# U.S. History trivia quiz **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [October 26, 2007, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091 "2007-10-26T12:09:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 34
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2007, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/661 "2007-12-02T01:46:01Z")
[QUOTE=Governor Quinn] 375. Richard Celeste. 1. Horatio Seymour. [/QUOTE] Correct as to both - Celeste of Ohio and Seymour of New York. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2007, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/662 "2007-12-02T05:51:10Z")
[QUOTE=Danimal] … 378. What was the location in Georgia where the Ku Klux Klan was re-established in 1915? 1. What was the model of handgun that Wild Bill Hickok used to kill Davis Tutt in Springfield, Missouri? 2. What principal architect of the fraudulent Credit Mobilier corporation went on to make a journey around the world?.. [/QUOTE] Just guessing: 378. Stone Mountain. 379. Colt Navy revolver. 380. Jim Fisk. Tycoons, magnates and captains of industry… 1. This railroad tycoon and yachtsman is alleged to have snarled, when a critic complained that his pricing system was hurting the public, “The public be damned!” 2. He made his ginormous fortune in Cleveland, moved to NYC to keep tabs on his business interests, but was finally buried in Cleveland. 3. He had a particularly large and red nose of which he was self-conscious, but was a veritable financial wizard, once saving the U.S. Government during a financial panic. 4. Bearer of a famous name, he headed the Pullman Co. at the time of its controversial strike. 5. This Hollywood studio boss was renowned for his malapropisms, perhaps most memorably, “An oral contract isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on.” ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2007, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/663 "2007-12-02T05:57:49Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] 385. He had a particularly large and red nose of which he was self-conscious, but was a veritable financial wizard, once saving the U.S. Government during a financial panic. 387. This Hollywood studio boss was renowned for his malapropisms, perhaps most memorably, “An oral contract isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on.” [/QUOTE] 1. WC Fields. 😃 2. Samuel Goldwyn? ---
**Author:** ![Danimal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bb73d2/32.png) [@Danimal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danimal)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2007, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/664 "2007-12-02T07:40:25Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] Just guessing: 378. Stone Mountain. 379. Colt Navy revolver. 380. Jim Fisk. [/quote] 1. Correct! 2. Correct, the Model 1851 .36 caliber Navy Colt. 3. Good guess, but not the one. My answers: 1. William Vanderbilt. (I know it was Vanderbilt, but did I remember the son’s name right?) 2. John D. Rockefeller 3. John Pierpont Morgan 4. George Pullman ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2007, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/665 "2007-12-02T16:58:25Z")
[QUOTE=Siam Sam] 385. WC Fields. 😃 1. Samuel Goldwyn? [/QUOTE] 2. Incorrect. 😉 3. Correct. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2007, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/666 "2007-12-02T17:00:12Z")
[QUOTE=Danimal] …My answers: 1. William Vanderbilt. (I know it was Vanderbilt, but did I remember the son’s name right?) 2. John D. Rockefeller 3. John Pierpont Morgan 4. George Pullman [/QUOTE] 5. Wrong first name; right last name. 6. Correct. 7. I only know him as “J.P.,” but correct. 8. Incorrect. ---
**Author:** ![Danimal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bb73d2/32.png) [@Danimal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danimal)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2007, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/667 "2007-12-02T18:53:19Z")
Pullman wasn’t running the company anymore at the time of the strike? Color me surprised. OK, one of my favorite subjects: pirates! 1. What American city did Blackbeard blockade and hold for ransom in the spring of 1718? 2. What vessel, formerly named the _Concorde_, served as Blackbeard’s flagship for a time? 3. Although he was most famous for his depredations in Brazil, the Caribbean, and Africa, where he captured more than 400 ships, this pirate captain once sailed up the American eastern seaboard to attack Trepassey, Newfoundland. 4. Before his death in the wreck of his ship _Whydah_ off Cape Cod, Massachusetts in 1717, this pirate captain is reputed to have told one of his victims, “I am a free prince, and have as much right to make war against the whole world as one who has a thousand sail of ships at sea.” 5. Who was the New York governor who lured Captain William Kidd ashore with promises of good treatment, then arrested him for piracy in 1699? ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2007, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/668 "2007-12-02T18:55:24Z")
[QUOTE=Danimal] 388. What American city did Blackbeard blockade and hold for ransom in the spring of 1718? 1. What vessel, formerly named the _Concorde_, served as Blackbeard’s flagship for a time? [/QUOTE] 2. Charlestown, SC 3. Was that his _Queen Anne’s Revenge_? ---
**Author:** ![Danimal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bb73d2/32.png) [@Danimal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danimal)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2007, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/669 "2007-12-02T21:41:38Z")
[QUOTE=OtakuLoki] 388. Charlestown, SC 1. Was that his _Queen Anne’s Revenge_? [/QUOTE] Correct on both counts! ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2007, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/670 "2007-12-03T15:25:36Z")
Where did they go…? 1. This New York jurist stepped into a cab in the 1930s and was never seen again; some think the Mafia did him in. 2. This single word was found carved in a stockade post on the site of the “Lost Colony”'s settlement on the Outer Banks of N.C. 3. This Southwestern Indian tribe left behind beautiful cave dwellings but no indication of their ultimate fate. 4. Amelia Earhart was flying this kind of plane when she disappeared over the Pacific. 5. This Congressional leader disappeared while flying over Alaska; his daughter now works for NPR. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2007, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/671 "2007-12-03T17:40:59Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] Where did they go…? 1. This New York jurist stepped into a cab in the 1930s and was never seen again; some think the Mafia did him in. 2. This single word was found carved in a stockade post on the site of the “Lost Colony”'s settlement on the Outer Banks of N.C. 3. This Southwestern Indian tribe left behind beautiful cave dwellings but no indication of their ultimate fate. [/QUOTE] 4. I believe this is Judge Carter 5. Croatoan, found in the remains of the Roanoke Island colony, founded by Sir Walter Raliegh. 6. I think you’re talking about the Anasazi. Who are getting more attention these days since the scarce evidence seems to indicate that their culture was victim of a massive ecological disaster/civilization-wide crops failure. Now, a few more questions: 1. Where was the first sustained man-made nuclear criticality achieved? 2. One of the early reactors gave rise to an acronym that is used to this day to describe shutting down a nuclear fission reactor. What is this acronym, and what words were used to develop the acronym? 3. In the 1950’s the US Gov’t subsidized the construction of a small town in the vicinity of Los Alamos, at the request of the researchers there. What was the grim nickname for this town? And what was the maximum population of this town? ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2007, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/672 "2007-12-03T17:46:57Z")
[QUOTE=OtakuLoki] 1. Where was the first sustained man-made nuclear criticality achieved? [/quote] The University of Chicago, in (of all places) Chicago. Debatably beneath their football field. > [@](#): > > 1. One of the early reactors gave rise to an acronym that is used to this day to describe shutting down a nuclear fission reactor. What is this acronym, and what words were used to develop the acronym? Huh, I know the acronym but got no clue as to the words. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2007, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/673 "2007-12-03T18:16:24Z")
**kidchameleon** , you’re right for question 398 - where the first sustained man-made criticality occured. I figured most people actually know the word, far fewer are aware that it started out as an acronym, let alone what it was. I suspect it would be possible to reason through to what the acronym is dervived from, if one thinks about the primitive nature of the pile under the stadium, and what the fastest way to take that reactor sub-critical might have been. ETA: > [@](#): > > 1. Amelia Earhart was flying this kind of plane when she disappeared over the Pacific. 1. If you’re looking for the exact model, I can’t get it. I believe it was a variant of an Electra, but I think that’s partial credit at best. ---
**Author:** ![5\_time\_champ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/278dde/32.png) [@5\_time\_champ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5_time_champ)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2007, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/674 "2007-12-03T18:21:58Z")
1. This Congressional leader disappeared while flying over Alaska; his daughter now works for NPR. **Hale Boggs** ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2007, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/675 "2007-12-03T19:35:33Z")
Everyone has correctly answered my questions. Good job. And it was a Lockheed Electra, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![5\_time\_champ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/278dde/32.png) [@5\_time\_champ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5_time_champ)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2007, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/676 "2007-12-03T20:21:07Z")
They said it during Watergate era 401. _What did the President know, and when did he know it?_ 1. _I am prepared to run over my own mother to get the President re-elected_ 2. _There is a cancer growing on the Presidency_ 3. _. . . at that point in time_ 4. This Watergate prosecutor was also a member of the 9/11 Commission? ---
**Author:** ![Julius\_Henry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8797f3/32.png) [@Julius\_Henry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Julius_Henry)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2007, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/677 "2007-12-03T23:31:44Z")
[QUOTE=5 time champ] 401. _What did the President know, and when did he know it?_ [/quote] Senator Howard Baker (R-Tenn) > [@](#): > > 1. _There is a cancer growing on the Presidency_ John Dean > [@](#): > > 1. _. . . at that point in time_ Everybody ---
**Author:** ![Danimal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bb73d2/32.png) [@Danimal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danimal)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2007, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/678 "2007-12-03T23:56:21Z")
1. Wouldn’t that have to be G. Gordon Liddy? The whole thuggishness-as-virtue sentiment just screams Liddy. Here are some random ones: 1. In one word, what were Beecher’s Bibles? 2. Under the original terms of the 1862 Homestead Act, how many acres could a homesteader claim? 3. Who wrote a famous early Cold War essay under the pseudonym, “X”? 4. What railway innovation did Gustavus Swift use to revolutionize the Chicago meat-packing industry in the latter 19th century? 5. What patron of the back-to-Africa movement founded the Black Star Line? ---
**Author:** ![Julius\_Henry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8797f3/32.png) [@Julius\_Henry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Julius_Henry)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/679 "2007-12-04T00:44:45Z")
[QUOTE=Danimal] 406. In one word, what were Beecher’s Bibles? [/QUOTE] Rifles. ---
**Author:** ![5\_time\_champ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/278dde/32.png) [@5\_time\_champ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5_time_champ)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/680 "2007-12-04T00:50:55Z")
@ **Julius Henry** correct on all three. Back in '73 it seemed like no one could complete a sentence without adding . . . that point in time. @ **Danimal** Nope, see #342 for G Gordon Liddy’s most memorable phrase. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091.md?page=33) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091.md?page=35)