U.S. History trivia quiz

The Game Room
1081

Most impressive! :stuck_out_tongue:

1082

I’ll take a guess at a few of these:

What was the significance of [this date]?..
556. March 1, 1803
The Lewis and Clark Expedition set out?

  1. The famous “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus” column first appeared in what newspaper?
    The New York Sun? (I did not look this up, but I seem to remember Cecil reran this for Christmas last month.)

  2. The first vice president sworn in outside of the U.S. was sworn in where, and why?
    Hubert Hunphrey? Because he was out of the country at the time of Kennedy’s assassination and’or when LBJ named him?

1083

Sorry, all incorrect. As it happens, Lewis and Clark and the New York Sun had already been given as guesses.

1084
  1. March 1, 1803
    The Louisiana Territory was purchased??
1085

Also no. Getting warmer, though.

1086

Lewis and Clark reached the Pacific?

I feel I really ought to know this one, whatever it is.

1087

Nope. It’s not about the Louisiana Purchase or L&C.

1088
  1. The famous “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus” column first appeared in what newspaper?

The Baltimore Sun

1089

Alaska was purchased? (Seward’s folly, right?)

1090

Correct!

Really Not All That Bright, no, it wasn’t the purchase of Alaska (that was after the Civil War, more than sixty years later).

1091

In 1868. See? I remember THAT one. But this 1803 one is getting me. I’m really resisting the strong temptation to look it up. I’m guessing the Burr-Hamilton duel, then?

1092
  1. Franklin Pierce’s VP (something along the lines of William Rufus King) was sworn in in Havana, and had been out of the country trying to improve his health (It didn’t work- He died a couple of months into the term without ever going to Washington)
1093

Per the OP, thanks for not looking it up, but no, it’s not the Burr-Hamilton duel either.

Governor Quinn, correct as to VP William King. He was very ill with tuberculosis and Congress passed an act permitting him to take the oath on foreign soil, in Cuba. He died just two days after returning to his plantation. He was VP about a month and a half.

1094

So you could also say he was the only VP never to set foot at all in Washington while VP.

Actually, too, now that I think about it, Alaska was purchased in 1867, I think, not 1868.

1095

Ironically, Rufus King had a county named after him, in the state of–where else? Washington.

Recently I understand the county was retroactively named for Martin Luther King, Jr., as Ol’ Rufus was discovered to have–gasp!-- owned slaves.

1096

movingfinger, you’re right about King County’s redesignation. It’s the greater Seattle area - a few years ago, they explicitly “renamed” it after MLK and not the late obscure VP.

Here are the answers to my as-yet unanswered questions:

  1. The British diplomats refused to sit for the portrait; only the American diplomats are shown on the unfinished canvas, with a blank space where the Brits would’ve been.

  2. The pens had a misspelled word, viz: “Untied States Senate.”

  3. Before 9-11, the oldest commissioned ship on active service (not the Constitution, but whichever modern ship was actually out sailing the Seven Seas) had the privilege of flying a replica of the First Navy Jack. Since 9-11, by order of the SecNav, all U.S. warships fly it.

  4. Ohio statehood.

  5. Camp David, supposedly so that the White House staff could spend the holiday with their families.

  6. Woodrow Wilson, when he went to the Versailles Peace Conference.

  7. Ferdinand Magellan.

  8. Nixon timed his return so that he could go directly from Andrews AFB by helicopter to Capitol Hill, and immediately report to a joint session of Congress on his trip. It’s shown in the opening scene of All the President’s Men.

  9. East Liverpool, Ohio, my hometown.

  10. Milan, Ohio.

  11. Lancer.

  12. George Washington.

  13. Lincoln’s reputed last words, after his wife affectionately teased him by asking what people at Ford’s Theatre would think of them holding hands and sitting so close together.

  14. Harry Truman. He cancelled the first carrier of that name after WW2, and then President Clinton named the second carrier (slated to bear that name) after him.

  15. Garrett Hobart.

  16. The adoption of the 50-star flag, now the longest-used U.S. flag design ever.

  17. John Hay, speaking of TR’s Panama Canal finaglings.

  18. Hamilton Fish.

  19. Vermeil (silver plated with gold).

  20. A conservatory/greenhouse.

  21. Ireland.

  22. The President’s order read, in its entirety, “The doll Jack is pardoned. A. Lincoln.”

  23. A map room.

  24. 1,234 votes.

  25. “The City of New Orleans,” popularized by Arlo Guthrie.

  26. “Hail, Columbia.”

  27. Marcus Hanna, McKinley’s kingmaker, after TR succeeded the assassinated leader.

  28. Jesse Unruh, longtime Speaker of the California House of Representatives.

  29. Rutherford B. Hayes.

  30. Judge.

  31. Richard Darman.

  32. White House Social Secretary (she was a law school classmate of mine).

  33. “An Appeal to Heaven.”

  34. The E Ring.

  35. The Marine Corps.

  36. St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Cleveland Heights, in May 1963.

  37. Abraham Lincoln.

1097

Some more Ohio history.

  1. He was mayor of Cleveland when it became the first city of its size to default since the Great Depression.
  2. This river was so notoriously polluted that chemicals floating on its surface caught fire in the late 1960s (it’s a lot cleaner now, fortunately).
  3. John Glenn hailed from this Ohio town.
  4. Why did Mayor Ralph Perk of Cleveland and his wife decline an invitation to a state dinner during the Nixon Administration?
  5. This notable crimefighter served a stint as Cleveland’s safety director.
1098
  1. The Cuyohoga (sp?) AIUI the fire is the subject of at least one song.
  2. Elliot Ness
1099

Congresscritters
719. This Representative and later Senator from Michigan wrote a book about his experiences in the US Congress called Oh, Congress.

  1. This long-time Missouri Congressman, later oversaw a long court-ordered school desegregation case as a Federal Judge.

  2. This New York CIty Congressman was noted for her brash personality and a taste for large, floppy hats.

  3. This Midwestern Senator, known for his expertise at securing federal appropriations for his state, has been quoted, “I’ll bring the pork, and the BBQ sauce, too!.”

  4. This is the large US Congressional District by area.

1100
  1. The Cuyahoga, yes. I think Randy Newman wrote a song about it.
  2. Correct.

My guesses:

  1. William Hungate.
  2. Bella Abzug.
  3. Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.)
  4. Alaska’s first (and only) district?