U.S. History trivia quiz

The Game Room
981

Anchors aweigh!

  1. The early aircraft carriers USS Saratoga and Lexington were virtually identical. What was done to help Navy pilots tell them apart from the air? (A hint: it wasn’t hull numbers).
  2. Before Farragut’s promotion, this was the title given to top naval officers during the Civil War.
  3. What was Adm. Dewey’s flagship, now moored in Philadelphia?
  4. As the Navy joke goes, what individual prevented two carriers from being named USS America?
  5. The Navy approved the construction of three prototype ironclads when the CSS Virginia’s construction became known. The USS Monitor was one; what were the other two?
982

  1. USS Olympia. She was actually saved by the actions of her crew association after the pre-Dreadnought battleships were made obsolete. She’s also the only surviving example of that kind of warship in the world, AIUI.

  2. I know that there are a number of Navy types who don’t like that name, nor United States for warships - just because of the low humor/comedy potential. America blows up in battle! United States runs aground! America gets stuck in the mud! I’m going to guess it’s JFK.

  3. Bah. I know one of them was USS New Ironsides. And, for the life of me I can’t recall the third. (mutter mutter)

983
  1. Before Farragut’s promotion, this was the title given to top naval officers during the Civil War.
    Commodore
984
  1. Correct.
  2. Nope.
  3. That’s one of them, yes.

5 time champ, incorrect as to 623. Remember this is “during the Civil War.”

985

The Vice Presidency.

  1. He served as U.S. Grant’s VP and was implicated in the Credit Mobilier scandal.
  2. Of what VP did the President, when asked what major decision he had helped with, say, “If you give me a week, I might think of one”?
  3. He was Lincoln’s first VP, and later returned to the Senate.
  4. He was Theodore Roosevelt’s only VP, of whom TR, unimpressed by his range of options, said, “Who else was I going to pick?”
  5. Vice President Cheney lives in an official residence on the grounds of what?
986

I can’t even guess at the others, but -

  1. The US Naval Observatory. (IIRC in Bethesda, MD)
987

Correct as to the name, but I think it’s within D.C. city limits, actually.

988

President Eisenhower said this about his Vice-President, Richard Nixon.

Hannibal Hamlin

989

Both correct. Ike’s remark, at the very end of a White House press conference late in the 1960 campaign, might - as with so many other things in that very tight election - have made the difference for Nixon.

990

I believe (and should know, seeing as I run a website about this stuff) that Saratoga had two vertical stripes down her stack; but it may have been Lexington that had them, or I may have been hallucinating altogether…

“Flag Officer”

I’m taking up the guessing and suggested that the third one was Galena.

991
  1. He was Theodore Roosevelt’s only VP, of whom TR, unimpressed by his range of options, said, “Who else was I going to pick?”
    The “What this country needs is a good 5¢ cigar” guy, Thomas Marshall.
992

Clearing up for the New Year
Two from my Rte 66 category are still outstanding:
346. From Chicago to LA, Rte 66 goes through these states?
Illinois,
Missouri,
Kansas, [very short distance- no city in Kansas mentioned in song]
Oklahoma,
Texas,
New Mexico,
Arizona
California

  1. This world famous bridge with a 22° bend it the middle was once a part of Rte 66?
    Old Chain of Rocks Bridge Madison, IL & St Louis, MO. I say world famous because I have met with Germans, Irish, British & Norwegians who are all fans of Route 66 and were familiar with the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge.

Various & sundry of mine that I don’t see answered
248. This Attorney General served the longest term of office?
Janet Reno, I believe she is the only AG to serve more than one full term

  1. This Watergate prosecutor was also a member of the 9/11 Commission?
    Richard Ben-Veniste

  2. I am prepared to run over my own mother to get the President re-elected [Watergate Era] Not G Gordon Liddy, this guy may have been as tough as Liddy.
    Charles Colson

A potpourri of ethnic mobsters in American History
443. This getaway car driver testified at the Kefauver Commission hearing.
Joe Valachi, author of the Valachi Papers

  1. The most recently legally executed mobster in the United States? [Hint: he was not from the New York-New Jersey Territories]
    David Leisure, in the early 1980s St Louis had quite a little gangland war amongst the Syrian and Lebanese gangs.
993
  1. Schuyler Colfax.
994

All correct. I believe it was the Saratoga, too. Well done, Enterprise!

5 time champ, incorrect as to Marshall. He was Wilson’s VP (and already the subject of another question).

Governor Quinn, correct as to Schuyler Colfax. One of the most elegantly-named VPs ever, I’d say!

What was the significance of these dates in American history?

  1. July 4, 1863
  2. Sept. 1, 1864
  3. July 4, 1960
  4. Aug. 9, 1974
  5. Nov. 5, 1996

After reading the OP and correctly answering a question, you may of course post sequentially-numbered questions of your own. Have at it!

995

This was the last day of the Battle of Gettysburg.

996

  1. Aug. 9, 1974
    Nixon resigns the Presidency

  2. Nov. 5, 1996
    That day just happened to by my 41st Birthday, but that’s probably not the answer you were looking for. How about 11/5/96 was the date of Bill Clinton’s re-election

  3. July 4, 1863
    is the Fall of Vickburg, Mississippi. The last day of Gettysburg was July 3.

  4. Sept. 1, 1864
    Fall and burning of Atlanta, Georgia ?

  5. July 4, 1960
    Total guess, U2 spy plane shot down??

. . . and Richard Nixon was elected on my 13th birthday FWIW.

997

Correct for all except the last.

As it happens, I’ll always remember Nov. 5, 1996, because it’s the day our eldest son was born. Fortunately, we’d already voted absentee!

998

The State Department.

  1. This Secretary of State said archly that one of his President’s proudest achievements “should not be sullied by any taint of legality.”
  2. In diplomatic letters from other countries, the President is often addressed by this honorific.
  3. He was Grant’s very talented and well-respected Secretary of State but, despite his name, wasn’t known for his swimming skills.
  4. This former SecState ran against Wilson in 1916, narrowly losing.
  5. Name either of Carter’s two SecStates.
999
  1. In diplomatic letters from other countries, the President is often addressed by this honorific.
    Your Excellency
  2. Name either of Carter’s two SecStates.
    Cyrus Vance was the first, he resigned after the failed Iranian Embassy hostage rescue. Vance was succeeded by Ed Muskie
1000

Both correct.