# 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:** 48
**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 31, 2007, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/941 "2007-12-31T15:35:49Z")
[QUOTE=Siam Sam] 586. Tecumseh. 1. Eddie Rickenbacker? [/QUOTE] Correct about both. **5 time champ** is correct about the Ohio flag. It is a pennant, or more technically, a burgee, based on cavalry flags of the Civil War and Spanish-American War. Since I wasn’t answering the question, or formulating a new one, I checked Wikipedia, which says that the presidential candidate’s birth name is actually Johnny, not John _or_ Jonathan. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2007, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/942 "2007-12-31T15:39:08Z")
Ookay… But he did run in 2000 under the name Jonathan, didn’t he? Or am I stuck in another alternate universe? Again. (And if I am stuck transiting between alternate universes, why can’t I ever fall into one of the neat ones with continuing dirigible service, huh?) ---
**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 31, 2007, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/943 "2007-12-31T15:41:29Z")
I don’t ever remember Edwards going by anything other than John. But that’s just me. According to my Transatlantic Dirigible Service timetable, the _Montgolfier_ will be leaving Rochester for Paris at 4:02pm today. Looks like there are still a few seats available. Watch out, though - it’s pricey! ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2007, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/944 "2007-12-31T15:54:00Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] I don’t ever remember Edwards going by anything other than John. But that’s just me. [/QUOTE] I _thought_ he went by Jonathan. I always assumed it was a decision chosen to distance his name from that of the TV “psychic” John Edwards. I remember talking to a similarly history-minded friend who also grew up in Massachusetts, and we both admitted to having some uncomfortable associations with his name, which had nothing to do with the candidate himself. (Yes, I’m so far removed from popular culture that an association with a 200 year-dead religious leader means more to me than an association with a then-popular TV psychic.) Now, I’m going to have to go see if the candidate’s campaign might actually answer the question… ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2007, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/945 "2007-12-31T16:16:22Z")
I didn’t read all 18 pages, so hopefully this hasn’t been asked/answered. Who was King Philip, and why did we have a war with him? Where did Meriwether Lewis die, and how many heirs did he leave? ---
**Author:** ![Enterprise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/76d3ee/32.png) [@Enterprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enterprise)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2007, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/946 "2007-12-31T17:37:49Z")
[QUOTE=OtakuLoki] First, regarding your comment about John Edwards, he used to go by his full name. And it rubbed a number of people from New England the wrong way back in 2000, at least in part for the association with a movement that’s seen, now, to have been a bit fundamentalist, if not outright fanatic. FTM, ISTR reading that some historians place eighteenth century backlash against the Great Awakening (IIRC the name of his movement) as being key in getting New England support for the idea of a Separation of Church and State. [/QUOTE] There is a considerable track record of a separation of church and state in NE history, starting not so much with Jonathan Edwards but with Roger Williams (and so basically with the first settlement of Boston). The Great Awakening is very interesting in its differences to the then-conventional Puritan spirtuality – while certainly a bit fanatic by most of today’s standards, it’s positively benign compared with some of the original Puritan thinkers’ ideas. As for the John / Jonathan, Edwards/Edwards problem, I was mainly wondering…if it turns out the Senator is Jonathan as well, that’s dandy. > [@](#): > > I’m not familiar with Moreel, but I will say that simply because someone is commanding the Bureau of Yards and Docks doesn’t mean the officer isn’t a line officer. The Navy has a number of restricted service commissions. The most common are Medical, Engineering (which is separate from engineering-track line officers), Chaplain corps, JAG, and ISTR a couple of others. The basic difference between line and non-line commissions is that a line officer is eligible for command of a warship, while non-line officers aren’t. And my recollection is that Rickover was promoted to flag rank, by act of Congress. Over the objections of the Navy Dept. And one of those objections was that the Navy objected to the idea of a non-line flag officer. That’s undoubtedly true, though I wouldn’t put it past the Navy to claim that as a reason in order to avoid Rickover, regardless of the factual truth of it. I know that Moreell was not a line officer – I’m positive, as far as I memory of it is concerned. I haven’t looked it up and could only do Wikipedia at the moment, being away from my books. > [@](#): > > As always, we’re going by memory here, so I can’t claim infallibility - just that this is what I honestly believe to be an accurate representation of the events. (Though I won’t place any bets on the name of Jonathan Edwards movement, I always screwed it up, even in HS.) That was just fine, it’s indeed the Great Awakening. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Enterprise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/76d3ee/32.png) [@Enterprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enterprise)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2007, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/947 "2007-12-31T17:46:24Z")
[QUOTE=Chefguy] I didn’t read all 18 pages, so hopefully this hasn’t been asked/answered. Who was King Philip, and why did we have a war with him? Where did Meriwether Lewis die, and how many heirs did he leave? [/QUOTE] These should be 590 and 591, no? 1. King Philip was Metacom, Sachem of the Wampanoag Indians of Massachusetts (named, apparently, by his parents in a then-current tradition of giving children an Indian and a , who Massachusetts fought a war with, why? Good question, and not especially well-resolved so far. It may have been land hunger of Puritan settlers, it may have been a fear for their independence on the part of the Indians. You can still incite considerable scholarly debate in that field… ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2007, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/948 "2007-12-31T18:02:16Z")
[QUOTE=Enterprise] These should be 590 and 591, no? 1. King Philip was Metacom, Sachem of the Wampanoag Indians of Massachusetts (named, apparently, by his parents in a then-current tradition of giving children an Indian and a , who Massachusetts fought a war with, why? Good question, and not especially well-resolved so far. It may have been land hunger of Puritan settlers, it may have been a fear for their independence on the part of the Indians. You can still incite considerable scholarly debate in that field… [/QUOTE] Yeah, I realized that the second part of the question was open to interpretation, but was too lazy to go back and delete it. I would venture a guess that 99% of Americans have never heard of King Philip’s War; the alliances formed during the conflict had a huge impact on the settlement of new lands, and had the various tribes decided to band together, they would probably have wiped out the fledgling colonies, and I would not be posting here today. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2007, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/949 "2007-12-31T19:34:43Z")
[QUOTE=Chefguy] Yeah, I realized that the second part of the question was open to interpretation, but was too lazy to go back and delete it. I would venture a guess that 99% of Americans have never heard of King Philip’s War; the alliances formed during the conflict had a huge impact on the settlement of new lands, and had the various tribes decided to band together, they would probably have wiped out the fledgling colonies, and I would not be posting here today. [/QUOTE] I couldn’t remember Metacom’s name, but having grown up in one of the towns that exist today where original settlements were wiped out (interestingly enough, the same settlement where the Kettles of “Ma and Pa Kettle” fame lived during that time) I couldn’t escape some knowledge of the conflict. For that matter, there was a curve on one of the main roads in town known colloquially as either “Dead Man’s Curve\*” or “Treaty Elm Corner,” where an elm tree had been planted at the time of the treaty ending King Philip’s War. The apellation “Treaty Elm Corner” was dying out, though - the tree had died in the 60s AIUI, with the first onslaught of Dutch Elm Disease in New England. \*Yes, I know. Every town in America now has it’s own “Dead Man’s Curve.” But, blast it, I got tired of trying to explain what I meant when I talked about “Treaty Elm Corner.” 😉 ---
**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 31, 2007, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/950 "2007-12-31T19:52:08Z")
[QUOTE=Governor Quinn] Some questions of my own, all related to a favorite topic of mine, urban politics: In these cases, name the politician suggested by the clue: 1. The youngest mayor in New York City history, and, arguably, the only Hispanic Mayor of the city to date. 2. The last Republican mayor of Boston. 3. The first mayor of Chicago since the early 1930s to not come from Bridgeport. 4. The last Mayor of San Francisco to become Governor of California. 5. The Mayor of Baltimore who returned to the Mayor’s office after two terms as Governor of Maryland. 6. The Mayor of Albany who is believed to be the longest-served large city mayor in American history. [/QUOTE] Answers to these questions: 1. John Purroy Mitchel, elected at 34. 2. Malcolm Nichols, elected in 1925. 3. Jane Byrne, who was a North Sider. 4. “Sunny Jim” Rolph. 5. Theodore McKeldin, elected Mayor for the second time in 1963 after serving as Governor of Maryland from 1951 to 1959. 6. Erastus Corning II, first elected Mayor in 1941, served until his death in 1983. ---
**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:** [January 1, 2008, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/951 "2008-01-01T04:03:08Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] **5 time champ** is correct about the Ohio flag. It is a pennant, or more technically, a burgee, based on cavalry flags of the Civil War and Spanish-American War. [/QUOTE] Not American history, but that makes me think of Nepal’s flag, which is two pennants. The only national flag not a rectangle, I believe. ---
**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:** [January 1, 2008, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/952 "2008-01-01T05:28:14Z")
[QUOTE=Siam Sam] Not American history, but that makes me think of Nepal’s flag, which is two pennants. The only national flag not a rectangle, I believe. [/QUOTE] Well, Nepal’s flag is a single piece of cloth, but it kinda _looks_ like two pennants, one atop the other, that’s true. And I think that both Switzerland’s and Vatican City’s flags are squares, not rectangles. **Otaku** , did you ever catch your flight to Paris? 😉 Codewords, ciphers and espionage. 1. Coded papers in the possession of this slain Union cavalry leader - maybe fake, maybe not - indicated that Jefferson Davis was a target of his raid. 2. Broken Japanese naval codes made a big difference to the USN’s planning in the runup to this WW2 Pacific battle. 3. The June 6, 1944 Normandy landings were codenamed Operation \_\_\_\_\_\_\_. 4. This top CIA counterintelligence officer for many years chased a Soviet mole who just wasn’t there… as far as we know. 5. JFK’s Secret Service codename on the day of his assassination was \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_. ---
**Author:** ![Random](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/57b2e6/32.png) [@Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Random)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2008, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/953 "2008-01-01T05:34:46Z")
1. Broken Japanese naval codes made a big difference to the USN’s planning in the runup to this WW2 Pacific battle. Midway. 594. The June 6, 1944 Normandy landings were codenamed Operation \_\_\_\_\_\_\_. Overlord. 1. This top CIA counterintelligence officer for many years chased a Soviet mole who just wasn’t there… as far as we know. Angleton. ---
**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:** [January 1, 2008, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/954 "2008-01-01T06:59:52Z")
More codewords, cyphers & espionage 597. The broken Japanese Naval Codes mentioned in 593 were known by what color? 1. During the Revolutionary War plot to poison George Washington, what food [one of his favorites] was supposed to be poisoned? 2. What was the target of Operation Torch in World War II? 3. Where did Whitaker Chambers hide some of the evidence to be used against Alger Hiss? 4. It was not a secret code name but, what was the development code name of Microsoft’s wildly popular Vista OS? ---
**Author:** ![Enterprise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/76d3ee/32.png) [@Enterprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enterprise)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2008, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/955 "2008-01-01T09:52:32Z")
1. Ulric (?) Dahlgren, son of the gun inventor / U.S. commodore. 2. The landings themselves were code-named “Neptune”, while “Overlord” was the overall codename for all related operations. 3. The codes referred to in the Midway question were not known by “Purple”, as frequently believed, but, if at all, by “Magic”. “Purple” was the codename for the diplomatic codes that were of some importance prior to Pearl Harbor. 4. “Torch” was the codename for the Allied landings in North Africa. ---
**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:** [January 1, 2008, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/956 "2008-01-01T14:09:14Z")
[QUOTE=5 time champ] 600. Where did Whitaker Chambers hide some of the evidence to be used against Alger Hiss? [/QUOTE] A pumpkin. ---
**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:** [January 1, 2008, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/957 "2008-01-01T14:30:05Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] Well, Nepal’s flag is a single piece of cloth, but it kinda _looks_ like two pennants, one atop the other, that’s true. And I think that both Switzerland’s and Vatican City’s flags are squares, not rectangles. [/QUOTE] Yes, a single cloth but looks like two pennants. Switzerland’s is square? I should have known that, as I’ve spent a little time in Switzerland, but for some reason that did not strike me. Anyway, Nepal’s flag is definitely unique-looking. ---
**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:** [January 1, 2008, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/958 "2008-01-01T17:39:20Z")
1. I stand corrected, That factoid of Japanese Navy Purple Code goes back to a World War II book that I would have read in the 1960s. 2. Correct 3. In a pumpkin in a pumpkin patch in Gaithersburg MD IIRC. Fire away **Enterprise** if you have any questions. ---
**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:** [January 2, 2008, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/959 "2008-01-02T04:10:51Z")
[QUOTE=Random] 593. Broken Japanese naval codes made a big difference to the USN’s planning in the runup to this WW2 Pacific battle. Midway. 594. The June 6, 1944 Normandy landings were codenamed Operation \_\_\_\_\_\_\_. Overlord. 1. This top CIA counterintelligence officer for many years chased a Soviet mole who just wasn’t there… as far as we know. Angleton. [/QUOTE] All correct. James Jesus Angleton, to be precise; finally canned on President Ford’s orders for his paranoia, IIRC. **Enterprise** , correct on 592. 1. Tomatoes. ---
**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:** [January 2, 2008, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091/960 "2008-01-02T04:46:51Z")
Tomatoes was not the answer I was looking for. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091.md?page=47) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-history-trivia-quiz/424091.md?page=49)