) The Columbian
C) The Charlote
D) The Raleigh
E) The Charleston
- 51. The name of the period when alcoholic beverages were illegal.
A) Inhibition
B) Prohibition
C) A la Carte
D) Bootlegging
E) Appropriation
- 52. The first personal to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean May 20, 1927.
A) Mcdonald Douglas
B) James Cameron
C) Wilburn Wright
D) Orville Wright
E) Charles Lindberg
- 53. The year of the Stock Market crash which lead to The Great Depression.
A) 1929
B) 1930
C) 1931
D) 1928
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) Lindenburg
B) Hindenburg
C) Geitenburg
D) Zietenburg
E) Yurgenburg
- 55. This government agency – abbreviated TVA – was established to bring electricity to the rural Southeast.
A) Alabama Valley Authority
B) Tennessee Valley Authority
C) United States Valley Authority
D) Georgia Valley Authority
E) Florida Valley Authority
- 56. Until this slugger joined the team, the New York Yankees never won the pennant.
A) Babe Ruth
B) Jackie Robinson
C) Ty Cobb
D) Don Mattingly
E) Mickey Mantle
- 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 Dust Bowl
C) The Sun Bowl
D) The Sugar Bowl
E) The Humid 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) Russia
C) Great Britain
D) Germany
E) China
- 59. Later a president, this general commanded US forces in Europe and lead the Normandy invasion.
A) Dwight D. Eisenhower
B) George Washington
C) Douglas MacArthur
D) Robert E. Lee
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 Cresent
B) Mount Hillside
C) Mount Erie
D) Mount Suribachi
E) Mount Rushmore
- 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) Osaka
B) Honshu
C) Ryukyu
D) Nagasaki
E) Hokkaido
- 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 Humphries
B) General Washington
C) General Eisenhower
D) General MacArthur
E) General Westgate
- 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) Vietnam Conflict
B) The Korean Conflict
C) Taiwan Conflict
D) Japanese Conflict
E) Philippine War
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