- 1. The fourth planet from our sun.
A) Mercury
B) Uranus
C) Earth
D) Jupiter
E) Mars
- 2. These bodies are considered minor planets which orbit the earth.
A) Particles
B) Asteroids
C) Moons
D) Stars
E) Dust
- 3. Earth and these many other recognized planets orbit our Sun (including Pluto).
A) Seven
B) Nine
C) Six
D) Eight
E) Five
- 4. Our Sun is one of an estimated 30 billion stars in this galaxy.
A) The Andromeda
B) Starburst
C) The Milky Way
D) The Whirlpool
E) Canis Major
- 5. This is the closest star to Earth.
A) North Star
B) Orion
C) Betelgeuse
D) Sun
E) Leo
- 6. Christopher Columbus’ nationality.
A) Spanish
B) English
C) French
D) Italian
E) Portuguese
- 7. Of the three ships on Columbus’ voyage, this is the one he was on.
A) Voyager
B) Santa Maria
C) Mayflower
D) Nina
E) Pinta
- 8. Native Americans still are called this because Columbus mistook their identity.
A) Tribal Warriors
B) Algonquin
C) Indians
D) Cherokee
E) Natives
- 9. The large land mass which prevented Columbus from sailing to the Orient.
A) North America
B) Europe
C) Africa
D) South America
E) Asia
- 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) Rare metals
B) Spices
C) Gold
D) Silver
E) Elements
- 12. The first set of laws enacted by general consensus in North America.
A) Magna Carta
B) Constitution
C) Bill of Rights
D) Declaration of Independence
E) The Mayflower Compact
- 13. The date “1620” is chiseled on this piece of New England granite.
A) Jamestown Rock
B) Plymouth Rock
C) Eastern Rock
D) Rock Quarry
E) Moon 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) Liberty Bell
D) New York Bell
E) Town Hall 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) Ben Franklin
B) John Hancock
C) Paul Revere
D) Thomas Jefferson
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) Spain
B) Italy
C) Hungary
D) England
E) France
- 17. He invented the light bulb in 1879.
A) Thomas Edison
B) Edwin L. Drake
C) George Eastman
D) Wilbur Wright
E) Orville Wright
- 18. Best known for the airplane, the Wright brothers’ main business was in this form of transportation.
A) Bicycles
B) Cars
C) Canoes
D) Trains
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) Steam Engine
D) Solar Power
E) Wind Mill
- 20. Development of this liquid resource as a fuel made feeding furnaces much easier because it flows.
A) Vinegar
B) Oil
C) Lava
D) Tea
E) Water
- 21. His invention of the reaper in 1831 tremendously increased the productivity of American farmers.
A) George Eastman
B) Benjamin Franklin
C) Wilbur Wright
D) Orville Wrigt
E) Cyrus Hall McCormick
- 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) Alaska
B) California
C) Hawaii
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) Cruise Ships
B) Catamarans
C) Tug Boats
D) Dynamic Ships
E) Clipper 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) Whaler Ride
B) Minute Men
C) Harpoon Wagon
D) Boston Tug
E) Nantucket Sleigh Ride
- 25. The US government established this policy to justify the westward movement and settlement of Indian lands.
A) States' Right
B) Land Right
C) Immigrant Expansion
D) Manifest Destiny
E) Magna Carta
- 26. He led Native Americans against General Custer at the Battle of Little Big Horn and defeated him.
A) Chief Joseph
B) Crazy Horse
C) Poncho Villa
D) Sancho Panza
E) Don Quixote
- 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) Phillipines
B) Vietnam
C) Taiwan
D) Korea
E) Thailand
- 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) Russian Crisis
C) Castro Revolt
D) Khrushchev Stand Off
E) Cuban Missile 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) Softgate Trial
C) Nixongate Trial
D) Stolengate Trial
E) Whitewater Trial
- 30. President of the United States assassinated in a motorcade in Dallas, TX on November 22, 1963.
A) Lyndon B. Johnson
B) Dwight D. Eisenhower
C) Richard Nixon
D) John F. Kennedy
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) Garfieldstock
B) Harmonystock
C) Peacestock
D) Woodstock
E) Snoopystock
- 32. While Northern states based much of their economies on industry, Southern states were making their money in this “market sector”.
A) Manufacturing
B) Agriculture
C) Engineering
D) Tourism
E) Transportation
- 33. Cotton and this other crop were the mainstays of Southern economy.
A) Lettuce
B) Carrots
C) Rice
D) Spinach
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 Collins
C) Fort Byron
D) Fort Pierce
E) Fort Sumter
- 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 Charles Cornwallis surrendered to General William Sherman
E) General Abraham Lincoln surrendered to General George Washington
- 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) Farming
B) Communism
C) Slavery
D) Expansionism
E) Fishing
- 37. This man and his brother Frank was one of the best known “outlaws” of the American West.
A) Jesse James
B) John Wayne
C) Doc Holiday
D) Bill Hickok
E) Wyatt Earp
- 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) Alps
B) Sierra Nevada
C) Blue Ridge Mountains
D) Rocky Mountains
E) Himylayaian
- 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) Phillipines
C) Vietnam
D) Korea
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) North Pacific Railroad
C) Union Atlantic Railroad
D) Union Pacific Railroad
E) North Atlantic Railroad
- 41. American cowboys were mainly white, Hispanic or this other seldom known group.
A) African American
B) Brazilian
C) Peruvian
D) Colombian
E) Canadian
- 42. Designed by Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi in Paris, this object has become an American symbol.
A) Eiffel Tower
B) The Statue of Lincoln
C) The Statue of Washinton
D) The Statue of Liberty
E) The Statue of Heisman
- 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) Herman Melville
C) William Faulkner
D) William James
E) Mark Twain
- 44. America retired a lot of horses when Henry Ford introduced this new automobile.
A) Tin Escort
B) Model T Ford or Tin Lizzy
C) Bronco Lizzy
D) Mustang Pony
E) Pinto T Ford
- 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) Little Munchkins
C) Little Rascals
D) Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
E) Pony Express
- 46. Margaret Mitchell based this epic Civil War movie in Atlanta.
A) Lonesome Dove
B) The Blue & The Gray
C) Apocalypse Now
D) Gone With The Wind
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 Joe
B) Uncle John
C) Uncle Bob
D) Uncle Bill
E) Uncle Sam
- 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) Spice Gas
B) Mustard Gas
C) Potato Gas
D) Ketchup Gas
E) Napalm Gas
- 49. Nickname given to World War I’s soldier.
A) Minute Man
B) Winnie the Pooh Bear
C) Huckleberry
D) Pillsbury boy
E) Dough 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 Raleigh
B) The Charlote
C) The Charleston
D) The Texan
E) The Columbian
- 51. The name of the period when alcoholic beverages were illegal.
A) A la Carte
B) Prohibition
C) Inhibition
D) Bootlegging
E) Appropriation
- 52. The first personal to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean May 20, 1927.
A) Orville Wright
B) Wilburn Wright
C) Mcdonald Douglas
D) Charles Lindberg
E) James Cameron
- 53. The year of the Stock Market crash which lead to The Great Depression.
A) 1928
B) 1930
C) 1931
D) 1927
E) 1929
- 54. Trans-Atlantic flights of “lighter-than-air” craft came to an abrupt halt when this crashed in Lakehurst, New Jersey, in 1937.
A) Geitenburg
B) Hindenburg
C) Zietenburg
D) Lindenburg
E) Yurgenburg
- 55. This government agency – abbreviated TVA – was established to bring electricity to the rural Southeast.
A) United States Valley Authority
B) Georgia Valley Authority
C) Florida Valley Authority
D) Alabama Valley Authority
E) Tennessee Valley Authority
- 56. Until this slugger joined the team, the New York Yankees never won the pennant.
A) Don Mattingly
B) Ty Cobb
C) Mickey Mantle
D) Babe Ruth
E) Jackie Robinson
- 57. A devastating drought in the American Southwest in 1934 which ruined many farms earned the region this nickname.
A) The Dust Bowl
B) The Dry Bowl
C) The Sugar Bowl
D) The Humid Bowl
E) The Sun 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) Germany
C) Russia
D) China
E) Great Britain
- 59. Later a president, this general commanded US forces in Europe and lead the Normandy invasion.
A) Dwight D. Eisenhower
B) Douglas MacArthur
C) William Sherman
D) Robert E. Lee
E) George Washington
- 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 Hillside
B) Mount Cresent
C) Mount Rushmore
D) Mount Suribachi
E) Mount Erie
- 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) Hokkaido
D) Ryukyu
E) Nagasaki
- 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 Humphries
C) General Westgate
D) General Eisenhower
E) General MacArthur
- 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) Japanese Conflict
C) Philippine War
D) Taiwan Conflict
E) The Korean Conflict
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