Presidents
This president was an elite wrestler who only lost 1 documented match (of more than 300 total)
In 1849, this future state was overrun by a massive plague of rats that destroyed food supplies and chewed through tents. To combat this, enterprising traders shipped shiploads of stray domestic cats from the East Coast. Desperate miners paid up to $100 per cat (worth thousands today) in raw gold dust just to protect their camps.
What was California
After this famous founder of the Lost Colony was executed in 1618, his wife, Bess, had his head embalmed. She carried it with her in a red leather and velvet bag for the remaining 29 years of her life.
Who was Sir Walter Raleigh
This 130 ton metal structure is hit by an estimated 600 bolts of lightning every single year.
What is the statue of liberty.
After the US entered this war, sauerkraut was officially renamed "Liberty Cabbage," hamburgers became "Liberty Steaks," and frankfurters were called "Liberty Sausages."
What was World War I
This president's African Grey parrot, named Poll, had to be removed from his funeral because it would not stop screeching profanities that the former president had taught it.
Who was Andrew Jackson
Modern testing of this colonial location's original wells revealed the water was heavily contaminated with arsenic, high levels of salt from the ocean tide, and toxic amounts of fecal matter.
What was Jamestown (Virginia).
This individual believed deeply in the dignity of manual labor, and taught his students how to make bricks from clay. Together they laid the bricks to build almost every single early building on his campus.
Who was Booker T. Washington
During its final assembly, scientists sealed gaps between the different pieces with ordinary, commercial masking tape purchased from a local hardware store.
What was the atomic bomb.
This war claimed roughly 3,000 American lives, but only 385 of those soldiers died from actual combat wounds. The rest were killed by infectious tropical diseases and poisoning by crooked U.S. meatpacking contractors who shipped thousands of tons of spoiled, chemically preserved, and toxic canned beef to troops in the field.
What was the Spanish American War.
This president was shot by an assassin right before a campaign speech, but the bullet was slowed down by his folded 50 page speech and his steel glasses case. He told the crowd, "It takes more than that to kill a bull moose," and spoke for 90 minutes before seeking medical care.
Who was Teddy Roosevelt
A famous bridge in this city was tested for safety using 21 elephants when showman P.T. Barnum marched his circus animals across it in 1884 to prove it wouldn't collapse.
This individual was fascinated by extreme health fads, and spent a period of his life raw minced beef and walnuts, believing it cured his chronic stomach ailments and boosted his writing energy.
Who was Upton Sinclair
In 1941, this document was wrapped in protective paper, locked in a bronze crate, and shipped it via train to the Fort Knox Bullion Depository in Kentucky, where it remained under armed guard until 1944.
What was the Declaration of Independence
The day after British troops set fire to the nation's capital in this war, a violent "megastorm"—a combination of a hurricane and a rare, massive tornado—struck the city. The torrential rains extinguished the fires, while the extreme winds sent British cannons flying through the air and collapsed houses on top of soldiers.
What was the War of 1812.
This president was gifted a "mammoth cheese" by the town of Cheshire, Massachusetts. It weighted 1,235 pounds and he kept it in the White House for over a year, serving slices to guests.
Who was Thomas Jefferson
The National Cathedral in this city features a carving of a Darth Vader gargoyle high up on its northwest tower. It was added in the 1980s after a design competition for children.
What is Washington, D.C.
This individual was a huge fan of bicycling, and famously declared in 1896 that the bicycle has done more to emancipate women "than anything else in the world," adding that it gives women a feeling of "self-reliance and independence" every time they ride one.
Who was Susan B. Anthony
To finish this invention, two famous brothers purchased Pride of the West muslin fabric, a lightweight, tightly woven cotton cloth that was commercially manufactured and sold primarily for making ladies' fine underwear and aprons.
What was the Wright Flyer (1903 airplane).
This first major battle of this war took place on part of Wilmer McLean's farm, and he moved 120 miles away to protect his family. Four years later, Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant inside McLean's new living room.
What was the Civil War
This president's final meal in the White House in 1974 was this exact combination: a scoop of cottage cheese topped with a heavy drizzle of Heinz ketchup, served with a side of pineapple slices.
Who was Richard Nixon
The indigenous Taíno people on this future American island bred a small dog known as the Alco, which were physically incapable of barking. The Taínos used them to silently track and hunt small guinea pigs and forest rodents, though the unique breed went completely extinct following European conquest.
What was Puerto Rico.
This future senator loved to claim that a noticeable limp he carried was due to a heroic "war wound." In reality, his foot was broken during a wild, crossing-the-equator hazing celebration aboard a cargo ship, where he fell down a flight of stairs.
Who was Joseph McCarthy
The earliest versions of this machine generated an immense amount of friction from the rapidly spinning metal saws and wire brushes. This created an intense heat that was often ignited deliberately by enslaved workers seeking to sabotage plantation operations.
What was the cotton gin.
During this war, Operation Popeye dropped silver iodide into clouds to trigger artificial rain, successfully extending the monsoon season to turn enemy supply roads into mud.
What was the Vietnam War