Do you claim to be a United States history ad trivia buff? If so, test your I.Q. with these trivia questions. But beware – some of them are tricky!
1. In Arkansas, which city (or cities) has the one (or some) of the largest municipal parks nationally? North Little Rock; Eureka Springs; Hot Springs; Dardanelle.
2. Which city in Tennessee lies in the exact geographical center of the state? Smyrna; Franklin; Murfreesboro; Sparta.
3. GM produced Chevrolet Corvettes are manufactured in what town and state? St. Louis, Mo.; Bedford, Ind.; Bowling Green, Ky.; Fairfax, Kan.
4. In what Southern state was the first nuclear submarine was built? Alabama; Mississippi; Florida; Louisiana.
5. Which town and state boasts a “headless chicken” and continues to celebrate “Mike the Headless Chicken Day”? Fruita, Colo.; Amarillo, Texas; Casper, Wyo.; Chickasha, Okla.
6. Which state introduced Mardi Gras to the western world? Florida; Alabama; Louisiana; Mississippi.
7. True or False: There are no racial or ethnic majorities in Hawaii.
8. Which city and state was the victim of a bombing during World War II?
9. Which city and state has the only museum devoted only to mollusks? Gulf Shores, Ala.; Panama City, Fla.; Padre Island, National Seashore, Texas; Sanibel, Fla.
10. In 1947, a young woman was crowned Castroville, California’s first Artichoke Queen. She later became what famous actress and paramour of J. F. Kennedy?
Answers:
1. Actually, two of the largest parks in the nation are located in Arkansas. Lake Leatherwood in Eureka Springs has 1620 acres, including an 85-acre spring-fed lake. The lake is formed by one of the largest hand-cut native limestone dams in the country. Lake Leatherwood Park is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Burns Park, located in North Little Rock, has 1,575 acres and is also one of the nation’s largest municipal parks. 2. Tennessee borders eight other states. The city of Murfreesboro lies in the exact geographical center of Tennessee. An obelisk, erected in 1976, marks the location. Murfreesboro’s claim to fame is that it was the capital of Tennessee for eight years prior to Nashville. 3. Bowling Green took over Corvette production from GM’s St. Louis, Mo., plant June 1, 1981. 4. The first nuclear submarine built in the south was produced in Mississippi. 5. The people of Fruita celebrate “Mike the Headless Chicken Day” Legend claims that a farmer named Olsen cut off the head of his chicken, Mike, on September 10, 1945 to prepare for dinner; however, Mike refused to be eaten, and lived for another four years without his head. 6. Alabama introduced Mardi Gras, held on Shrove Tuesday, to the western world. 7. True because everyone is a minority. Caucasians (Haoles) constitute about 34 percent of the population of Hawaii, Japanese-American about 32 percent, Filipino-American about 16 percent and Chinese-American about 5 percent. Racial identification is hard to determine, as most of the population is a mixture of ethnicities. 8. Boise City, Okla., was the only city in the United States to be bombed during World War II. On Monday night, July 5, 1943, at approximately 12:30 a.m., a B-17 Bomber based at Dalhart Army Air Base (50 miles south of Boise City) dropped six practice bombs on the town. The bombs weighed 100 pounds each and contained four pounds of powder; the rest was sand. The day after the bombing, officials from Dalhart Army Air Base explained that the plane was assigned to drop the bombs on a range near Conlen, Texas, about 30 miles south. However, the pilot somehow got off its mark, and mistook the four streetlights around the courthouse for the lights of their target. No one was injured. 9. A museum in Sanibel that owns 2,000,000 shells claims to be the world’s only museum devoted solely to mollusks. 10. Marilyn Monroe.