American Trivia

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American trivia questions and answers.

Fun American trivia questions and answers.

What did the U.S. government buy for Alaska's Eskimos in 1891?
A: Sixteen Siberian reindeer--the start of the state's herd.

What state was the last to adopt the secret ballot?
A: South Carolina, in 1950.

Uncle Sam made his first appearance--beardless--in 1852. When did he acquire whiskers?
A: In his seventeenth year, in 1869, in "Harper's Weekly" magazine.

What state abolished its personal income tax in 1980 and refunded $185 million already collected to its taxpayers?
A: Alaska, which has the highest per capita income in the country.

What senator gave the longest filibuster on record--24 hours, 18 minutes?
A: South Carolina Republican Strom Thurmond. He was opposing the 1957 voting rights bill.

How many years of schooling did Benjamin Franklin have?
A: Two, one year in grammar school and one with a private teacher.

John Jay, John Marshall, Roger B Taney, and Salmon P. Chase were all chief justices of the U.S. Supreme Court. What other distinction did they share?
A: They never went to law school.

What was the name of the father of Sioux Indian leader Sitting Bull?
A: Jumping Bull

In 1812 New York City's Federal Hall--the site of America's first presidential inauguration--was torn down and sold for scrap at auction. How much did the city get for it?
A: $425.00.

What was Martin Luther King, Jr's name at birth?
A: Michael Luther King Jr.

Who was the first civilian astronaut launched into space by the U.S.?
A: Neil Armstrong.

In what city did Will Rogers serve as honorary mayor?
A: Beverly Hills.

Eighty-seven-year-old Democrat Rebecca Latimer Selton held what distinction in the political arena?
A: She was the first woman to become a U.S. Senator, when she was appointed by the governor of Georgia to serve the remaining day of a vacated Senate seat, November 21-222, 1922.

In 1992, the governor of Hawaii received a 30,000-signature petition to change the name of the island of Maui--to what?
A: Gilligan's Island, in honor of the TV sitcom. Needless to say, the island is still called Maui.

Which territory in North America did Detroit's founder, Antoine Laumet de la Mothe Cadillac, the man for whom the car is named, serve as governor from 1713 to 1716?
A: Louisiana.

Whose body was the first to lie in state in the rotunda of the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.?
A: Senator Henry Clay's. He died in 1852.

What country benefited from the first foreign aid bill approved by the United States Congress?
A: Venezuela. In May 1812, Congress appropriated $50,000 for relief following an earthquake in Venezuela.

What was the first building erected by the federal government in Washington, D.C.?
A: The executive mansion--later known as the White House. It was first occupied in 1800 by John Adams.

In a 1989 newspaper survey, only 9 percent of those polled knew William Rehnquist was chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. What judge was identified by 54 percent of those polled?
A: Retire California judge Joseph Wapner, of television's "The people's Court."

Of the 32 civil rights cases Thurgood Marshall argued before the U.S. Supreme Court as the lawyer for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, how many did he win?
A: 29

American Trivia Questions with Answers.

American trivia questions and answers.