Visit Tyndale online at www.tyndale.com.
TYNDALE and Tyndale’s quill logo are registered trademarks of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
The Big Book of American Trivia
Copyright © 1997, 2011 by J. Stephen Lang. All rights reserved.
Cover illustration of banner copyright © by U.P.images/iStockphoto. All rights reserved.
Cover illustration of stars and stripes copyright © by Nic Taylor/iStockphoto. All rights reserved.
Cover pattern illustration copyright © by toto8888/iStockphoto. All rights reserved.
Cover illustration of flag copyright © by Michael Powers/iStockphoto. All rights reserved.
Cover illustration of eagle copyright © by Classix/iStockphoto. All rights reserved.
Interior photograph of church copyright © Gene Chutka/iStockphoto. All rights reserved.
Interior rendering of White House copyright © stocksnapper/iStockphoto. All rights reserved.
Interior rendering of inauguration copyright © andipantz/iStockphoto. All rights reserved.
Interior rendering of cornucopia copyright © Constance McGuire/iStockphoto. All rights reserved.
Interior photograph of calendar copyright © thumb/iStockphoto. All rights reserved.
Interior photograph of signature copyright © Roel Smart/iStockphoto. All rights reserved.
Interior illustration of marching band copyright © Keith Bishop/iStockphoto. All rights reserved.
Interior photograph of microphone copyright © Baris Simsek/iStockphoto. All rights reserved.
Interior illustration of musical scroll copyright © Cloudniners/iStockphoto. All rights reserved.
Designed by Ron Kaufmann
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lang, J. Stephen.
The big book of American trivia / J. Stephen Lang. — [Star-spangled ed.].
p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-4143-6454-4 (sc)
1. United States—Miscellanea. 2. Popular culture—United States—Miscellanea. I. Title.
E156.L36 2011
973—dc23 2011033958
Originally published in 1997 under ISBN 978-0-8423-8313-4.
Preface
Introduction
Part One: For the Record
Biggest, Widest, Mostest: U.S. Records
A World Record for . . .
The Oldest . . .
The One and Only . . .
Part Two: Let Us Entertain You
The Tube: TV in America
Great Americans on Film
Leading Men (On Screen, That Is)
Cartoons, Moving and Nonmoving
Out Here in Radio Land
More Great Americans on Film
America on Stage
TV Record Holders
The Fabulous Funnies
Make Me Laugh
Still More Great Americans on Film
Kid Stuff: Theme Parks and Such
Leading Men (Again)
Toys and Games and Other Playful Things
Queens of the Screen
Part Three: Our Love Affair with Music
“They’re Playing My Song”
Singers, Crooners, and So Forth
Creating the American Song
Composers and Songwriters and Such
Part Four: Leisure Time, American Style
Holidays, Holy Days, and Other Special Days
Four-Wheeled Friend: The Automobile
Join the Club
Christmas, American Style
I Love a Parade
For Kids’ Sake
Festivals of Food
Part Five: So Many Sights to See
Capitols: Those State-ly Buildings
Statues, Stadiums, and Such: City Landmarks
Ivy and Ivory Towers: Colleges and Universities
Famous Forts
Parks, Caverns, and So Forth: State Landmarks
Colors on the Map
Funny Names on the Map
On the Road Again
Beantown, Barb City, and Other City Nicknames
Notable Purchases
Little Egypt, Big Muddy, and Other Place Nicknames
Scraping the Sky: Tall Buildings
More Funny Names on the Map
Replicas: When You Can’t Have the Real Thing . . .
Happy Trails to You
Part Six: Call of the Wild
Big Waters: America’s Rivers
Beasts and Zoos and Such
Every Bloomin’ Thing
Feathered Friends
More Big Waters: America’s Rivers
More Beasts and Zoos
Part Seven: As a Memorial
Named in Honor of Whom?
Halls of Fame
Grave Matters: Final Resting Places of the Famous
Named in Honor of Whom? (Part 2)
Famous Cemeteries, Famous Occupants
More Grave Matters: Final Resting Places of the Famous
Named in Honor of Whom? (Part 3)
Part Eight: The Finer Things: Artists, Authors, and Such
Author! Author!
Short Reading: Newspapers and Magazines
Painters, Sculptors, and Other Artsy Types
Poetic Types
More Painters, Sculptors, and Artsy Types
Author! Author! (Part 2)
Part Nine: Hail to the Chief
Presidential Trivia
The First Ladies
The Quotable Presidents
More Presidential Trivia
Part Ten: Doing It by the Decades
The Babe, Billy Sunday, Etc.: The 1910s
Art Deco, the Model T, Etc.: The 1920s
Kingfish, Kodachrome, Knute, Etc.: The 1930s
CD, Nylons, A-Bombs, Etc.: The 1940s
Ike, Bonzo, Interstates, Etc.: The 1950s
Rockfests, Astronauts, Assassinations, Etc.: The 1960s
Watergate, STOP-ERA, Seagulls, Etc.: The 1970s
LaserJets, Volcanoes, Glasnost, Etc.: The 1980s
Megamalls, Oliver North, Perot, Etc.: The 1990s
Facebook, American Idol, Dubya, Etc.: The 2000s
Part Eleven: American Potpourri
The American Name
You’re a Grand Old Anthem
Grand Old Flags
Famous Firsts
“You Can Quote Me on That”
Mottoes
Word and Phrase Origins
Let’s Have a Contest!
More Famous Firsts
Part Twelve: Ten Questions (about Each State)
The Heart of Dixie, Alabama
The Last Frontier, Alaska
The Grand Canyon State, Arizona
The Land of Opportunity, Arkansas
The Golden State, California
The Centennial State, Colorado
The Constitution State, Connecticut
The First State, Delaware
The Sunshine State, Florida
The Peach State, Georgia
The Aloha State, Hawaii
The Gem State, Idaho
Land of Lincoln, Illinois
The Hoosier State, Indiana
The Hawkeye State, Iowa
The Sunflower State, Kansas
The Bluegrass State, Kentucky
The Pelican State, Louisiana
The Pine Tree State, Maine
The Old Line State, Maryland
The Bay State, Massachusetts
The Wolverine State, Michigan
The North Star State, Minnesota
The Magnolia State, Mississippi
The Show Me State, Missouri
Big Sky Country, Montana
The Cornhusker State, Nebraska
The Silver State, Nevada
The Granite State, New Hampshire
The Garden State, New Jersey
Land of Enchantment, New Mexico
The Empire State, New York
The Tar Heel State, North Carolina
The Sioux State, North Dakota
The Buckeye State, Ohio
The Sooner State, Oklahoma
The Beaver State, Oregon
The Keystone State, Pennsylvania
Little Rhody, Rhode Island
The Palmetto State, South Carolina
The Coyote State, South Dakota
The Volunteer State, Tennessee
The Lone Star State, Texas
The Beehive State, Utah
The Green Mountain State, Vermont
The Old Dominion, Virginia
The Evergreen State, Washington
The Mountain State, West Virginia
The Badger State, Wisconsin
The Cowboy State, Wyoming
A Capital City, D.C.
Part Thirteen: Things of the Spirit
The Bible in America
Churches, Cathedrals, Chapels, Shrines
Religious Notables
Part Fourteen: America Month by Month
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
In honor of the two-hundredth anniversary of our national anthem, we present this updated edition of the original book, first published in 1997. The years between then and now have been exciting and eventful—perhaps, in cases such as September 11, 2001, too eventful. However, one positive result of the 9/11 attacks and their aftermath has been a deepening of Americans’ patriotism. We may find much to complain about and we may find the news making us increasingly cynical, but when all is said and done, we are a deeply patriotic nation. And most people who stand to sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” put their hearts into it. Francis Scott Key would be pleased to know that the words he penned in 1814 on the back of an envelope are still being sung with gusto two centuries later.
The first edition of this book included a set of questions on flags (“Grand Old Flags”) in part eleven. That set appears in this edition as well, but we’ve also added a new set of questions, “You’re a Grand Old Anthem,” about the song’s history. Plus we’ve added more questions dealing with events of the still-in-progress twenty-first century.
Introduction
Is it possible that, with so many people fascinated with trivia and with such a great subject (America), no one has yet published a book of American trivia? It seems so. The book you are now holding is designed to fill that gap.
The problem is this: What to include? The possibilities seem endless.
Entertainment is a huge category and includes so much—music (pop, country, classical, and so on), television, movies, radio. Related is the whole category of the arts, with drama, museums, painting, sculpture. Also related is literature, including not only the classics but also newspapers and magazines. Likewise related is leisure time—clubs, holidays, parades, toys (and that Great American Toy, the automobile).
What about places? Geography need not be dull, not if you’re curious about American place names, the great tourist attractions in states and cities, even things such as theme parks. (If your family is on a road trip, these questions are a great place to start.)
Knowing how most people love their home turf, I felt a section that included state questions was essential—ten questions about each state (and D.C., too), to be exact.
Then there is history. Of course, we all know more about our own century than any other, right? So there is a section on the decades of the twentieth century—a few questions on each decade, hitting the high points and bringing up a few oddities too.
Above all, there are people—from Pocahontas to Edgar Allan Poe to Abraham Lincoln to Mark Twain to Babe Ruth to Neil Armstrong to Oliver North. Our American family portrait includes millions of faces—not all pretty but always intriguing.
Under these broad categories are more than 150 topical sections. Included are “TV Record Holders,” “Funny Names on the Map,” “Beasts and Zoos and Such,” “Grand Old Flags,” “Great Americans on Film,” “The Bible in America,” “Halls of Fame,” “Creating the American Song,” and so on. I could not include every subject, but the range is wide—inventions; comic strips; famous women; rivers; advertising; quotations; word origins; and many, many others.
The topics are organized in fourteen parts. But despite the attempt at organization, the book is for browsing. It was made to fill up your family’s time on a car trip, your daily commute on the train, the hour you spend waiting at the dentist’s office, the times when you and the other people in your car pool are in the mood for a game of “quiz me.” In other words, the book is designed to be read randomly, anywhere, and with no preparation of any kind. It is designed to entertain the person who unashamedly likes to be entertained—and challenged.
As the writing of this book progressed, it truly became a labor of love. After traveling abroad numerous times, I find that my home country is still the most fascinating, the one that lends itself most readily to the kind of book you are now holding.
If you find yourself able to answer every question in this book correctly, give yourself an A-plus in American studies. If not, then after reading this, you may consider yourself a little more knowledgeable, maybe even a little more appreciative, of this vast, enchanting land.
Biggest, Widest, Mostest: U.S. Records
1. With a thirty-five-foot-thick waist, she is probably the largest woman in America. Who is she? (Hint: statue) [Answer]
2. The largest football stadium, seating 109,901, is found in what state? [Answer]
3. What southern state (according to one study) has the highest percentage of obese adults? [Answer]
4. In terms of revenue, what package delivery firm is the nation’s largest transport company? [Answer]
5. What Native American tribe, the largest in the U.S., also has the largest reservation? [Answer]
6. The nation’s tallest sand dunes are in what western state? [Answer]
7. What is the distinction of the golf course at Cloudcroft, New Mexico? (Hint: clouds) [Answer]
8. The world’s largest aquarium opened in 2005 in what city? [Answer]
9. The nation’s largest maritime museum is Mystic Seaport in what New England state? [Answer]
10. FedEx Field, the largest pro football stadium, is in what state? [Answer]
11. What is the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S.? (Hint: south) [Answer]
12. Quantico, Virginia, has the largest base for which military branch? [Answer]
13. What landlocked state contains the largest saltwater body in the U.S.? [Answer]
14. What is distinctive about the thirteen-thousand-acre South Mountain Preserve in Phoenix, Arizona? [Answer]
15. What state capital is closest to the equator? [Answer]
16. The smallest county in the U.S. has a huge population. What county is it? [Answer]
17. What is the “anchorman” in each year’s graduating class from the U.S. Naval Academy? [Answer]
18. What southwestern state has the largest Native American population in the United States? [Answer]
19. What state is home of the country’s largest ranch? [Answer]
20. The largest moose population in the forty-eight contiguous states is in which New England state? [Answer]
21. Ribbon Falls, the U.S.’s highest waterfall, is in what western state? [Answer]
22. The country’s largest theology school, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, is where? [Answer]
23. What New England state has the lowest population east of the Mississippi? [Answ
er]
24. According to Time, “He’s preached in person to more people than any human being who ever lived.” Who? [Answer]
25. Whose record as the youngest international grand master in chess stood from 1958 to 1991? [Answer]
26. The ten highest mountains in the U.S. are in what western state? [Answer]
27. In what month have the most U.S. presidents’ inaugurations occurred? [Answer]
28. Pop Warner called whom “the greatest football player of all time”? [Answer]
29. Which southern state is the largest state east of the Mississippi River? [Answer]
30. The highest mountain east of the Mississippi is Mount Mitchell. What state is it in? [Answer]
31. What western state has the highest percentage of Asians in the United States? [Answer]
32. What painkiller is the most prescribed drug in America? [Answer]
A World Record for . . .
America holds a lot of world records—ranging from tall buildings to enchiladas.
1. What San Francisco–based company is the world’s largest apparel manufacturer? (Hint: denim) [Answer]
2. The largest one-day sporting event in the world is held in Indiana. What is it? [Answer]
3. America’s tallest building, with 110 stories, is in Chicago. What department store chain was it originally named for? [Answer]
4. What D.C. monument is the world’s tallest obelisk? [Answer]
5. The world’s largest post office building is in what Illinois city? [Answer]
6. The U.S. and Canada share the largest body of fresh water in the world. What lake is it? [Answer]
7. What Seattle-based company is the largest airplane manufacturer in the world? [Answer]
8. What Florida port handles more cruise ship passengers than any port in the world? [Answer]
9. Provo, Utah, has the world’s largest Mormon university. What is it? [Answer]
10. The world’s largest stalagmite is found in Cathedral Caverns in what southern state? [Answer]
11. What New York City museum calls itself the “World’s Great” exhibition? [Answer]
12. Louisville, Kentucky, contains the largest publishing house in the world for a particular group of people. Who? [Answer]
13. Batavia, Illinois, is the home to the world’s largest atom smasher, named for an Italian scientist. What is the name of the facility? [Answer]