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Are you looking to test your knowledge of Nebraska? Or perhaps you're a trivia enthusiast searching for a new challenge? Look no further than Nebraska trivia questions!
Known as the "Cornhusker State," Nebraska is located in the Great Plains region of the United States and is known for its rich agricultural heritage and diverse landscape, ranging from the Sandhills to the Great Plains. From its history and cultural heritage to its unique landscape, there's no shortage of fascinating facts to learn about this state. Nebraska played a vital role in the American West, particularly in the history of the transcontinental railroad and the Oregon trail. It was also home to famous figures such as Willa Cather and Malcolm X.
Nebraska's economy is driven by agriculture, particularly in the production of corn, soybeans, and wheat, as well as by transportation and logistics. The state is also home to several prestigious universities and research institutions. With a diverse range of activities from visiting historical sites to experiencing the state's vibrant music and art scene, Nebraska offers something for everyone. Whether you're a history buff, a trivia enthusiast, or just looking to learn something new, Nebraska trivia questions offer a fun and educational way to explore all that this state has to offer.
1. Which “henge” in Alliance is a homage to the famous stone landmark in England and would be a perfect pitstop if you’re road trippin’, given what it’s made of?
Answer: Carhenge
2. The Nebraska quarter pictures a pioneer family heading westward with what famous landmark in the background? This natural feature, located in the North Platte River valley near Bayard, became the most famous landmark on the Oregon-California trail.
Answer: Chimney Rock
3. What Nebraska city is home to Union Pacific, the country's largest rail transportation company? Union Pacific is one of four Fortune 500 companies that call this city home.
Answer: Omaha
4. Bruce Springsteen's landmark 1982 song "Nebraska," from the album of the same name, tells the first-person story of what serial killer who terrorized the state in 1958?
Answer: Charles Starkweather
5. In 1988, what international food company pushed the city of Omaha into destroying a historic district so they could put up a new headquarters? In 2015, the company relocated its headquarters to Chicago.
Answer: ConAgra
6. Populus deltoides is Nebraska’s state tree. What’s its common name, which comes from its white, fluffy seeds? (Hint: Elsewhere, you might call it a poplar).
Answer: Cottonwood
7. Each January 1st from 1992 through 1995, you could count on the Nebraska Cornhuskers winning what NCAA football bowl game that formerly took place annually in a namesake stadium in Miami, Florida?
Answer: Orange Bowl
8. On Nebraska’s official Great Seal, a blacksmith is seen raising a hammer over what large metallic “A” object sitting on a tree stump?
Answer: Anvil
9. Lincoln, Nebraska is the birthplace of what actress who appeared in 1992’s “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” for her film debut and famously played an ambitious pugilist in “Million Dollar Baby?”
Answer: Hilary Swank
10. Long before Earth Day, what holiday was first proposed by J. Sterling Morton, a newspaper editor in Nebraska City, resulting in the planting of one million trees in Nebraska on April 10, 1872?
Answer: Arbor Day
11. Of the several National Historic Trails that run through the state of Nebraska, one is the route of what service that ran from 1860 to 1861? The other National Historic Trails were those used by pioneers.
Answer: Pony Express
12. Sumner Street in Lincoln is where you can find the home (and maybe a monogrammed welcome mat showing the initials “WJB”) of what politician who ran against William McKinley twice and Theodore Roosevelt once as the Democratic nominee in three U.S. presidential elections?
Answer: William Jennings Bryan
13. In September 2022, what civil rights activist was named to the Nebraska Hall of Fame? He was assassinated on February 21, 1965.
Answer: Malcolm X
14. What city in Sarpy County, Nebraska, means “beautiful view” in French and shares the name with a town in many other states, including Washington, Iowa, Maryland, as well as a famous hospital in New York?
Answer: Bellevue
15. In 1714, Etienne de Bourgmont traveled from the Missouri River to a river he called the Rivière Nebraskier, after the Native American word for "flat water." By what name is this river known today?
Answer: Platte River
16. Which nearly central city is home to the Fox Theater, Nebraska’s Junk Jaunt, and the Custer County Fairgrounds? (Hint: The name may have come from early settlers who found dismantled Native American weapons there)
Answer: Broken Bow
17. In June 2023, a new statue representing the state of Nebraska was dedicated and unveiled in Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol. What author, who spent her formative years in Red Cloud and graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1895, is the subject of the statue?
Answer: Willa Cather
18. When Nebraska became a state in 1867, the capital was moved to Lancaster, which was then renamed Lincoln. Where was the capital of Nebraska when it was a territory?
Answer: Omaha
19. Mr. C. Hillegass, an employee at the Nebraska Book Company in 1958, started a series of study guides in his basement with his wife. Often associated with shirking homework assignments, what is the common name associated with these guides?
Answer: CliffsNotes
20. In 2016, Walmart acquired what Omaha, Nebraska based retail website that specializes in furniture and decor? The one word “H” name, two words stuck together, implies that its products may be difficult to find.
Answer: Hayneedle
21. Which state’s official seal (which reads “Equality Before the Law”) has several illustrations, including a steamboat chugging along the Missouri River and a train chugging along toward the Rockies?
Answer: Nebraska
22. What was the name, in English, of the Ponca man who "stood up" for his rights in 1879 by successfully arguing in an Omaha district court that Native Americans are legal persons entitled to rights like the writ of habeas corpus?
Answer: Standing Bear
23. What is the motto inscribed in the Great Seal of Nebraska? It can also be found on the state flag, which consists of the Great Seal in silver and gold against a blue background.
Answer: Equality Before the Law
24. What economically important insect (with the scientific name of Apis Mellifera) was declared Nebraska's state insect in 1975?
Answer: Honeybee
25. Which city in Adams County operated the largest Naval Ammunition Depot in the U.S. during the second world war?
Answer: Hastings
26. Solidago serotina is the scientific name for Nebraska's state flower. By what name is it commonly known?
Answer: Goldenrod
27. The Bob Kerry Pedestrian Bridge is to Nebraska and Iowa, as the Purple People Bridge is to Ohio and what unbridledly spirited state?
Answer: Kentucky
28. Which city in Keith County, Nebraska is home to Haythorn Ranch, the Kingsley Hydroplant, and the yearly Kites and Castles event on Lake McCoaughy?
Answer: Ogallala
29. Introduced in 1927, what powdered drink mix is the official state soft drink of Nebraska, where it was invented?
Answer: Kool-Aid
30. The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, which allowed both Kansas and Nebraska to decide for themselves whether to allow slavery, repealed an earlier "Compromise" named after what other state?
Answer: Missouri
31. (Don’t worry! We’re not here to trick or deceive you!) Nebraska’s state fish is the Channel species of what seemingly whiskered fish?
Answer: Catfish
32. Nebraskan Hazel Abel was the first woman from the state to be elected to which chamber of U.S. Congress?
Answer: Senate
33. Which American state does not automatically give all its electoral votes to the winning candidate statewide at a presidential election, and is the only one to have a unicameral state legislature?
Answer: Nebraska
34. What U.S. national monument in Nebraska was the site of major fossil finds, such as extinct beardogs and ancient beavers?
Answer: Agate Fossil Beds
35. Because of smoke that was observed in the area, early settlers around the town of Ionia (which has since ceased to exist) were afraid that they would be destroyed by what natural phenomenon?
Answer: Volcano
36. What Nebraska fast food chain is named for its signature product, a yeast dough pocket filled with meat and cabbage, brought to the state by Eastern European immigrants?
Answer: Runza
37. Nebraska is the only state in America that has only one house in its legislature. The other states are bicameral. What similar-but-different term is the name for the lone house in Nebraska’s legislature?
Answer: Unicameral
38. Omaha is the location of the headquarters and main visitor center for a national trail, administered by the National Park Service, that memorializes the 1804-1806 journey of what pair of explorers?
Answer: Lewis and Clark
39. Oh yeah! What colorful powdered drink from your childhood was invented in Nebraska in 1927, and even has its own exhibit at the Hastings Museum?
Answer: Kool-Aid
40. Serving from 2005 to 2015 after taking over as a result of his predecessor resigning, who is the longest serving governor in Nebraska’s history?
Answer: David Heineman
41. Which former world number tennis player was born in Omaha, Nebraska on August 30, 1982?
Answer: Andy Rodrick
42. In December 1918, police in Gering arrested a store owner and a man playing Santa Claus for violating a ban on public gatherings instituted because of concerns about the spread of what?
Answer: Influenza
43. On August 31, 2023, a crowd of 92,003 at Lincoln's Memorial Stadium for a match between University of Nebraska and University of Nebraska Omaha became the largest crowd ever at a women's sporting event. What was the sport?
Answer: Volleyball
44. Set in Falls City, Nebraska, "Boys Don't Cry" is a 1999 biopic of transgender man Brandon Teena. Which Nebraska-born actress, who would win a second Oscar for playing boxer Maggie Fitzgerald, won a Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of Brandon?
Answer: Hilary Swank
45. Serving from 1913 to 1943, who is Nebraska’s longest serving US senator?
Answer: George Norris
46. Nebraska is one of the two US states that can split its electoral vote in Presidential elections and does not have a winner takes all approach. What is the other one?
Answer: Maine
47. Eighty percent of the population of what crane, a relative of the endangered Whooping Crane, uses the Big Bend region of the Platte River on its annual migration?
Answer: Sandhill
48. What Nebraska reggae-rock band took their name from the Omaha police code for indecent exposure after a friend was arrested for skinny dipping in a local pool?
Answer: 311
49. What summertime toy was invented by aerospace engineer Lonnie Johnson in his spare time in 1982 while working for the Air Force in Lincoln, Nebraska?
Answer: Super Soaker
50. Sharing its name with a city in Nebraska, what 1066 battle is depicted in the 70-metre-long Bayeux Tapestry?
Answer: The Battle of Hastings
51. In 1942, Nebraska writer Mari Sandoz wrote a famous biography of what Lakota leader and hero of the Battle of the Little Big Horn, who was killed at Nebraska's Fort Robinson in 1877?
Answer: Crazy Horse
52. What legendary University of Nebraska football coach won three championships in the 1990s, later riding this popularity to a career in the US House of Representatives? His last name is the same as the comedy daredevil “Super Dave.”
Answer: Tom Osborne
53. What Midwestern author won the National Book Award in 2006 for his novel The Echo Maker, about a Kearney, Nebraska man whose brain injury from a car accident causes him to believe his sister is an impostor?
Answer: Richard Powers
54. Not a Druid himself, artist Jim Reinders arranged three standing trilithons within a circle of vehicles for a permanent installation near Alliance, Nebraska known by what C-name?
Answer: Carhenge
55. An animal science professor at the University of Nebraska is credited with developing the process behind restructured meats after he was approached by the National Pork Producers Council to create a new product. Examples of restructured meats include Dino Nuggets and what fast food sandwich that has attracted a cult following since its introduction in 1981?
Answer: McRib
56. Which insurance company that is well known investing the premiums wisely is based at the Blackstone Plaza in Omaha, Nebraska?
Answer: Berkshire Hathaway
57. Who developed CliffsNotes, that shortcut beloved by time-crunched high school and college students across the country? He was from Rising City and was working for the Nebraska Book Company at the time.
Answer: Clifton Hillegass
58. The legislatures of all U.S. states except Nebraska can be described by what "B" word, meaning they're made up of two houses?
Answer: Bicameral
59. What famous Nebraskan got his start in show business dancing with his sister Adele? After working in vaudeville, they first performed on Broadway in 1917. He later had an extensive film career.
Answer: Fred Astaire
60. Which US politician who later settled in another state and grew up there, was born in Omaha, Nebraska on July 14, 1913?
Answer: Gerald Ford
61. Nebraska was admitted as the 37th state in the United States on March 1st of which year?
Answer: 1867
62. What geologic park that sounds like it would be a nice place for a frog picnic is made up of some peculiar rock formations within Oglala National Grassland?
Answer: Toadstool
63. In 1935, Nebraska governor LeRoy Cochrane declared martial law in Omaha because of a strike by what workers? The governor acted in response to violence (including several bombings) and riots.
Answer: Streetcar
64. Bailey Yard, located in North Platte, Nebraska, the world's largest railroad classification yard in the world, belongs to what railroad company?
Answer: Union Pacific
65. What locale in Kimball County is the highest spot in Nebraska and also the Three-State Marker of where Nebraska meets Wyoming and Colorado?
Answer: Panorama Point
66. The School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan is named after what man, born in Omaha, Nebraska in 1913?
Answer: Gerald Ford
67. Which Nebraska-based insurance provider was started by a young man who sold insurance to pay his way through medical school in 1909, and a century later has grown to become a Fortune 500 company?
Answer: Mutual of Omaha
68. The Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association later became what conference, home to Nebraska, Missouri, Colorado, and Oklahoma, that combined with the Southwest Conference to form the Big 12 in 1996?
Answer: Big Eight
69. The author of "My Antonia" and "O Pioneers!," Willa Cather, won the 1923 Pulitzer Prize for a Novel for what work about a Nebraska farmer during the early decades of the 20th century?
Answer: One of Ours
70. Omaha native Conor Oberst released his first album under what band name in 1998? Since then, the band has been a mainstay of the city's Saddle Creek Records.
Answer: Bright Eyes
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