The Big Book of American Trivia
Page 12
19. What large Asian nation was the destination of President Nixon’s “journey for peace” in 1972? [Answer]
20. What future first lady costarred with her husband, a future president, in a 1957 film? [Answer]
21. At age forty-two, what man became the youngest president of the U.S.? (Hint: speak softly) [Answer]
22. Presidents Rutherford Hayes, James Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, and William McKinley had all been officers during what war? [Answer]
23. The University of Michigan has its library named for a graduate who became president. Who? [Answer]
24. What two noted presidents’ homes are near Charlottesville, Virginia? [Answer]
25. Wheatland, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was the home of what Pennsylvania-born bachelor president? [Answer]
26. Hudson, New York, has the retirement home of the eighth president, of Dutch ancestry. Who was he? [Answer]
27. What very devout president of the 1860s never actually joined a church? [Answer]
28. What Democratic president of the 1960s popularized the phrase “My fellow Americans”? [Answer]
29. A sign reading The Buck Stops Here was found on what twentieth-century president’s desk? (Hint: Missouri) [Answer]
30. What president, elected in 1840, gave the longest inauguration speech and then served the shortest term? [Answer]
31. The home of what swaggering twentieth-century president can be toured in Oyster Bay, New York? [Answer]
32. In the 1824 presidential race, Andrew Jackson got ninety-nine electoral votes and John Quincy Adams got eighty-four. Who won? [Answer]
33. What future president drafted the Treaty of Paris, ending the Revolutionary War? [Answer]
34. Who is the only U.S. president never to have been elected either president or vice president? [Answer]
35. What future president served as president of the Actors Guild union from 1947 until 1952? [Answer]
36. What president of many terms had John Garner, Henry Wallace, and Harry Truman as vice presidents? [Answer]
37. What former president held Medicare card number one? (Hint: Missouri) [Answer]
38. What future president defeated Methodist evangelist Peter Cartwright in a race for congressman from Illinois? [Answer]
39. “High Hopes” was the campaign song of what Democratic presidential candidate of the 1960s? [Answer]
40. According to Herbert Hoover’s campaign slogan, how many chickens would be in every American pot? [Answer]
41. John Tyler was the only president elected to another nation’s congress. Which nation? [Answer]
42. What flamboyant president of the twentieth century had “A Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight” as his campaign song? [Answer]
43. What Texas hero was a close friend of Andrew Jackson and named one of his sons for Jackson? [Answer]
The Babe, Billy Sunday, Etc.: The 1910s
1. In 1911 Ray Harroun was the first winner of what world-famous auto race? [Answer]
2. In 1919 the Candler family sold what cola company to Atlanta banker Ernest Woodruff for $25 million? [Answer]
3. In 1919 what baseball legend hit the world’s longest home run (at that time), 579 feet? [Answer]
4. When this girls’ organization was established in 1912, Daisy Gordon became its first member. What was it? [Answer]
5. What baseball-player-turned-evangelist became famous in the 1910s for his antibooze sermons? [Answer]
6. What tough World War II general was an Olympic pentathlete in 1912? [Answer]
7. In July 1919 what rubber company’s blimp crashed in Chicago, killing thirteen people? [Answer]
8. What bus company began in 1914, charging twenty-five cents for a round trip from Hibbing to Alice, Minnesota? [Answer]
9. In 1910 what became the first type of aircraft to offer commercial service? [Answer]
10. What metals firm was founded as the U.S. Foil Co. in 1919? [Answer]
11. What world-changing waterway officially opened in 1914? [Answer]
12. What lovely Caribbean islands did the U.S. purchase from Denmark in 1916? [Answer]
13. What ill-fated constitutional amendment became law in 1919? [Answer]
14. In 1911 Willis H. Carrier presented a paper on what subject to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers? [Answer]
15. With Republicans split between Taft and Teddy Roosevelt, what Democrat was elected president in 1912? [Answer]
Art Deco, the Model T, Etc.: The 1920s
1. The Drive-Ur-Self car rental company, launched in 1923, is now known as what? [Answer]
2. What popular (and blowable) product was invented in 1928 by Walter Diemer and marketed by his company, Fleer? [Answer]
3. What silent movie star’s 1926 funeral attracted over one-hundred thousand mourners, mostly women? [Answer]
4. What classic car did Ford market from 1908 to 1926? [Answer]
5. What popular hiking trail in the eastern U.S. opened in 1921? [Answer]
6. The famous “Monkey Trial” of 1925 took place in Dayton, Tennessee. What controversial teaching was at the center of the trial? [Answer]
7. In 1921 what great scientist gave a lecture at Columbia University on his theory of relativity? [Answer]
8. In December 1928 what U.S. admiral established Little America in Antarctica? [Answer]
9. What pilot made headlines when he landed at Le Bourget field May 21, 1927? [Answer]
10. What streamlined, geometrical style popular in the 1920s is also known as Art Moderne? [Answer]
11. What ethnic group all officially became U.S. citizens in 1924? [Answer]
12. What troubled period of history began on October 29, 1929? [Answer]
13. What great American event was celebrated at the 1926 World’s Fair in Philadelphia? [Answer]
14. What renowned female evangelist mysteriously disappeared in 1926 for thirty-seven days? [Answer]
15. What manners expert published her Etiquette: The Blue Book of Social Usage in 1922? [Answer]
16. When named chief justice in 1921, what former president was a law professor at Yale? [Answer]
Kingfish, Kodachrome, Knute, Etc.: The 1930s
1. In 1939 Bob Kane introduced what caped crime fighter in Detective Comics No. 27? [Answer]
2. “After all, tomorrow is another day” is the last line of what phenomenally popular 1939 film? [Answer]
3. What pollster founded the American Institute of Public Opinion in 1935? [Answer]
4. What Norwegian-born football coach died in a plane crash in 1931? [Answer]
5. What popular car did Ford cease marketing in 1931? [Answer]
6. What new type of camera film, perfected by Leopold Maness, became available to the public in 1935? [Answer]
7. What far-distant locale did Richard E. Byrd visit in 1933? [Answer]
8. Millions of Americans dimmed their lights for a few moments in 1931 to remind them of the death of what inventor? [Answer]
9. What ill-fated constitutional amendment was repealed in 1933? [Answer]
10. Where did aviators Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan land in 1937? [Answer]
11. What famous evangelist preached the foursquare gospel from her Angelus Temple in the 1930s? [Answer]
12. What still-popular cookbook by Irma Rombauer was first published in 1931? [Answer]
13. What controversial southern governor was fatally shot by Dr. Carl Weiss in 1935? [Answer]
14. What Nevada city’s reputation as a “divorce capital” began in the 1930s? [Answer]
15. What bridge, when completed over the Hudson River in 1931, was the world’s longest suspension bridge? [Answer]
16. In March 1933 Congress legalized beverages containing 3.2 percent of what? [Answer]
CD, Nylons, A-Bombs, Etc.: The 1940s
1. What island city was the site of a surprise attack December 7, 1941? [Answer]
2. Edwin Land invented what novel type of camera in 1947? [Answer]
3. What major change
in American paychecks began in July 1943? [Answer]
4. What lovely blonde actress (and wife of Clark Gable) died in a plane crash in 1942? [Answer]
5. What European nation landed spies on the East Coast of the U.S. in June 1942? [Answer]
6. What Asian city received a fateful American bomb on August 6, 1945? [Answer]
7. What enormous federal building was completed in 1943 after only sixteen months? [Answer]
8. What international alliance was formed by the U.S. and ten European countries in 1949? [Answer]
9. Kemmons Wilson founded what worldwide hotel chain in 1945? [Answer]
10. What conservative organization was named for an intelligence officer killed in China in 1945? [Answer]
11. CD now stands for compact disc or certificate of deposit. What did it stand for in the 1940s? [Answer]
12. What company, “like a good neighbor,” became the biggest auto insurer by 1942? [Answer]
13. The first stockings made of what fiber went on sale in the U.S. in 1940? [Answer]
14. The first book written by this general (later a president) was Crusade in Europe in 1948. Who? [Answer]
15. What group of Americans were forced into detention camps after the Pearl Harbor attack of 1941? [Answer]
16. What baseball stadium’s imposing left-field wall became “the Green Monster” after it was painted in 1947? [Answer]
17. The WAVES of World War II were women in which branch of the armed services? [Answer]
Ike, Bonzo, Interstates, Etc.: The 1950s
1. What evangelist enjoyed a burst of exposure through the aid of newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst? [Answer]
2. Henry and Richard Block founded what company in 1956? [Answer]
3. What TV clown character was introduced by Larry Harmon? [Answer]
4. What future president costarred with a chimpanzee in the 1952 movie Bedtime for Bonzo? [Answer]
5. Beginning in 1955, what words were placed on all coins minted in the U.S.? [Answer]
6. In 1956, what president signed a bill authorizing the construction of the interstate highway system? [Answer]
7. What federal agency began publishing a “Ten Most Wanted” list? [Answer]
8. What two major labor unions, with a combined membership of 15 million, merged in 1955? [Answer]
9. On December 15, 1952, the Declaration of Independence was placed on permanent display in what D.C. building? [Answer]
10. Author L. Ron Hubbard organized what religion in the 1950s? [Answer]
11. What northeastern seaway was dedicated in 1959 by President Eisenhower and Queen Elizabeth II? [Answer]
12. What now-standard type of tire was introduced in 1956? [Answer]
13. What type of movie, premiering in 1952, featured a roller-coaster ride and a flight over the Rockies? [Answer]
14. April 15 is the federal income tax due date. Prior to 1955, what was the due date? [Answer]
15. Which president talked tough against communism but did nothing when the Soviets conquered Hungary in 1956? [Answer]
16. In the 1950s, two Pennsylvania communities merged and were named for what Native American athlete? [Answer]
Rockfests, Astronauts, Assassinations, Etc.: The 1960s
1. Where did Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin set foot on July 20, 1969? [Answer]
2. In 1963 Kodak introduced what camera that used a foolproof film cartridge? [Answer]
3. What shocking three-word theological question appeared on a Time magazine cover in 1966? [Answer]
4. What Republican’s 1964 campaign slogan was “In your heart you know he’s right”? [Answer]
5. What southern governor ran for the presidency in 1968 on the American Independent ticket? [Answer]
6. What politician drove his car off a bridge at Chappaquiddick Island in 1969? [Answer]
7. The Beatles’ final live concert of August 29, 1966, was at what California arena? [Answer]
8. What famous California island prison closed in 1963 and is now a museum? [Answer]
9. What federal program for senior citizens began in July 1966? [Answer]
10. What phenomenal pop music festival took place August 15–17, 1969? [Answer]
11. What once-popular audio format went on the market in 1963? [Answer]
12. In 1963, TV actor Dan Blocker opened the first of what chain of steak houses? [Answer]
13. What Florida city grew astronomically after Walt Disney World began construction in the 1960s? [Answer]
14. In 1963, Harvey Ball created what happy symbol? [Answer]
15. What president died at Dallas’s Parkland Hospital on November 22, 1963? [Answer]
16. What woman’s 1962 book Silent Spring launched the environmentalist movement? [Answer]
Watergate, STOP-ERA, Seagulls, Etc.: The 1970s
1. In August 1974 who became the first president to resign? [Answer]
2. What extremely popular 1977 disco movie was based on a magazine article, “Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night”? [Answer]
3. What third-party presidential candidate was shot and wounded at a mall by Arthur Bremer in 1972? [Answer]
4. What fiction book, with bird characters, was a best-seller in 1972 and 1973? [Answer]
5. According to the title of Loretta Lynn’s 1976 autobiography, whose daughter is she? [Answer]
6. In 1971 who published The Vantage Point: Perspectives of the Presidency, 1963–1969? [Answer]
7. Phyllis Schlafly formed an organization in the 1970s to stop what proposed amendment? [Answer]
8. What mystery disease killed twenty-nine people at a Philadelphia convention in July 1976? [Answer]
9. What former Cabinet department became an independent federal agency in 1970? (Hint: stamps) [Answer]
10. What senior citizens’ activist organization was founded by Maggie Kuhn in 1970? [Answer]
11. What well-known labor leader disappeared from a restaurant parking lot in 1975 and has never been found? [Answer]
12. On February 5, 1974, Patty Hearst was kidnapped by what radical group? [Answer]
13. Until Chet Huntley retired in 1970, who was his coanchor on the NBC news? [Answer]
14. What Democratic president scored the lowest approval ratings ever, 20 percent in an August 1979 poll? [Answer]
15. In 1972 what presidential candidate was supported by the organization known as CREEP? [Answer]
16. What religious cult was founded by preacher Jim Jones in the 1970s? [Answer]
LaserJets, Volcanoes, Glasnost, Etc.: The 1980s
1. What new audio format was sprung on the U.S. public in 1982? [Answer]
2. What Arkansas-based retailer opened Sam’s Wholesale Club chain in 1983? [Answer]
3. What volcano’s 1980 eruption was the first in the contiguous forty-eight states since 1921? [Answer]
4. What major sports event was going on when an earthquake struck San Francisco in October 1989? [Answer]
5. What fast-food chain asked people in the 1980s, “Where’s the beef”? [Answer]
6. What Caribbean island nation had its marxist regime deposed by U.S. troops in 1983? [Answer]
7. What Ford model, introduced in the 1980s, consistently ranked as the top-selling U.S. car? [Answer]
8. On April 14, 1987, nearly 120,000 people visited what branch of the Smithsonian, the one-day record for any museum? [Answer]
9. What company’s LaserJet printer, introduced in 1984, became the most successful product in its history? (Hint: H-P) [Answer]
10. What wide-open western state was notorious in the 1980s for its five-dollar fine for speeding on interstates? [Answer]
11. What Soviet leader met with Ronald Reagan at a 1985 summit conference in Switzerland? [Answer]
12. What welcome item was installed in the Statue of Liberty in 1986? [Answer]
13. What was given to Barney Clark during an eight-hour operation in December 1982? [Answer]
14. What militant atheist received a shock in the 1
980s when her son claimed to be a born-again Christian? [Answer]
15. What weather phenomenon caused billions of dollars worth of damage in South Carolina in 1989? [Answer]
16. What national park was renamed Denali in 1980? [Answer]
Megamalls, Oliver North, Perot, Etc.: The 1990s
1. What evangelist was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 1996? [Answer]
2. What nation’s liberation was the object of Operation Desert Storm in 1991? [Answer]
3. In November 1994 what former president revealed he had Alzheimer’s disease? [Answer]
4. What motion picture company opened a chain of mall stores in 1994, selling such merchandise as Roadrunner mugs and Bugs Bunny pajamas? [Answer]
5. What unpopular creature did the Virginia Assembly try (and fail) to make the “state reptile” in 1994? [Answer]
6. James B. Stockdale was whose vice presidential running mate in 1992? [Answer]
7. What military man (later a Senate candidate) had his Iran-Contra convictions overturned in 1991? [Answer]
8. What gigantic shopping center opened in 1992 at a cost of more than $650 million? [Answer]
9. What Christian leader drew enormous crowds on his 1995 American tour? [Answer]
10. What was unusual about the Postal Service’s set of Civil War stamps issued in 1995? [Answer]
11. When the federal government removed its 55 mph interstate speed limit in 1995, which western state removed all speed limits on interstates? [Answer]
12. Michael Crichton’s 1995 novel The Lost World was a sequel to what earlier best-seller? [Answer]
13. What boxer in 1994 reclaimed his heavyweight title, which he lost twenty years earlier to Muhammad Ali? [Answer]
14. What mother of a U.S. president and two senators died at age 104 in 1995? [Answer]
15. In what appropriate place were the ashes of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry scattered in 1992? [Answer]