U.S. History trivia quiz

The Vice Presidency.

  1. This former VP died in the middle of a speech to schoolchildren.
  2. This former VP’s body was moved after his death in order to conceal the circumstances of his passing.
  3. How many stars, in total, appear on the current Vice Presidential flag?
  4. The national museum of the Vice Presidency is in what state?
  5. Ross Perot’s campaign considered this man as a running mate in 1992 until it was pointed out that he was, in fact, dead.
  1. Do you mean Alben Barkley (Truman’s VP, in case I’ve misspelt)? If so, he was addressing college students.

  2. Nelson Rockefeller?

Both correct. I thought Barkley’s audience was younger. As to Rockefeller, he was with a young mistress at the time of his death… died in the saddle, as it were.

On Capitol Hill.

  1. This intentionally-unfinished statue of early female suffragists has been unflatteringly nicknamed “the ________.”
  2. This Italian immigrant painted many of the Capitol’s wall and ceiling murals.
  3. Each state is entitled to have this many statues of its honored citizens in Statuary Hall.
  4. Portraits of which two statesmen hang to either side of the Speaker’s rostrum in the House of Representatives?
  5. Who dedicated the cornerstone of the Capitol, and what was unusual about his attire that day?
  1. “Three women in a bathtub”

  2. Two

Genaralissimo Francisco Franco. :wink:

I just heard of it as “the bathtub,” but yes. Both correct.

want2know, very funny, but no. A hint (as if you needed one): It was an American.

I don’t think these remaining questions of mine have been correctly answered yet. Any more guesses? I’ll answer them all in a few days.

  1. John Glenn hailed from this Ohio town.

Who said it?
733. “The Federal Reserve’s job is to take away the punch bowl just as the party’s really getting started.”
735. “The surest means of ensuring peace is to be prepared for war.”
736. “A good lawyer knows the law. A great lawyer knows the judge.”

These Presidency-defining catchphrases are associated with which men?
739. The New Foundation
742. The New Federalism

Identify these notable Americans by their nicknames.
751. Bunny (hint: it was a President)

Give the first name of the First Lady.
753. McKinley

Historic American aviation.
758. This type of antique aircraft was, until recently, long used for cargo and passenger flights to South Bass Island in Lake Erie.

Who said it? Bonus points for context.
771. “One war at a time.”
772. “This generation has a rendezvous with destiny.”
773. “The tree of Liberty is plant of rapid growth.”
775. “Who is that awful man?”

Identify these famous U.S. Army units.
777. This Ohio infantry regiment is famous for its devastating flanking fire during Pickett’s Charge.

Noteworthy flags of American history.
796. The Ohio state flag has how many stars on it, and why?
798. At Philadelphia’s Independence Hall on his way to Washington, President-elect Abraham Lincoln ceremonially raised a new American flag with how many stars on it?
799. The earliest-known colonial battle flag of the American Revolution featured what body part?
800. King George III’s Royal Standard featured what two animals?

Famous forts.
802. The first fort to surrender during the Civil War to a naval force unsupported by ground troops.
805. This was the closest major fort to Custer’s 7th Cavalry during the Little Big Horn campaign.

Who said it? Extra credit for context.
806. “Give me a one-armed economist. All of my economists say, ‘On the one hand… but then again, on the other…’”
807. “Most of the work of [the person’s Cabinet post] could just as easily be performed by an animatronic robot.”

Civil War slang.
834. A bungling, unlucky solder was called a ______.
836. A soldier might visit a brothel to “enjoy a little horizontal ______.”

On Capitol Hill.
840. What was Sen. John Tower (R-Texas) once unflatteringly named by female Congressional staffers?
841. The Congressional newspaper (not the Record) is called this.
844. Name the massive painting which covers the interior of the Capitol dome, over the Rotunda.

  1. Who painted the best-known version of “Washington Crossing the Delaware”?

Some questions about the Father of His Country.
859. In the earliest-known painting of Washington, what is he wearing?
860. He built Ft. Necessity near this present-day Pennsylvania town.
862. This was his first elective public office.

What [was his] middle name?
873. Warren Harding

When the U.S. and Great Britain nearly went to war, during our own Civil War…
882. This U.S. warship stopped the British ship [ Trent ] and removed [two Confederate] diplomats at gunpoint.

What President is associated with these places?
887. Spiegel Grove
889. Lawnfield

More Presidential places. Who’s most commonly associated with these locales?
895. Palm Beach
897. Anderson Cottage

Who said it? As always, bonus points for context.
905. “Well, he wouldn’t steal a hot stove.”
908. “The impossible we do right away; the unconstitutional takes a little longer.”

[More about the Presidency]
910. Name the Federal judge swore in LBJ on Nov. 22, 1963.
913. Harry Truman reacted badly to what Washington Post music critic, and why? [His or her name, please]
914. Who bought the first White House china to actually feature pictures of the house itself?

Who said it? Bonus points for context.
920. “A first-class temperament but a second-rate mind.”
922. “Let us never forget that this a Constitution we are interpreting.”
923. “I could carve a better judge out of a banana.”

The U.S. Constitution.
926. American public officials of what level(s) of government must swear an oath to the Constitution?

Anchors aweigh! The U.S. Navy.
931. A young David Farragut served aboard this ship, captured by the British during the War of 1812.
933. He was the highest-ranking officer of the Continental Navy.

Where were they born?
936. George G. Meade, victor of Gettysburg
937. Phil Sheridan, Civil War cavalry genius
938. Clark Gable, movie star
939. George A. Custer, slain at Little Big Horn

Who most famously said it? Bonus points for context.
942. “I’ve never wished anyone dead, but I’ve read some obituaries with a great deal of satisfaction.”
944. “This election is not about ideology, it’s about competence.”

Famous ships of American history.
954. This merchant ship was the venue for the Boston Tea Party.
956. This Confederate commerce raider was burning Yankee whaling ships in the far north several months after Lee surrendered.

More on impeachment.
963. Those legislators who act as prosecutors are called ______.
965. How many Cabinet secretaries in U.S. history have been impeached, convicted and removed from office?

Vermont history.
970. The great Vermont flood of 1927 resulted in the accidental death of this state official.
971. This noted American author used the flood as the backdrop of one of his stories. Extra credit: what was the story?

Some more Ohio history.
982. He invented the traffic light and the gas mask.
984. ______ ______ was Ohio’s first Civil War governor.
985. Draft resisters in what Ohio county briefly staged a near-comical rebellion in 1863?

The Presidency.
998. His poker games included White House staff, senators and his pal the Chief Justice.
999. He wore a ring containing some of Abraham Lincoln’s hair at his inauguration.
1000. He approved the last military execution of a convicted serviceman in U.S. history. [A reminder: it was not FDR/Truman and the Eddie Slovik execution]
1001. He is buried in Hollywood Cemetery.

Who said it? Bonus points for context.
1003. “The buck doesn’t even slow down here.”
1005. “How is the horse?”

Which Presidents owned these dogs?
1014. King Timahoe
1015. Sweetlips

Famous American criminals, alleged or otherwise.
1038. When arrested, he was wearing a T-shirt with a picture of Lincoln, crosshairs over the President’s forehead and the words, “Sic semper tyrannus.”
1040. When John Dillinger was shot and killed by the FBI, what morbid souvenirs did passersby collect?

Harry Truman becomes President, April 1945.
1052. Who was hosting him when he got the call to go to the White House?
1053. What was he having to drink?
1054. Who told him FDR had died?
1055. Who (by name AND title) swore him in?
1056. Where was he sworn in?

The Vice Presidency.
1069. How many stars, in total, appear on the current Vice Presidential flag?
1070. The national museum of the Vice Presidency is in what state?
1071. Ross Perot’s campaign considered this man as a running mate in 1992 until it was pointed out that he was, in fact, dead.

On Capitol Hill.
1073. This Italian immigrant painted many of the Capitol’s wall and ceiling murals.
1075. Portraits of which two statesmen hang to either side of the Speaker’s rostrum in the House of Representatives?
1076. Who dedicated the cornerstone of the Capitol, and what was unusual about his attire that day?

  1. The Beaver. (The things one remembers from trying to find drafts of sailing vessels for the Keelhauling thread a while back.)

Many of these seem so familiar. I’ll take a crack at only these few, though:

  1. Reagan?
  2. Sad Sack?
  3. A British military uniform?
  4. Starts with a G, of course, and I seem to recall it was rather uncommon. Something like Gemuel, although that’s not it.
  5. I’m pretty sure King Timahoe was owned by Ford.
  6. His blood. They dipped their handkerchiefs in it. Somehow I missed this one before, or I would have answered it. (And no, his penis is NOT in the Smithsonian. They’ve actually even looked for it just to make sure.)

Correct. The Dorchester was the other.

  1. Yes
  2. No
  3. Close, but no cigar
  4. Yes, it starts with “G” and is unusual
  5. Incorrect
  6. Yes - well done!
  1. Gethsemane?

  2. Did Nixon own King Timahoe as president? (Checkers I know, but that was when he was a Veep.) I seem to recall King Timahoe from sometime in the 1970s, and I’m pretty sure it was not Carter.

  1. Teddy Roosevelt?
  2. Jimmy Carter
  3. Dancing?
  4. The House Judiciary Comittee… I think the specific individuals are called case managers or something like that.
  5. George Washington and the Marquis Lafayette (no idea what his first name is)

No to 873, yes to 1014.

  1. No
  2. No
  3. No
  4. Yes, they’re simply called “managers”
  5. Both correct - Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette
  1. John F. Kennedy originally said it, I think. Although Reagan repeated it later.
  1. A lion and a unicorn?
  1. Gamaliel
  1. I don’t know the name, but I remember the why. He gave a scathing review to Margaret Truman, Harry’s daughter.
  1. Sure sounds like Oliver Wendell Holmes.
  1. U.S.S. Chesapeake?
  1. Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea?
  1. No.
  2. No.
  3. Yes!
  4. Already noted above; I’m looking for the name.
  5. No.
  6. No.
  7. No.

While we’re cleaning up:

Court Cases
934. This case was a warm-up for Miranda v Arizona on the subject of the rights of the accused.

  1. Presault v Vermont was a landmark case in this area of the law.

Malaprops & putdowns
1064. In the 1976 campaign Ronald Reagan mistakenly referred to President Gerald Ford as one of these.

  1. In turn, on Saturday Night Live, Chevy Chase referred to Ronald Reagan as this?

Gideon v. Wainwright? Saw it mentioned in another thread and something clicked.