# 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:** 36
**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 5, 2007, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/701 "2007-12-05T20:09:43Z")
I second-guessed myself on several of these 418. Yorktown ? 1. Erie :smack: 2. I thought _. . . from the Halls of Montezuma_ referred to the fighting at Monterrey? There was another famous Mexican War battle, that I thought of first, but I will stick with Monterrey. 3. Shoulda stuck with my first thought Hue :smack: . ---
**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 5, 2007, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/702 "2007-12-05T20:35:20Z")
[QUOTE=5 time champ] I second-guessed myself on several of these 418. Yorktown ? 1. Erie :smack: 2. I thought _. . . from the Halls of Montezuma_ referred to the fighting at Monterrey? There was another famous Mexican War battle, that I thought of first, but I will stick with Monterrey. … [/QUOTE] 3. Also incorrect. 4. Right! 5. That’s it, then. You have the correct lyric. ---
**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 5, 2007, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/703 "2007-12-05T20:41:48Z")
Renumbered for consistency, given previous questions of those numbers. 1. Peter Rodino. 2. Dunno. 3. Henry Hyde, recently deceased. 4. Fr. Robert Drinan. 5. William Cohen, SecDef in President Clinton’s second term. Don’t recall a Representative Dunno from the hearings, but otherwise all correct. Sorry, not sure where those numbers came from. ---
**Author:** ![Danimal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bb73d2/32.png) [@Danimal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danimal)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/704 "2007-12-06T00:37:05Z")
[QUOTE=Danimal] Cool, so I can post questions now! 380. What principal architect of the fraudulent Credit Mobilier corporation went on to make a journey around the world? 1. In what year was the Chinese Exclusion Act passed? 2. To what Native American tribe/nation did the chiefs Satank and Satanta belong? [/QUOTE] Winding up some old ones I posted: 1. The globe-trotting architect of the Credit Mobilier corporation was the aptly named George Francis Train. 2. The Chinese Exclusion Act was passed in 1882. 3. Satank and Satanta were Kiowas. 4. The scourge of Trepassey was the infamous Bartholomew Roberts. 5. The commander of the doomed _Whydah_ was Samuel “Black Sam” Bellamy. 6. Captain Kidd’s betrayer was Robert Coote, Lord Bellomont. ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/705 "2007-12-06T00:47:05Z")
[QUOTE=5 time champ] 1. NJ Republican & staunch defender of Nixon [odd last name] [/QUOTE] Charles Sandman ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/706 "2007-12-06T00:53:08Z")
1. Why did the _Whydah_ become a name known to people outside of the circle of history buffs in the 20th century? ---
**Author:** ![Danimal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bb73d2/32.png) [@Danimal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danimal)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/707 "2007-12-06T02:27:34Z")
I forgot to mention, **Random** was right on Morphy and on Gustavus Swift (I was beginning to think nobody would get that one. Of course, I know the answer to **Otaku** ’s _Whydah_ question, but I’ll give someone else the chance to answer it. Routes of travelers and trade: 1. The Great Western Trail, also called the Texas Trail, terminated at what famous Kansas cowtown? 2. What Lakota Sioux war chief briefly closed the Bozeman Trail to white travelers in the late 1860s? 3. What cattle drive route led along the Pecos River from Texas through New Mexico, ultimately arriving at Denver, Colorado and Cheyenne, Wyoming? 4. Where did the Union Pacific and Central Pacific finally meet in 1869 to form the first transcontinental railway? 5. What cattle trail at one point crossed the Red River and Indian Territory to terminate at Abilene, Kansas? ---
**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 6, 2007, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/708 "2007-12-06T03:08:37Z")
[QUOTE=Danimal] 432. Where did the Union Pacific and Central Pacific finally meet in 1869 to form the first transcontinental railway? [/QUOTE] 1. Promontory Point, Utah. The answers to at least a couple of the “trail” questions are on the tip of my tongue, especially the Texas ones, but I’m refraining from looking them up. Must be getting old. ☹ 1. Which president’s wife was the only foreign-born First Lady? 2. Which president’s wife was the youngest First Lady? (I know the presidents involved but would have to look up the wives’ names.) ---
**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 6, 2007, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/709 "2007-12-06T05:36:17Z")
1. Martha Washington (born a British subject). 😉 435 (also renumbered). Frances Cleveland. Also the only First Lady to get married in the White House. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/710 "2007-12-06T11:13:49Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] 434. Martha Washington (born a British subject). 😉 435 (also renumbered). Frances Cleveland. Also the only First Lady to get married in the White House. [/QUOTE] 1. That can’t be right - just off the top of my head, Abigail Adams (to name just one) would meet the same standard, wouldn’t she? ---
**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 6, 2007, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/711 "2007-12-06T14:50:41Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] 434. Martha Washington (born a British subject). 😉 435 (also renumbered). Frances Cleveland. Also the only First Lady to get married in the White House. [/QUOTE] 1. Incorrect. But you sound sure. Hmmm. By foreign-born, I mean born someplace that even still today is not a part of the US. Unless I am drastically mistaken, Martha Washington was born in the colonies in what would be the US after independence. (Specifically, the one I’m thinking of was born in London. She’s the only one, I think, who was born outside what was to become the US.) 2. Correct (sorry about the misnumbering). She was, I believe, 21 when she married randy ol’ Grover. ---
**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 6, 2007, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/712 "2007-12-06T15:02:51Z")
[QUOTE=Governor Quinn] Charles Sandman [/QUOTE] Yep, and he was defeated for re-election later that year ---
**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 6, 2007, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/713 "2007-12-06T15:15:13Z")
**Siam Sam** , I was just messin’ with ya about Martha Washington. I knew what you meant. Hence my 😉 Hollywood takes on space exploration… 1. This early Bay State rocketry pioneer was thought a kook by some of his neighbors, but was later honored in the naming of a NASA research center. Archival footage of him appeared in the opening credits of _Enterprise_. 2. He wrote the book _Rocket Boys_ (later made into the anagram-titled movie _October Sky_) about growing up in a hardscrabble West Virginia coal town, but followed his dreams and later worked as an engineer on the Space Shuttle program. 3. This steely-nerved, never-say-die NASA operations director was portrayed by Ed Harris in _Apollo 13_. 4. This Cleveland native was the mission commander of the ill-fated Apollo 13, and was played by Tom Hanks in the movie. 5. This first black female U.S. astronaut made a cameo appearance on _Star Trek: The Next Generation_. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/714 "2007-12-06T15:23:12Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] 436. This early Bay State rocketry pioneer was thought a kook by some of his neighbors, but was later honored in the naming of a NASA research center. Archival footage of him appeared in the opening credits of _Enterprise_. 439. This Cleveland native was the mission commander of the ill-fated Apollo 13, and was played by Tom Hanks in the movie. [/QUOTE] 1. Goddard. And not just his neighbors: the NY Times rather famously mocked him in an editorial. And then ran a retraction some 40 years later, on the occasion of the Moon Landing. 2. Jim Lovell. ---
**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 6, 2007, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/715 "2007-12-06T16:16:31Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] **Siam Sam** , I was just messin’ with ya about Martha Washington. I knew what you meant. Hence my 😉 [/QUOTE] That’s a WHOOSH for me. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![tbook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/df705f/32.png) [@tbook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tbook)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/716 "2007-12-06T16:29:47Z")
1. Red Cloud ---
**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 6, 2007, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/717 "2007-12-06T19:03:19Z")
[QUOTE=OtakuLoki] 436. Goddard. And not just his neighbors: the NY Times rather famously mocked him in an editorial. And then ran a retraction some 40 years later, on the occasion of the Moon Landing. 1. Jim Lovell. [/QUOTE] Right on both. Robert H. Goddard, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![Petey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f1d935/32.png) [@Petey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Petey)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/718 "2007-12-06T19:23:36Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] [437. He wrote the book _Rocket Boys_ (later made into the anagram-titled movie _October Sky_) about growing up in a hardscrabble West Virginia coal town, but followed his dreams and later worked as an engineer on the Space Shuttle program. 438. This steely-nerved, never-say-die NASA operations director was portrayed by Ed Harris in _Apollo 13_. [/QUOTE] 1. Homer Hickam 2. Gene Krantz ---
**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 6, 2007, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/719 "2007-12-06T19:25:54Z")
[QUOTE=Petey] 437. Homer Hickam 438. Gene Krantz [/QUOTE] Yes for both, but I think it’s spelled “Kranz.” ---
**Author:** ![Danimal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bb73d2/32.png) [@Danimal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danimal)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2007, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/720 "2007-12-07T05:30:49Z")
Sorry about the delay; I’ve been uber-busy. [Quote=tbook] 430. Red Cloud [/QUOTE] Right on. [QUOTE=Siam Sam] 432. Promontory Point, Utah. [/QUOTE] Also correct! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091.md?page=35) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091.md?page=37)