U.S. History trivia quiz

Haven’t read that one. My feeling from Robert Ritchie’s Captain Kidd and the War Against the Pirates, as well as some other sources, is that Kidd was an instance of Sacco-Vanzetti syndrome: he was railroaded and treated monstrously unfairly by the system, but was nonetheless guilty as hell.

Stage, radio, and the silver screen . . .

  1. As a World War II correspondent, his signature opening line was, “This . . . is London.”

  2. Henry Fonda played a rare villainous role in this Sergio Leone spaghetti western.

  3. After playing the King of Siam over a thousand times on Broadway, who went on to play the same role opposite Deborah Kerr in Hollywood’s The King and I?

  4. What major Broadway stage actor had a brother who murdered a President?

  5. Allowed to see American movies again after the end of the Nazi occupation, what name did French critics give to the dark, violent, and morally ambiguous films that U.S. directors had started making in the 1940s?

  1. Film Noir

Correct.

  1. Picking judges.
  2. Make a profit.
  3. Edward R. Murrow (my wife once worked with his son).
  4. Yul Brynner.
  5. Edward Booth.

Danimal, let’s try to steer clear of Broadway/Hollywood trivia, which could be (and has been) a thread all its own. Thanks!

The Presidency.

  1. He is the only former President to seriously consider later serving as someone else’s Vice President.
  2. His poker games included White House staff, senators and his pal the Chief Justice.
  3. He wore a ring containing some of Abraham Lincoln’s hair at his inauguration.
  4. He approved the last military execution of a convicted serviceman in U.S. history.
  5. He is buried in Hollywood Cemetery.

Woo-hoo! We broke the thousand-question mark!

  1. Once Upon a Time in the West

  2. Harding

  3. Grant

  1. [woo-hoo, indeed] FDR

Followup questions
1002. Who was that last executed soldier?

All correct on the Show Me State.

Eddie Slovik

Both incorrect.
**
5 time champ**, FDR is incorrect. And Slovik was the last U.S. soldier executed for desertion, not the last U.S. soldier ever executed.

  1. James Rhodes, who ultimately served 16 years as Governor.

  2. If they claim it’s it turning a profit, they’d be wrong: the Chicago World’s Fair of 1933 also did so.

  3. It’s Edwin, not Edward.

Gerald Ford

Re: profitable World’s Fair, that’s why I cited the MO Historical Society. I think Chicago claims that also, as Gov Quinn maintains.

How did we go 1000 questions without poor Eddie Slovik, albeit mistakenly?

  1. Correct.
  2. To quote Johnny Carson, “I did not know that!”
  3. Thanks. I wasn’t sure.

Julius Henry is correct about Gerald Ford, who in 1980 discussed serving again as VP with GOP nominee Ronald Reagan, but with increased and specific responsibilities. The deal fell apart, though.

Who said it? Bonus points for context.

  1. “The buck doesn’t even slow down here.”
  2. "Sock it to me?"
  3. “How is the horse?”
  4. “I had a better year than he did.”
  5. “Thanks, King.”

Jim Thorpe, after the King of Sweden proclaimed him the greatest athlete in the world when presenting him with his awards or medals at the Olympics. I’ve also heard, ‘You’re pretty swell yourself, King’ as well.

Babe Ruth when someone brought it to his attention that he was now paid more than the President.

Richard Nixon, then the Republican presidential nominee, appearing on Laugh-In in 1968.

All correct (well, close enough on 995, which as Governor Quinn pointed out, was Edwin Booth).

want2know is correct on Once Upon A Time in the West.

RNATB is correct on film noir.

Both correct, as is Julius Henry.

Four questions about Georgia…

  1. Who received King George II’s charter to found the colony of Georgia?

  2. What Georgian planter, who had grave misgivings about secession, nevertheless aceepted the office of Vice-President of the Confederacy?

  3. Who urged the audience at the 1893 Atlanta Exposition to “cast down your anchor where you are” by hiring Southern blacks instead of immigrant labor?

  4. In two controversial decisions, Chief Justice John Marshall ruled that this Georgia Indian tribe had no standing to sue in the Supreme Court, but by the same token, the state of Georgia had no right to enforce its laws on the tribe’s land.

1008 James Oglethorpe

1009 Alexander Stephens

1011 Creeks

  1. Booker T. Washington