U.S. History trivia quiz

The Game Room
1041

Thanks, OtakuLoki, for those answers. I’d wondered about the WW2 ship nicknames, in particular. Ever read The Desperate Hours? It’s a so-so book about the Squalus disaster.

White House staff.

  1. William Clark, Reagan’s first national security advisor, kept this nickname/title from a previous gig.
  2. This Truman aide and well-connected Washington “fixer” served as LBJ’s second and last SecDef.
  3. This Bush 41 OMB director was criticized for his ego and arrogance.
  4. He was JFK’s press secretary and later served briefly, by appointment, as a U.S. senator before returning to journalism.
  5. Capricia Penavic Marshall held this title late in the Clinton Administration.
1042

[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir]
Ever read The Desperate Hours? It’s a so-so book about the Squalus disaster.
[/QUOTE]

No, I haven’t. Actually, it wasn’t until a few years ago when I caught a show about it, and Momsen, on the Discovery Channel that I’d ever heard of it. When my to be read pile gets a little lower I’ll have to start looking for it. Even a so-so book on that should be pretty interesting.

1043

Ooops. I see it’s actually The Terrible Hours. The other book is about the Andrea Doria sinking, actually.

1044

[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir]

  1. He was JFK’s press secretary and later served briefly, by appointment, as a U.S. senator before returning to journalism.
    [/QUOTE]

Pierre Salinger.

1045

684: George Washington, in his farewell address to Congress, I think
685: Robert E. Lee’s dying words

1046

[QUOTE=movingfinger]
684: George Washington, in his farewell address to Congress, I think
685: Robert E. Lee’s dying words
[/QUOTE]

Julius Henry, that’s correct.

  1. Yes, it was Washington, but it was actually in an address to his fractious officers in Newburgh, N.Y., when they were considering marching on Congress in 1783, IIRC, to demand long-overdue back pay. His gentle reminder of the sacrifices they’d all made took the wind out of their sails, and the army peacefully disbanded.
  2. Correct.

Historic American flags.

  1. This John Paul Jones flag was named after the British warship he defeated; the design was originally noted only in Dutch shipping records.
  2. What distinguished the third official Confederate “national” flag from the second?
  3. What four words appeared on the flags flown by the privateers commissioned by Gen. Washington?
  4. The ___________ state flag is the only one which has different front and back images.
  5. The Bunker Hill flag bore a solid field of either red or blue (historians aren’t sure), a cross of St. George, and a ____________.
1047

[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir]
693. This John Paul Jones flag was named after the British warship he defeated; the design was originally noted only in Dutch shipping records.
694. What distinguished the third official Confederate “national” flag from the second?
695. What four words appeared on the flags flown by the privateers commissioned by Gen. Washington?
696. The ___________ state flag is the only one which has different front and back images.
697. The Bunker Hill flag bore a solid field of either red or blue (historians aren’t sure), a cross of St. George, and a ____________.
[/QUOTE]

  1. Serapis (?)
  2. It was rectangular rather than square.
  3. In God We Trust.
  4. A fir tree.
1048

[QUOTE=Really Not All That Bright]
693. Serapis (?)
694. It was rectangular rather than square.
695. In God We Trust.
697. A fir tree.
[/QUOTE]

  1. Yes
  2. No
  3. Nope
  4. Yup!
1049

[QUOTE=Enterprise]
U.S. Navy tidbits:
652. He was the only person to sign all four: the Articles of Association, Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation and U.S. Constitution.
653. These three Rear-Admirals were awarded Medals of Honor in World War II.

[/QUOTE]

  1. Roger Sherman of Connecticut.
  2. Admirals Isaac Kidd, Pearl Harbor, Callaghan & Scott, Guadalcanal.
  1. USS Honolulu, a Brooklyn-class light cruiser.
  2. USS Bunker Hill
  3. USS Cowpens
  4. USS Salt Lake City
1050

[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir]

  1. What distinguished the third official Confederate “national” flag from the second?
    [/quote]

A vertical red stripe on the white field which was added so the CSA flag would not look like a white flag of surrender.

[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir]

  1. What four words appeared on the flags flown by the privateers commissioned by Gen. Washington?
    [/QUOTE]

“Don’t tread on me.”

1051

[QUOTE=Julius Henry]
[694.] A vertical red stripe on the white field which was added so the CSA flag would not look like a white flag of surrender.

[695.] “Don’t tread on me.”
[/QUOTE]

  1. Correct.
  2. Incorrect, although other flags of the period bore that warning.
1052

696: The flag of Oregon has a different reverse side from the obverse

698: What state flag prominently displays the flag of a foreign country?

1053

[QUOTE=movingfinger]
698: What state flag prominently displays the flag of a foreign country?
[/QUOTE]

  1. I can think of two candidates. I’m going to go with Hawaii.
1054

Yup, Hawaii’s flag prominently features the British Union Jack

1055

[QUOTE=movingfinger]
696: The flag of Oregon has a different reverse side from the obverse…

[/QUOTE]

Correct. A dark blue flag, with the state seal in gold on one side, and a beaver, also in gold, on the other.

1056

[QUOTE=movingfinger]
Yup, Hawaii’s flag prominently features the British Union Jack
[/QUOTE]

Dang! Wish I’d seen that in time. That’s my old stomping grounds. No one knows for sure how the flag ended up like that, but it no doubt harks back to the days of Maui being such a whaling center.

1057

[QUOTE=Siam Sam]
Dang! Wish I’d seen that in time. That’s my old stomping grounds. No one knows for sure how the flag ended up like that, but it no doubt harks back to the days of Maui being such a whaling center.
[/QUOTE]

IIRC, back when it was the Sandwich Islands but still under local rule, they wanted to include symbols in their flag from the both the UK (the Union Jack) and the US (the stripes) to placate both countries, but not commit to either.

The War and, later, Defense Department.

  1. This SecWar considered creating a U.S. Camel Corps for duty in the deserts of the American Southwest.
  2. This SecDef was so wily he was dubbed “the Richelieu of the Cheese Belt.”
  3. This is the ring of the Pentagon in which the SecDef has his offices.
  4. Other than the Defense Department, of what three other Cabinet departments has the Coast Guard been a part since its creation?
  5. Which uniformed military service was the last to have its own intelligence branch?
1058

[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir]
IIRC, back when it was the Sandwich Islands but still under local rule, they wanted to include symbols in their flag from the both the UK (the Union Jack) and the US (the stripes) to placate both countries, but not commit to either.
[/QUOTE]

That’s one of several possible explanations, but no one knows for sure the true story. While I was living in Honolulu, you’d see this crop up in the newspapers every few months or so, with the merits of each explanation debated, then disappear again for another few months..

1059

702: Transportation, Treasury and–I’m guessing here–Interior?

1060

[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir]
699. This SecWar considered creating a U.S. Camel Corps for duty in the deserts of the American Southwest.
[/QUOTE]

  1. Jefferson Davis. AIUI, he not only considered it, but started one, on a test scale, at least. (Thank you, Sampiro)