The Big Book of American Trivia
Page 25
5. The Santa Fe Trail, named for the town that eventually became the capital of New Mexico [Back]
6. Oregon (naturally), which didn’t actually become a state until 1859 [Back]
7. Missouri, in the town of Independence [Back]
8. The Great Wagon Road, particularly used by Scotch-Irish and German settlers moving to Virginia and North Carolina [Back]
9. Utah, naturally [Back]
10. Santa Fe [Back]
Big Waters: America’s Rivers // Answers
1. The Mississippi’s [Back]
2. Chicago; the Chicago River has been reversed in order to keep sewage from flowing into Lake Michigan. [Back]
3. The Ohio, where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers converge [Back]
4. The Niagara, which has not only the falls but also a whirlpool [Back]
5. Washington, D.C. [Back]
6. Levees [Back]
7. The Hudson [Back]
8. Cincinnati [Back]
9. The Rock River [Back]
10. The Swanee [Back]
11. Philadelphia [Back]
12. New York [Back]
13. He was one-armed, which makes his strenuous explorations all the more remarkable. [Back]
14. The Tennessee Valley Authority—TVA [Back]
15. The Rio Grande [Back]
16. The Kentucky River (surprise!) [Back]
17. The Potomac [Back]
18. The fall line, where rivers form rapids and waterfalls [Back]
19. Delaware [Back]
20. Tulsa [Back]
21. The Mississippi [Back]
22. The Colorado, formerly known as the Grand River [Back]
23. The Savannah River’s (When in doubt, go for the most obvious answer.) [Back]
24. The Mississippi [Back]
Beasts and Zoos and Such // Answers
1. Whale’s; the great industry of whaling went downhill after the discovery of petroleum. [Back]
2. The raccoon, famous for washing its food before eating [Back]
3. Sea World [Back]
4. Bats—a million, in fact [Back]
5. The manatee [Back]
6. The porcupine [Back]
7. Channel Islands [Back]
8. Rin Tin Tin [Back]
9. The coyote (which does not eat roadrunners) [Back]
10. A deer [Back]
11. Horses, naturally [Back]
12. Lewis and Clark; like most Americans at that time, Jefferson had never seen a prairie dog. [Back]
13. To the Lincoln Park Zoo, one of the largest free zoos in the world [Back]
14. Gray whales, making their migration from the Alaska coast to the waters off Mexico [Back]
15. The peccary, a wild piglike animal of the open spaces [Back]
16. Whales [Back]
17. Lion Country Safari [Back]
18. The horse [Back]
19. New Orleans [Back]
20. Dinosaurs, of course; the park is called Dinosaur Gardens Prehistoric Zoo. (Actually, they’re reproductions, not real dinosaurs.) [Back]
21. Not Detroit, but in the nearby suburb of Royal Oak [Back]
22. Virginia, on the Eastern Shore [Back]
23. Elk [Back]
24. Bird dogs; the annual Georgia Field Trials, a major hunting dog competition, is held there. [Back]
Every Bloomin’ Thing // Answers
1. Pasadena [Back]
2. The cherry trees, especially noticeable near the Jefferson Memorial [Back]
3. Mother’s Day; a red carnation indicates that the mother is living, a white one that she has died. [Back]
4. The American Beauty [Back]
5. Louisiana and Mississippi [Back]
6. The carnation; the rose is number one, naturally. [Back]
7. Georgia [Back]
8. The azalea [Back]
9. Arizona [Back]
10. Roses [Back]
11. Maine [Back]
12. The Japanese; it is one of the grandest Japanese culture festivals in the U.S. [Back]
13. Florida, naturally [Back]
14. Tulips, naturally [Back]
15. Alabama; lovely as goldenrod is, it is not appreciated by people with pollen allergies. [Back]
16. Amarillo [Back]
17. Oregon; the Oregon grape is a flowering plant, actually. [Back]
18. Begonias [Back]
19. Chrysanthemums; the festival is (naturally) in the fall. [Back]
20. The bluebonnet [Back]
21. California [Back]
22. Orchids; the nursery is Acres of Orchids. [Back]
23. Daffodils; over four-hundred thousand of them bloom in the area each April. [Back]
24. Massachusetts [Back]
25. Lilacs, what else? [Back]
26. Washington, D.C., home of the famous cherry trees near the Tidal Basin [Back]
27. Camellias; camellia growing is a major industry in California. [Back]
28. The golden poppy [Back]
29. Orange blossoms [Back]
30. Hibiscus [Back]
31. Kansas, which is distinctive in having the only edible state flower [Back]
32. Goldenrod [Back]
33. The state’s schoolchildren [Back]
34. Tennessee; in the French form, it’s known as the fleur-de-lis. [Back]
35. Dogwood [Back]
Feathered Friends // Answers
1. The turkey; Franklin knew that eagles are beautiful, but they’re also noted for eating carrion and for robbing their food from other birds instead of catching their own. [Back]
2. The Rhode Island Red chicken [Back]
3. The mockingbird [Back]
4. Hawaii (which is far west); the nene is also known as the Hawaiian goose. [Back]
5. The buzzard; Buzzard Sunday is the first Sunday after March 15. Technically, the birds are known as turkey vultures. [Back]
6. A woodpecker; the yellowhammer is also known as a flicker. [Back]
7. Cranes—whooping cranes, to be specific; it is the International Crane Foundation. [Back]
8. Canada geese; the residents use them to welcome the many thousands of real Canada geese that migrate through in the spring and fall. [Back]
9. Delaware; the bird is called the blue hen chicken, and no one is quite sure just what that is. [Back]
10. Utah; gulls are water birds, not necessarily requiring ocean water. [Back]
11. Ducks; the duck quartet waddles in time to a John Philip Sousa march. [Back]
12. The Carolina parakeet, which was beautiful but very destructive to fruit orchards [Back]
13. New Hampshire [Back]
14. The thunderbird, naturally [Back]
15. Theodore Roosevelt; it’s in Oyster Bay, New York. [Back]
16. The mockingbird (Happily, you aren’t expected to name all nine states.) [Back]
17. The whooping crane [Back]
18. The ring-necked pheasant, which has made a new home on American prairies (and on American dinner tables) [Back]
19. Minnesota [Back]
20. Utah; the state bird is the California gull. [Back]
21. Eagles [Back]
More Big Waters: America’s Rivers // Answers
1. The Missouri [Back]
2. India; he was mistaken. [Back]
3. The Grand Canyon [Back]
4. Harlem [Back]
5. Illinois; the river flows through both Decatur and Springfield, the capital. [Back]
6. The Swanee, of course; Foster’s song “Old Folks at Home,” also known as “Swanee River,” is Florida’s state song. [Back]
7. A massive chain, which is now on view at the Columbus Belmont Battlefield Park [Back]
8. The Rio Grande [Back]
9. Dayton, Ohio, believe it or not [Back]
10. Wilmington, Delaware, home of DuPont Chemical [Back]
11. San Antonio, which has developed its riverfront beautifully [Back]
12. Ox-bow lakes [Back]
13. Boise [Bac
k]
14. Georgia’s [Back]
15. The Hoover Dam [Back]
16. Alabama [Back]
17. The Colorado’s [Back]
18. Waterproof; over the years the river has changed its course many times, which has proved devastating to towns and farmlands. Waterproof was not waterproof. [Back]
19. North Carolina and Tennessee [Back]
20. The Potomac [Back]
21. Texas [Back]
22. Mississippi [Back]
More Beasts and Zoos // Answers
1. Buffalo hides—the price being one of the key causes of the dwindling herds [Back]
2. The camel, which never was very successful in America [Back]
3. A very large (and very ugly) salamander [Back]
4. The San Diego Zoo, one of the great zoos of the world [Back]
5. The Boston terrier [Back]
6. Bighorn sheep [Back]
7. Purina; the park is Purina Farms. [Back]
8. Oxen, which made up in endurance what they lacked in speed [Back]
9. Albuquerque, New Mexico [Back]
10. Bison (buffalo) and longhorn cattle, plus elk and other native wildlife [Back]
11. The Bronx Zoo (since it’s in the Bronx) [Back]
12. Florida, which has Manatee County [Back]
13. Tulsa, Oklahoma [Back]
14. Buffalo hides—what else? [Back]
15. Otters—for their hides, of course [Back]
16. Iowa, near the town of Marquette [Back]
17. Bluegrass [Back]
18. The SPCA, Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals [Back]
19. Borax (Remember the “Twenty-Mule-Team Borax” commercials?) [Back]
20. The Call of the Wild Museum [Back]
21. Fertilizer [Back]
22. Horns, along with other hunting memorabilia; they are in the Buckhorn Hall of Horns. [Back]
23. The National Zoo, of course [Back]
24. The manatee, or sea cow [Back]
25. Donkeys—or, to use the local word, burros [Back]
Named in Honor of Whom? // Answers
1. John Wayne [Back]
2. Hubert Humphrey, senator and vice president [Back]
3. Daniel Boone [Back]
4. John F. Kennedy [Back]
5. George S. Patton [Back]
6. Charles Lindbergh [Back]
7. Georgian; George I, George II, and George III all ruled during America’s early days. [Back]
8. Florida (Jacksonville) and Mississippi (Jackson) [Back]
9. New York; the section, or borough, is the Bronx. [Back]
10. Marshall Field; the museum is the Field Museum of Natural History. The chain of Marshall Field stores was acquired by Macy’s in 2006. [Back]
11. Rhode Island [Back]
12. Illinois; Lincoln christened the town site with watermelon juice. [Back]
13. John D. Rockefeller, who made Cleveland the base of his lucrative Standard Oil empire [Back]
14. Albert Einstein [Back]
15. Huntsville, the “Rocket City” and NASA site; the schools were named for astronauts Virgil Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee. [Back]
16. Theodore Roosevelt [Back]
17. Annapolis, Maryland; Annapolis means “Anne’s city.” [Back]
18. Montana, the state where Custer met his fate at Little Bighorn [Back]
19. Count Casimir Pulaski; there are Pulaskis all over the American map. [Back]
20. Botany; his impact on the cultivation of fruits and vegetables is immeasurable. [Back]
Halls of Fame // Answers
1. Nashville, Tennessee, naturally [Back]
2. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, begun in 1986, with its museum opening in 1995 in Cleveland [Back]
3. Baseball’s [Back]
4. The Bronx; it’s on the campus of Bronx Community College. [Back]
5. John Wayne [Back]
6. Boxing’s [Back]
7. Law enforcement; the American Police Hall of Fame and Museum has a curious location. [Back]
8. Florida; the museum is in Polk City. [Back]
9. Greyhounds; Abilene hosts the National Greyhound Meet. [Back]
10. Oklahoma’s National Hall of Fame for Famous American Indians [Back]
11. Female—cowgirls, to be specific; it is the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center. [Back]
12. Weight lifting; York is a major center for making weights and weight-lifting equipment. [Back]
13. Swimming; the International Swimming Hall of Fame is a museum as well as a swim center. [Back]
14. Colorado, appropriately enough [Back]
15. Softball; the Hall of Fame and Museum also has a stadium complex. [Back]