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Question: What President (elected in 1852) is the only in US History to be denied renomination by his party for a second elected term?
Answer: Franklin Pierce
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American History Trivia | 149 Questions Ranked From Easiest to Hardest (Updated For 2024)
- In May 2003, the fastest known speeding ticket in US history was handed out, with a Swedish sports car allegedly going 242 MPH in a 75 MPH zone. Fittingly, in what state did this occur? I suppose everything's bigger, and everything's faster there.
Answer: Texas
- Civil Rights activist Yuji Ichioka founded the short lived AAPA organization while studying at UC Berkeley in 1968. What two word alliterative name, coined by Ichioka to refer to a particular demographic of people in the U.S.A, did the first two letters of AAPA stand for?
Answer: Asian American
- According to legend, Delaware gets the nickname "Diamond State" because it was once called "a jewel among the states" by what third U.S. President?
Answer: Thomas Jefferson
- What Boston-based battle of the American Revolutionary War is somewhat inaccurately named, since most of the fighting took place on Breed's Hill?
Answer: Battle of Bunker Hill
- From 2000 to 2008, U.S. "golden" dollar coins were minted with an image of what Shoshone woman who guided the Lewis and Clark expedition?
Answer: Sacagawea
- From 1776 to 1783, Thomas Paine wrote a series of pamphlets about the Revolution, known as the “The American ______.” Fill in the one word “C” blank, a time of intense difficulty and danger.
Answer: The American Crisis
- Due to his status as the President of the Continental Congress, John Hancock's signature was the only one not grouped by state on which document?
Answer: The Declaration of Independence
- The Fifth Party System in the United States, which hosted relative Democratic dominance with their New Deal Coalition, began with which president's 1932 election?
Answer: Franklin D Roosevelt
- The largest wildcat strike in US history was an 8-day strike in March of what year? The strikers were 200,000 postal workers. We'll accept responses within five years of the correct answer.
Answer: 1970 (1965 - 1975 accepted)
- The North Star was a 19th-century anti-slavery newspaper founded by what famous abolitionist and formerly enslaved Black American?
Answer: Frederick Douglass
- What economic agreement between the United States, Mexico, and Canada was enacted in 1994 and replaced by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) in 2020?
Answer: NAFTA
- "Gods and Generals," "The Killer Angels," and "The Last Full Measure" are classic novels by Michael Shaara that chronicle what 19th-century conflict?
Answer: The Civil War
- Henry David Thoreau wrote about life in the woods in Massachusetts in what iconic 1854 work of nonfiction literature?
Answer: Walden
- He edited newspapers, flew kites, and had a long career in politics, but which historical figure's less well know achievements include being inducted into both the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1968, and the US Chess Hall of Fame in 1999?
Answer: Benjamin Franklin
- Room 214 of what Washington, DC hotel has been converted to "The Scandal Room," with decor that includes newspaper headlines about Richard Nixon's resignation?
Answer: The Watergate Hotel
- During the American Civil War, the battles of Bull Run (both the First and Second), Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Appomattox Court House were all fought in what state?
Answer: Virginia
- Which U.S. president spent the longest time in office? This man served in the office until his death at age 63.
Answer: Franklin Delano Roosevelt
- Executed as a spy in 1776, what speaker of the immortal phrase "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country" is the official State Hero of Connecticut?
Answer: Nathan Hale
- Reynolds St in Pittsburgh, PA is home to a cluster of museums and historical buildings based around the “Clayton” residence of the industrialist Henry Clay F______. Fill in the word blank, also a PC way of using the “F” bomb.
Answer: The Frick
- Referring to then-future president John Adams, the songs "Sit Down, John" and "But, Mr. Adams" come from what Broadway musical named for an important year in American history?
Answer: 1776
- This president resided in his mansion at Monticello and was a famed inventor. He controversially enforced the Embargo Act, but also successfully led a raid against Barbary pirates. Who was this president?
Answer: Thomas Jefferson
- Today, Washington D.C. is the nation’s capital, but it’s far from being the only place to take on the role throughout America’s history. In 1789, the first capital of the United States was actually located in which city?
Answer: New York City
- President Thomas Jefferson bought about 828,000 square miles worth of land from France in 1803. What name was given to the transaction for that territory?
Answer: Louisiana Purchase
- Michael C. Hall played President John F. Kennedy in scenes reenacting a visit to Queen Elizabeth II, played at the time by Claire Foy, on Season 2 of what big-budget Netflix series?
Answer: The Crown
- From 1944 to 1945, the Germans increased their troops surrounding the the Ardennes Forest for what World War II Battle and major counteroffensive? It gets its name for the rounded swelling of German troops in the region.
Answer: Battle Of The Bulge
- What ninth President had the shortest term in office -- one month -- but also the longest inaugural speech of any President in American history, at a whopping 105 minutes in length?
Answer: Harrison
- "11/22/63" is a novel in which a time traveler attempts to prevent the assassination of John F. Kennedy, by what American author who's associated more with Maine than with Washington, DC?
Answer: Stephen King
- Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison used the pen name "Publius" to publish what set of 85 essays in New York newspapers in 1787 and 1788?
Answer: The Federalist Papers
- What is the four-letter name for a fragment sometimes created when holes are made in a paper or card? The "hanging" variety of this common noun became a hot topic during the 2000 U.S. Presidential election in the state of Florida.
Answer: Chad
- Named for Judiciary Chairman Andrew Volstead, the 1919 Volstead Act overrode President Woodrow Wilson’s veto to what national act that was later repealed by the 21st amendment?
Answer: Prohibition
- In a 1776 letter, what future First Lady of the United States urged her husband, John, to "remember the ladies" when fighting for American independence from Britain? First and last names, please.
Answer: Abigail Adams
- Railroad mogul Leland Stanford ceremonially completed the Transcontinental Railroad on May 10, 1869 with a golden rail spike at Promontory Summit in what U.S. state, then a territory?
Answer: Utah
- In 1945, world leaders Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill met what other man in Yalta from February 4-11 to discuss postwar plans?
Answer: Joseph Stalin
- What "meaty" term is used to refer to the act when a politician appropriates government spending for localized projects? This is often considered a legal method for bringing money to a representative's district.
Answer: Pork barrel
- What four-word phrase spoken by Ronald Reagan in Europe in 1987 received relatively little media coverage at the time but exploded into ubiquity two years later when the phrase became reality? The phrase eventually became shorthand for an entire speech and foreign policy achievement.
Answer: Tear down this wall
- In contrast to Bill Clinton, what U.S. President -- still a senator at the time -- candidly said in 2006 of his prior cannabis use, "Yes, I inhaled frequently, that was the point?"
Answer: Barack Obama
- Beatrice Morrow Cannady was a civil rights advocate born in 1889 and became a longtime editor of "The Advocate" which was the largest African American newspaper in Portland, Oregon. She was also the first Black female to practice law in Oregon, and was a founding member of the city's chapter of what 1909-founded organization?
Answer: NAACP
- What is the name of the high school debate format named for seven debates in 1958 between Abraham Lincoln and a Democratic Senator known for his advocacy on popular sovereignty?
Answer: Stephen A Douglas
- Appointed in 1967 and played memorably on film by Chadwick Boseman, what is the name of the first African-American U.S. Supreme Court justice?
Answer: Thurgood Marshall
- As dramatized in the 2016 film "Loving," the 1967 Supreme Court case that prohibits laws banning interracial marriage was instigated by the Lovings, a couple who sought to have their marriage recognized by what state?
Answer: Virginia
- Happening in the southeastern portion of Montana, Custer's Last Stand occurred during what battle during the Great Sioux War of 1876?
Answer: Battle of the Little Bighorn
- 2017's "The Post" dramatized the attempts of that paper to publish the Report of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Vietnam Task Force, a set of documents known commonly by what geometric, alliterative name?
Answer: Pentagon Papers
- Which US president, whose middle name was only one letter, is the only president to ever commission use of a nuclear weapon?
Answer: Harry S Truman
- The Warren Commission officially claimed a "single-bullet theory" for the assassination of President Kennedy. Conspiracy theorists / detractors claim that another bullet was fired nearby. Now slang for conspiracy theories broadly, what is the name for this alternative firing location?
Answer: Grassy Knoll
- John Tyler opposed president Andrew Jackson during what 1832-1833 “N” crisis of US history, where South Carolina declared tariffs to be unconstitutional and void in the state?
Answer: Nullification
- Michael Joseph Blassie, who died in the Vietnam War, was identified through DNA testing in 1998 and was reinterred after having been buried in what specific location for the previous 26 years?
Answer: The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
- Hattie Wyatt Caraway holds a place in Arkansas and US history as the first woman to serve a full term in what role?
Answer: US Senator
- What “F” name is best known as the American inventor of the electronic television set, a rival for credit with the Russian Vladimir Zworykin? The American last name is the same as the elderly professor from the show “Futurama”.
Answer: Philo Farnsworth
- Now the namesake of a class of aircraft carriers, what Texan commanded the US Pacific fleet during World War II and served as America's Chief of Naval Operations from 1945 to 1947?
Answer: Nimitz
- Who was the only U.S. president to have a PhD in political science? He earned it from Johns Hopkins University in 1886.
Answer: Woodrow Wilson
- It has been tradition for the Irish taoiseach to give the US president shamrocks on St. Patrick's Day since ambassador John Hearne gave them to which US president in 1952?
Answer: Harry Truman
- Although Woodrow Wilson was essential to its creation, the United States never ratified or joined what United Nations predecessor in existence between World War I and World War II?
Answer: The League of Nations
- Ten years after his death, several criminals attempted to steal and ransom Lincoln's remains but were caught by what federal law enforcement agency that is currently nested within the Department of Homeland Security?
Answer: Secret Service
- In 1846, future president Zachary Taylor won a battle in the Mexican-American War campaign at what battle site, about 8 miles away from modern Brownsville, Texas? A city with the same name would be the site of Stanford University in California.
Answer: Palo Alto
- What agreement among the original 13 states was ratified in 1777, and was replaced by the United States Constitution on March 4, 1789?
Answer: Articles of Confederation
- Richmond, VA is home to a house and historical site linked to what man, who was a highly influential chief justice of the US Supreme Court from 1801 to 1835? He molded the definition of the Court with cases such as “Marbury v. Madison.”
Answer: John Marshall
- What “C” 19th century educator and civil rights activist became Principal of the Institute Of Colored Youth? He became a martyr to the political system of the time, killed in 1871 by Democrats looking to suppress the black Republican vote.
Answer: Octavius Catto
- What three-word name is given to the forced displacement of Native Americans, in particular members of the Five Civilized Tribes, by the United States government during the 1830s and 1840s from their ancestral homes in the Southeast to present-day Oklahoma?
Answer: Trail of Tears
- Which pejorative term was used for individuals from the North who relocated to the South during the Reconstruction period following the American Civil War? This term derives from the cheap material from which the luggage of many of these individuals was made.
Answer: Carpetbagger
- "I Like Ike" was a popular campaign slogan in 1952 for what ultimately successful candidate for the U.S. Presidency?
Answer: Eisenhower
- Americans like Ashley Judd, Taylor Swift, and Isabel Pascual who spoke out against sexual harassment and abuse were collectively named Time's 2017 Person of the Year, under what group title?
Answer: The Silence Breakers
- In 1619, Virginia’s first African slaves arrived on a ship known as the White ______. Fill in the one word “L” blank, a large African cat with a mane who hangs out in a pride.
Answer: White Lion
- What is the boozy two-word name for the 1794 uprising in western Pennsylvania by citizens who refused to pay a federal liquor tax to raise money for the national debt?
Answer: Whiskey Rebellion
- Since he wrote his name extra big when he signed the Declaration of Independence, which Founding Father’s name is also slang for your signature?
Answer: John Hancock
- The very first $1 bills issued in the U.S. didn’t have George Washington’s face on them—they featured Salmon P. Chase. Which department of the federal government was Chase the secretary of at the time?
Answer: Treasury
- When you think of early America, Philly and Boston probably jump to mind. While they’re great, neither is the oldest city in the U.S. Which city in Floria has that distinction, as it was settled by Spanish explorers in 1565? (Hint: They named it after a Catholic saint because they landed on their late-summer feast day)
Answer: St. Augustine
- "Pride (In the Name of Love)," a tribute to the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., is a hit 1984 song from what alphanumerically named rock band?
Answer: U2
- In 1959, Hiram Fong became the first Asian-American U.S. Senator after being elected as one of the first two Senators of what non-mainland state?
Answer: Hawaii
- What U.S. state that borders Lake Erie is named after the river that forms its southern border, which in turn is named for an Iroquois word meaning "great water?"
Answer: Ohio
- 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
- What formerly enslaved woman, portrayed by Cynthia Erivo in a 2019 biopic, helped dozens of people escape on the Underground Railroad, earning the nickname "Moses of her people?"
Answer: Harriet Tubman
- What is the numerical title of David McCullough's popular 2005 nonfiction book that focuses on the events surrounding the start of the American Revolutionary War?
Answer: 1776
- The Second Great ______ was a Protestant-led movement in the early 19th century in the U.S. that led millions of people to join churches, form new denominations, and promote reforms.
Answer: Awakening
- What group of settlers to what is now the U.S. state of Oklahoma got their name from the way they entered the territory and staked their claims before the official start of the 1889 Land Rush?
Answer: Sooners
- What was the name of the court house in Virginia where the Confederate Army surrendered to the Union, putting an end to The Civil War?
Answer: Appomattox
- Which era of rebuilding and social, economic, and political change began in the wake of the Civil War?
Answer: Reconstruction
- Both celebrated progressive Robert La Follette and Communist-hunter Joseph McCarthy were Republican senators from what U.S. state?
Answer: Wisconsin
- "Historians Take On the Biggest Legends and Lies About Our Past" is the subtitle of what punnily named nonfiction book by Kevin Kruze and Julian Zelizer that was released on January 3, 2023?
Answer: Myth America
- In 1917, the United States bought the Virgin Islands for $25 million from which European country?
Answer: Denmark
- "AuH2O" is an elemental string of letters that appeared on campaign posters and buttons for what losing candidate for U.S. president?
Answer: Barry Goldwater
- Grover Cleveland and Democrats tarred what 1884 opponent as the "Continental Liar from the State of Maine," a phrase which conveniently rhymed with the candidate's name?
Answer: James G. Blaine
- It sounds like he might have also had a career tending to livestock of the genus Ovis. In 1961 who became the first American in space, then a decade later became the oldest man in history to walk on the moon?
Answer: Alan Shepard
- At 19 Maiden Lane in lower Manhattan in 1787, James Madison wrote what essays that later became the foundation for the U.S. Constitution?
Answer: The Federalist Papers
- Which amendment to the United States Constitution coincidentally (fitting) establishes a limit of two terms for the office of presidency?
Answer: 22nd Amendment
- Who was Vice President of the United States when Lincoln was assassinated? Full name, please. He later became the first President impeached.
Answer: Andrew Johnson
- Which American war ended with the Treaty of Ghent?
Answer: The War of 1812
- Al Gore sought the Democratic nomination for US President in 1988 as the junior senator from which state?
Answer: Tennessee
- Adapted into a successful miniseries in 2001, what Stephen Ambrose nonfiction book about a World War II airborne regiment gets its title from George Washington's 1783 farewell address to his army?
Answer: Band of Brothers
- The contested 1876 election of which president marked the end of Reconstruction due to the backroom Compromise of 1877, which ensured which president's election and averted a constitutional crisis?
Answer: Rutherford B Hayes
- What 20th century U.S. President escaped two assassination attempts within 17 days in September 1975?
Answer: Gerald Ford
- Inspired by similar wording in the English Bill of Rights from the 1600s, "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel or unusual punishments inflicted" is the text of which amendment to the U.S. Constitution?
Answer: Eighth
- After being directed to evacuate by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1942, General Douglas MacArthur gave a famous speech in which he declared “I shall return" to what country? MacArthur made good on his promise when he returned to the country in 1944 to help liberate it from Japanese troops.
Answer: Philippines
- What US president of the 1920s, a vice president who rose in position when his president died of a heart attack, was known to not talk at parties, and was given the nickname “Silent?”
Answer: Calvin Coolidge
- President James Polk officially annexed Texas in what year, ultimately leading to the Mexican-American War?
Answer: 1845
- Mary Ludwig Hays, who carried water to Continental Army troops during the American Revolution, is best known today by what nickname that reflects a vessel she might have used?
Answer: Molly Pitcher
- Abraham Lincoln was famously born in Kentucky and lived much of his adult life in Illinois. However, he spent most of his childhood and early teenage years in what third state?
Answer: Indiana
- Although he had graduated from West Point and served with distinction in the Mexican–American War, this future President abruptly resigned his army commission in 1854 and returned to his family, living with them in poverty for seven years before re-enlisting. Who is he?
Answer: Ulysses S. Grant
- Name one of the two states which were partially acquired by the U.S. via the Gadsen Purchase of 1853.
Answer: New Mexico & Arizona
- "In 1814 we took a little trip, along with Colonel Jackson down the mighty Mississip'" begins a classic 1959 country song describing what battle between the U.S. Army and the British Army?
Answer: New Orleans
- What metallic term is usually used to refer to the Monitor and Virginia, the two Civil War warships that clashed with one another at the Battle of Hampton Roads?
Answer: Ironclads
- Which battle led to the bloodiest day (most Americans killed in a single day) in U.S. history? Hint: it's not Gettysburg, but was part of that same war.
Answer: Antietam
- George Washington famously never fathered any children. Name one of the four other U.S. Presidents that never fathered any children?
Answer: James Polk, Warren Harding, James Buchanan, and Andrew Jackson
- On 3rd Street in Philadelphia, what museum depicting a particular aspect of US history opened on April 19th, 2017, the 242nd anniversary of the battles of Lexington and Concord?
Answer: Museum Of The American Revolution
- In 1898, what US Navy ship sunk in Havana harbor, becoming a catalyst for US involvement in what became the Spanish-American War?
Answer: USS Maine
- VP Calvin Coolidge became U.S. President in 1923 after what president died of cardiac arrest while his wife was reading him a magazine article in bed?
Answer: Warren Harding
- Aside from Donald Trump, who was the only other U.S. president who had been divorced?
Answer: Ronald Reagan
- What American patriot made his famous "Give me liberty or give me death!" speech in 1775 at St. John's Church in Richmond, Virginia?
Answer: Patrick Henry
- Willa Beatrice Brown, born in Glasgow, Kentucky, in 1906, was the first African American woman to earn what kind of license in the U.S.?
Answer: Pilot's License
- In 1958, high school junior Robert Heft designed an iconic American item that was later accepted by congress in 1959. His teacher upgraded his grade on the design assignment from a B- to an A. What item did young Mr. Heft design?
Answer: The 50-star American flag
- Following her husband's death in 1935, Rose McConnell Long became the 3rd woman in US history to hold what title?
Answer: US Senator
- Name the only person to be a United States President and Supreme Court Justice. He was even Chief Justice! He was the 27th president and the tenth chief justice.
Answer: Taft
- In February of 1945, Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill, and Franklin D. Roosevelt met for a conference in what Crimean city to discuss the post-war organization of Germany and Europe?
Answer: Yalta
- At Bill Clinton's 1993 inauguration ceremony, Maya Angelou read her original poem "On the Pulse of ___." What time of day goes in the blank?
Answer: morning
- A Pool and Preserve in Austin, TX shares its name with what popular historical musical about the first Secretary of The Treasury in US History?
Answer: Hamilton Pool Preserve
- The first African-American regiment to fight for the Union Army in the Civil War is the subject of what 1989 film, which earned Denzel Washington a Best Supporting Actor Oscar?
Answer: Glory
- What first name, which is also a European nationality, precedes Schultz in the alias of an American mobster who was active in New York in the early twentieth century?
Answer: Dutch
- Though Franklin D. Roosevelt was not the first to use this phrase, the proximity of the U.S.A to Latin America was a likely inspiration for the name of which non-interventionist foreign policy implemented by his administration?
Answer: Good Neighbor Policy
- Benjamin O. Davis Sr, the first African-American man to become a general in the US Army, was a key figure in protecting the interests, morale, and rights of black soldiers in the US Army during what 20th century conflict?
Answer: World War Two
- One of only four US presidents never to have had a vice-president, which president was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, on December 29, 1808?
Answer: Andrew Johnson
- Originals of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights reside in the National Archives' Rotunda for the ___ of Freedom. What "C" word goes in the blank?
Answer: Charters
- There is only one U.S. state with four syllables in its name that borders zero other states with exactly four syllables. What is this state?
Answer: Indiana
- When JFK decided against running for his House of Representatives seat in 1952 in order to run for the U.S. Senate, fellow Massachusettsan Tip O'Neill said "All politics is ______" and subsequently won and kept the seat for over 30 years. What word fills in the blank?
Answer: Local
- What is the name of the "Island" which had a famous nuclear accident with a radiation leak in Pennsylvania in 1979?
Answer: Three Mile Island
- Including a container for a brewed beverage, what is the name of the scandal that rocked the Harding administration in the 1920s, involving bribery to obtain leases of Navy petroleum reserves without competitive bidding?
Answer: Teapot Dome
- In presidential elections, Washington DC receives three electoral votes due to what numbered constitutional amendment, ratified in 1961?
Answer: Twenty-third
- In what future state was the "golden spike" driven into the ground in 1869 to commemorate the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in the U.S.?
Answer: Utah
- What 1836 battle, which secured independence for Texas from Mexico, is memorialized by name in the lyrics of "Texas, Our Texas," the state's official song?
Answer: San Jacinto
- In a 1952 speech, Richard Nixon denied using political contributions for personal expenses, but famously said he'd keep what cocker spaniel given as a gift?
Answer: Checkers
- What is the name of the biographer whose famous American subjects include George Washington, John D. Rockefeller, and Alexander Hamilton -- the last of whose biography was adapted into a hit Broadway musical?
Answer: Ron Chernow
- Citing policy differences with President Andrew Jackson, what Southerner became the first person to resign the U.S. vice presidency on December 28, 1832?
Answer: John C. Calhoun
- What "Army" of protestors, who gathered in Washington D.C. in 1932, took its name from the military service payments they were promised, but weren't meant to collect until 1945?
Answer: Bonus Army
- Hundreds of thousands of Asian immigrants passed through what island in San Francisco bay in the early 20th century, sometimes called the "Ellis Island of the West?"
Answer: Angel Island
- Metacomet, chief of the Wampanoag in what is now New England, was known to European colonists as a "King" with what English name? A 17th-century war between colonists and Native Americans is named for him.
Answer: Philip
- In 1924 she was born in Brooklyn to Caribbean immigrant parents. In 1968 she became the first black woman elected to the United States Congress. Who is this woman? She served seven terms in Congress, was the first woman to appear in a Presidential debate, and most recently had a namesake state park opened in Brooklyn in 2019.
Answer: Shirley Chisholm
- What mixed-race Black and Native American man who escaped slavery is generally regarded to be the first American colonist killed in the Boston Massacre, and thereby the first American to die in the Revolution?
Answer: Crispus Attucks
- While roundly celebrated as the "arsenal of democracy" during WWII because of the city's steel production, Pittsburgh has also unfortunately been known as "______ with the lid off" since an infamous 1868 observation by Boston writer James Parton. What word fills in the blank?
Answer: Hell
- Which president one the only election in United States history in which the candidate with the most electoral votes actually lost?
Answer: John Quincy Adams
- Well before he was President, Lincoln stated his opposition spoke against which war by stating "military glory—that attractive rainbow, that rises in showers of blood"?
Answer: Mexican-American War
- Starting during Abraham Lincoln's presidency, what was the serpentine name of the "Peace Democrats" that opposed the Civil War and wanted to strive for a peace settlement with the Confederates as quickly as possible?
Answer: Copperheads
- The League of Nations originated from what numerically-named speech given by President Woodrow Wilson in January 1918?
Answer: Fourteen Points
- The portrait of George Washington that appears on $1 bills is based on an unfinished painting begun in 1796 by what American artist?
Answer: Gilbert Stuart
- Which American president had such distinct blue eyes and such a cold, stone-faced demeanor that he was popularly known as the "human iceberg?" This man served one term as a US Senator from Indiana and one term as US President.
Answer: Benjamin Harrison
- Widely regarded as the world's first commercial steamboat, Robert Fulton's North River Steamboat began operating in 1807 and is also known by what eight-letter name?
Answer: Clermont
- As per the terms of the 1850 Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, the United States and the United Kingdom agreed to halt colonization efforts in what region?
Answer: Central America
- The Battle of Bunker Hill in Boston was one of the turning points of the American Revolutionary War. Today, you can visit the monument as well as climb the 221-foot granite obelisk which honors the fallen soldiers. Within 20 steps, how many steps does it take to climb to the top?
Answer: 294 (274 - 314 accepted)
- James Garfield was shot by Charles Guiteau in 1881. This assassination attempt eventually led to Garfield's death. The bullet was lodged near Garfield's spine and could not be located by doctors. What contemporary American scientist and inventor created a metal detector to try (unsuccessfully) locating the bullet for removal?
Answer: Alexander Graham Bell
- What 1862 Civil War battle marked the "high water mark" for the Confederacy in the Western Theater after the Union Army of the Ohio (under Buell) won a tactical victory over the Confederate Army of Mississippi (under Bragg) in the largest battle in Kentucky history?
Answer: Perryville
- Under the supervision of Dr. Alan Isen in a television studio, who was the first U.S. President to appear in public wearing contact lenses? This occurred during the decade in which contact lenses first had mass appeal thanks to improved manufacturing technology.
Answer: Lyndon Johnson
- What man was a critical figure in Northwest Coast style art (specifically that of the Kwakwaka'wakw Aboriginal people) while also a prominent singer and songwriter? First hired by the Museum of Anthropology at UBC, he later created his most famous work -- a massive totem pole standing 160 feet tall that was raised in 1956 and stood until 2000.
Answer: Mungo Martin
What makes US history trivia so engaging?
It might be that, as a country, we've been through a lot together – good and bad.
In any case, US history trivia questions are a great way to test your knowledge of the people and events that have shaped our nation.
With that in mind, we've gathered 149 US history trivia questions (and their answers) for you to use however you see fit.
You can use them to test your knowledge, play with friends and family, or even use them as icebreaker questions.
Where can you find US history trivia questions?
If you're looking for US history trivia questions, Water Cooler Trivia is a great place to start.
Our trivia platform is filled with questions on a variety of topics, including US history.
The list of trivia questions above are just the start.
How can you create a US history trivia quiz?
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About the Author
Eli Robinson is the Chief Trivia Officer at Water Cooler Trivia. He was once in a Bruce Springsteen cover band called F Street Band.
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