American History
Geography
WHO AM I?
WHAT’S THE CONNECTION?
Potpourri
100

This president was in office when Alaska and Hawaii became the 49th and 50th states.

Answer: Dwight D. Eisenhower

100

The Danube River flows through more national capitals than any other river. Name two of them.

Answer: Any two of Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest and Belgrade

100

I was born in Kentucky in 1809, spent much of my adult life in Illinois, and became the first Republican elected president.

Answer: Abraham Lincoln

100

Frankfort — Jefferson City — Lincoln — Madison

Answer: All are U.S. state capitals.

100

This famous board game includes four railroads: Reading, Pennsylvania, B&O, and Short Line.

Answer: Monopoly

200

Before Washington, D.C., this city served as the nation’s capital for most of the 1790s.

Answer: Philadelphia

200

Three U.S. states have exactly four letters in their names. Name all three.

Answer: Iowa, Ohio and Utah

200

I was an American author and humorist born Samuel Langhorne Clemens, and I once worked as a Mississippi River pilot.

Answer: Mark Twain

200

Mercury — Gemini — Apollo

Answer: Consecutive major U.S. human spaceflight programs before the Space Shuttle era

200

This famous structure was built as the entrance to the 1889 World's Fair and was originally criticized by prominent artists and writers in its home city.

Answer: The Eiffel Tower

300

This president was the first to be born after the United States declared independence.

Answer: Martin Van Buren

300

Traveling due south from Detroit, Michigan, you can actually enter this foreign country.

Answer: Canada

300

I was born in Missouri, owned a men’s clothing store before entering politics, and unexpectedly became president in April 1945.

Answer: Harry S. Truman

300

Jefferson — Roosevelt — Lincoln — Washington

Answer: The four presidents depicted on Mount Rushmore.

300

This element has the chemical symbol Fe, derived from the Latin word ferrum.

Answer: Iron

400

The 1803 Louisiana Purchase roughly doubled the size of the United States. Thomas Jefferson purchased the territory from this European leader.

Answer: Napoleon Bonaparte

400

This is the only continent crossed by both the Equator and the Prime Meridian.

Answer: Africa

400

I was one of Hollywood's most recognizable leading men, known for my distinctive voice and down to earth style. I starred in Alfred Hitchcock's Rea Window and played George Bailey in a Christmas movie that became an American Classic.

Answer: Jimmy Stewart

400

Arizona — New Mexico — Oklahoma 

What distinction do these three states share?

Answer: They were the final three states admitted to the contiguous United States.
Oklahoma 1907, New Mexico and Arizona 1912.

400

This legendary baseball player was nicknamed “The Iron Horse” and played 2,130 consecutive games for the New York Yankees.

Answer: Lou Gehrig

500

Only one U.S. president has served as both president and chief justice of the United States. Name him.

Answer: William Howard Taft

500

Of the world’s five oceans, this is the only one whose name comes from a country.

Answer: Indian Ocean (India)

500

I was born in Kentucky in 1877. I wasn’t trying to cool people’s homes when my most famous invention was developed—I was attempting to control humidity in a printing plant.

Answer: Willis Carrier


500

John Adams — Thomas Jefferson — James Monroe 

What unusual date connects the deaths of all three presidents?

Answer: July 4
Adams and Jefferson died July 4, 1826; Monroe died July 4, 1831.

500

This famous American aviator made the first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927, flying from New York to Paris.

Answer: Charles Lindbergh