Free Trivia Questions & Answers

  

American Trivia

What was the name of  Paul Bunyan's pet moosehound?
A: Elmer.

What state has official neckwear?
A: Arizona--the bolo tie.

In what year did the F.B.I. established in 1908 as the Bureau of Investigation, start hiring women as special agents?
A: In 1972--after the death of longtime director J. Edgar Hoover, who had banned women agents.

The flag of what American state was designed by a 13-ylear-old-boy?
A: Alaska. Seventh-grader Benny Benson entered the design--of the Big Dipper and the North star on a field of blue---in an American Legion contest in 1927. It was adopted as the territorial flag, and later as the state flag.

At what constant speed does the cable that pulls San Francisco's famous cable cars move--in miles per hour?
A: 9 mph.

Who was the first African-American to have his portrait engraved on a U.S. coin?
A: Booker T. Washington, on a commemorative sliver half-dollar issued from 1946 to 1951.

What was the late Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall's first name at birth?
A: Thoroughgood--he shortened it when he was in the second grade.

What was the featured attraction between the Indian elephant act and the ape-man act at the Barnum & Bailey Circus in 1896?
A: An automobile. American auto pioneer Charles Duryea drove around in one of the 13 autos his Duryea Motor Wagon Company produce that year.

Where was Billy the Kid, the notorious Wild West outlaw, born?
A: In New York City. as Henry McCarty, in 1859. He later changed his name to Henry Antrim, then to William (Billy the Kid) Bonney.

In what city did the high-kicking Rockettes of New York's Radio City Music Hall get their start?
A: In St. Louis. The dancing group was organized there in 1925 as the Missouri Rockets. After changing the name to the Roxyettes, the grou0p moved to Radio City, becoming the Rockettes in 1932.

How many stripes were on the official American flag in 1818 before Congress passsed a law forever setting the number at 13?
A: 15. The number had been increased to 15 in 1795 to include Kentucky and Vermont. But with more and more states joining the Union, the number was reduced to 13 as of July44, 1818, to represent the original 13 states.

How many signatures are on the Declaration of Independence?
A: 56.

How was Martha's Vineyard spelled on official U.S. government maps before 1933?
A: Marthas Vineyard. The apostrophe making the name possessive was the first apostrophe sanctioned by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names.

Who was the first European explorer to see and cross the Mississippi River?
A: Hernando de Soto of Spain, in 1541. He died the following year.

What famous Old West town ws known as Goose Flats before a prospector named Ed Schieffelin discovered sliver there?
A: Tombstone, Arizona. Schieffelin picked the name because soldiers laughingly told him all he'd find there would be his tombstone when he set out to prospect in the area in the 1870s.

How much did the multi-layered space suits worn by astronauts on the Apollo moon landings weigh--life-support system included?
A: On earth, 180 pounds; on the moon, with the reduced lunar gravity, 30 pounds.

What city was the center of gold mining in the United States before the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill in 1848 triggered the California gold rush?
A: Charlotte, North Carolina. From 1800 to 1848, gold mines in the Charlotte area were the main source of U.S. gold.

How many children did Pocahontas and her husband John Rolfe have?
A: One, a son named Thomas, who was born and educated in England but settled in Virginia.

A likeness of what famous legendary figure was on the prow of the first ship to bring Dutch settlers to America?
A: Sinterklass--a predecessor of Saint Nicholas, better known to us as Santa Claus.

How many states were there in the United States at the turn of the century?
A: 45, Oklahoma became the 46th state in 1907; followed by New Mexico and Arizona in 1912; and Alaska and Hawaii in 1959.

What is the diameter of each of the two main cables on San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge?
A: 3 feet--or 36.5 inches, to be exact. There are 25,572 wires contained in each of the cables.

For what famous historic figure was Marietta, Ohio, named?
A: Marie Antoinette.

What role did the ships Dartmouth, Beaver and Eleanor play in American history?
A: They were the three ships targeted by American colonists at the Boston Tea Party on December 16, 1773. Together the three ships had 342 casks of the tea dumped into Boston Harbor by colonists who disguised themselves as Mohawks to carry out their historic protest of the British tax on tea.