Name That Place Quiz
Answer Key
1. c. Biscayne National Park. The National Park Service calls Biscayne National Park a “watery
wonderland.” This park in eastern Florida lies within sight of downtown Miami, yet is worlds away,
protecting a rare combination of aquamarine waters, emerald islands, and fish-bejeweled coral
reefs.
2. b. Mississippi. While the Missouri River is longer than the Mississippi River, the Missouri is
considered a tributary of the mighty Mississippi. Cotton and rice are important crops in the lower
Mississippi Valley; sugarcane is raised in the delta.
3. a. Minnesota. The Minnesota River Valley is the site of some of the oldest exposed rock in the
world. Geologists estimate the Granitic Gneiss located here was formed 3.8 billion years ago.
4. b. suspension. The 1.2-mile-long suspension bridge, which was completed in 1933, connects
San Francisco and Marin County.
5. c. Washington, D.C. The National Mall is a 146-acre stretch of lawn that extends from the
Potomac River to the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. The area hosts political rallies, festivals,
and other events.
6. a. Acadia National Park, Maine. Cadillac Mountain–the tallest mountain on the U.S. Atlantic
Coast–is part of Acadia, a national park in southeastern Maine that is almost completely
surrounded by sea. Acadia National Park comprises more than 47,000 acres of land.
7. b. Washington, D.C. While you can certainly read the Gettysburg Address at the Gettysburg
National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Penn., the Lincoln Memorial is located in our nation’s capital,
Washington, D.C.
8. b. Yellowstone. Before the National Park Service was established in 1916, the U.S. Army was in
charge of protecting Yellowstone, America’s first national park.
9. a. Philadelphia. The bell, which weighs 2,000 pounds, was cast in England in 1752 for the
Pennsylvania Statehouse (now named Independence Hall) in Philadelphia.
10. c. Great Smoky Mountains National Park. In 1926, President Calvin Coolidge established the
Great Smoky Mountains National Park to preserve Appalachian history and its resources. The
mountains are named for the smoke-like haze that envelops the park’s more than 25 peaks that
rise over 6,000 feet.
11. c. obelisk. An obelisk is a four-sided structure, usually built of stone, which tapers from the
bottom up.
12. c. the White House. The British burned this 132-room mansion in 1814. As it stands today, the
White House has 412 doors, 147 windows, 28 fireplaces, 8 staircases, and 3 elevators.
13. c. American Museum of Natural History, New York City. The Museum of Science in Boston
also has a planetarium named after Charles Hayden, but the American Museum of Natural History
on New York City’s Upper West Side has both a larger planetarium and a life-sized blue whale.
14. b. Battle Creek, Michigan. Today you can visit Kellogg’s Cereal City USA, an interactive
museum in Battle Creek that pays tribute to cereal and shows its impact on our culture. Visitors can
observe a re-creation of a cereal production line, meet their favorite Kellogg’s cereal-box celebrities, and buy a personalized box of cereal with their picture on it.
15. c. Point Barrow, Alaska. The location has been home to Native Inupiat Eskimo people for
more than 1,000 years under the name Ukpeagvik or “place where snowy owls are hunted.”
Patriotic Entertainment
Answer Key
1. a. “God Bless the USA.” The refrain of “God Bless the USA” continues:
“And I gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today,
‘Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land,
God bless the USA.”
2. a. World War II. Frankie Muniz played Willie in the film. His gruff father, played by Kevin Bacon,
helps Dink deal with war’s many scars when he returns home from battle.
3. c. “Star-Spangled Banner.” The song officially became our national anthem by an act of Congress in 1931.
4. b. Forrest Gump. This inspirational movie follows a simple man named Forrest Gump from the
rural South to the jungles of Vietnam to the hurricane-riddled Gulf Coast. The movie won six Academy Awards.
5. c. “This Land Is Your Land.” Woody Guthrie wrote “This Land Is Your Land” as a political song
in 1940. He recorded it in 1944. Many artists since have recorded slightly altered versions of the
song.
6. a. National Treasure. With the name Benjamin Franklin Gates, Cage’s character has big shoes
to fill! He also visits the original Constitution and the Declaration of Independence in his search for
a hidden cache of gold.
7. b. “Yankee Doodle.” In pre-Revolutionary America, “macaroni” was a fancy, or “dandy,” style of
dress. The song was originally used by the British to mock the poorly dressed rebels (Yankees),
and the rebel, “doodles,” quickly adopted the song as an anthem of pride.
8. b. A League of Their Own. The real-life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
(AAGPBL) took to the diamond in 1943 to continue America’s favorite past time while the men were
fighting in World War II. In this 1992 movie, Geena Davis, Rosie O’Donell, and Madonna are part of
the Rockford Peaches, an all-girls team. Tom Hanks plays the manager, Jimmy Dugan.
9. a. 31. The Pledge of Allegiance was written in August 1892 by Francis Bellamy. He wrote a
pledge that could be used by any country, so our pledge was personalized with six words in 1923:
“of the United States of America,” and with two more in 1954: “under God.”
10. b. Dave. Kevin Kline plays Dave Kovic, an average guy hired to pretend to be president. When
the real president has a heart attack, Kovic finds himself assuming more responsibility and actually
enjoying himself. Watch the movie to find out what happens!
11. c. “America the Beautiful.” A version of “America the Beautiful” performed by top country
music performers Trace Adkins, Billy Dean, Vince Gill, Carolyn Dawn Johnson, Toby Keith, Brenda
Lee, Lonestar, Martina McBride, Jamie O’Neal, Kenny Rogers and Keith Urban hit the charts
following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
12. a. an aborted Moon mission. In Apollo 13, Ron Howard recreated the drama of the aborted
1970 Apollo 13 Moon mission with nail-biting detail and spectacular visual integrity. It was Apollo 1
(1967) that experienced a fatal fire, and Apollo 11 (1969) that witnessed Neil Armstrong’s first steps
on the Moon.
13. c. “Take Me out to the Ballgame.” Traditionally played during baseball’s seventh-inning
stretch, “Take Me out to the Ballgame” is the unofficial anthem of baseball. The lyrics were written
in 1908 by a vaudeville performer named Jack Norworth, and were set to the music of Albert Von
Tilzer.
14. b. Air Force One. Harrison Ford plays the president who is taken hostage by terrorists from
Kazakhstan. He seems to escape from Air Force One in an emergency capsule, but he remains on
board.
15. a. “Taps.” The first documented use of “Taps” was at a funeral was during the Civil War. A
captain ordered that the call be played for the burial of a cannoneer killed in action. Since the
enemy was close, he worried that the traditional three-gun volley would cause a renewal of fighting.
U.S. History
Answer key
1. a. the Liberty Bell was rung. The bell was rung on July 8, 1776, to mark the milestone event.
2. b. Germany, Japan, and Italy. The U.S. entered WWII in 1941, after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor.
3. a. 27. The 27th Amendment concerning Congressional raises and was ratified in 1992.
4. c. Emma Lazarus. Lazarus, an American poet known for her powerful poems about Judaism,
wrote “The New Colossus” in 1883.
5. b. Geraldine Ferraro. Ferraro, a U.S. Representative from New York, was Walter Mondale’s
running mate on the Democratic ticket in 1984. They lost to incumbent President Ronald Reagan
and Vice President George H. W. Bush.
6. a. Thirteen stars and thirteen stripes. Although earlier flags featured a British Union Jack or
the motto “Don’t Tread on Me,” the first flag approved by the Continental Congress had 13 stars on
a field of blue and 13 stripes.
7. b. Franklin Roosevelt. Roosevelt was inaugurated to a second term on January 20, 1937.
8. c. 435. There are 435 representatives in the U.S. Congress, apportioned among the states
according to their populations. Their terms are two years long.
9. c. Bill Clinton and Andrew Johnson. Johnson was impeached in 1867 for violating the Tenure
of Office Act, and Clinton in 1998 for grand jury perjury and obstruction of justice, charges related to
his relationship with Monica Lewinsky. The Senate acquitted both men.
10. a. The Cabinet. The establishment of the Department of Homeland Security in 2002 brought
the number of Cabinet members to 15.
11. b. life. The President appoints justices to the Supreme Court, the highest court of the United
States, and the Senate must confirm them.
12. b. Patrick Henry. During a meeting of the legislature in Richmond in March 1775, Patrick Henry
urged his fellow Virginians to arm in self defense, closing his plea with the unforgettable sentence:
“I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death.”
13. b. Shoshone. Sacagawea was the wife of Toussaint Charbonneau, an interpreter and guide.
Their son, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, was born on February 11, 1805—less than three months
after they joined the Corps of Discovery.
14. a. Antietam. With more than 23,000 casualties in a single day, Sept. 17, 1862, Antietam holds
the dubious honor of the bloodiest day of the Civil War. Gettysburg suffered twice as many casualties, but they were spread out over the course of many skirmishes in June and July 1863.
15. b. Elephant. Cartoonist Thomas Nast is credited with making the symbols of the two major
political parties, the donkey and the elephant, famous. The Democrats claim that the donkey, their
symbol, is smart and brave.
Who Am I?
Answer key
1. c. Charles Lindbergh. Lindbergh made the 33 ½-hour, 3,600-mile flight in his Wright-powered
Ryan monoplane, Spirit of St. Louis. He traveled from Roosevelt Field, N.Y., to Le Bourget Field
outside Paris May 20–21, 1927.
2. b. Frank Epperson. In 1905, when Frank Epperson was making soda pop, he accidentally left
the mixing bucket outside. During the night the mixture froze solid, with the wooden stirring stick
standing straight up. Frank started selling Epperson icicles for five cents, later changing the name
to popsicles.
3. b. Edgar Allan Poe. Edgar Allan Poe was an American poet, short-story writer, and critic born in
Boston, Mass. His intense, mysterious, and often macabre tales and poems reflected his personality.
4. a. Alan Shepard, Jr. Alan Shepard, Jr. became the first American in space on 5 May 1961,
when he went aloft in the Freedom 7 capsule for a 15-minute sub-orbital flight.
5. c. Shaun White. Called the “Flying Tomato” because of his flaming red hair, Shaun White is a
whirlwind on a snowboard. At the 2010 Winter Olympics, White added a second gold to his collection and debuted a new move: the “Double McTwist 1260”—a move incorporating two front flips
and 3½ twists. He renamed it “The Tomahawk.”
6. b. Theodore Geisel. “Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is
youer than you.” This is a very Seussical quote from Theodore Geisel. Millions of fans mourned his
passing in 1991, at age 87.
7. a. DJ Grand Wizard Theodore. Born Theodore Livingstone in 1962, DJ Grand Wizard, Grand
Wizard Theodore, or GrandWizzard Theodore, is famous in the world of hip-hop turn-tablism for
inventing and perfecting the scratch and the needle drop. Many of his experiences were included in
a 2001 documentary film called Scratch.
8. c. Clarence Birdseye. By 1949, Birdseye had perfected the anhydrous freezing process, reducing the time to freeze foods from 18 hours to 1 1/2 hours.
9. a. George Washington. Sometimes called the father of our country, George Washington was
born in 1732, served two terms as president, was commander in chief of the Continental army in
the American Revolution, and died in 1799.
10. b. Milton Hershey. Hershey’s first foray in the candy business was caramels. He sold his
caramel business in 1900 and went on to produce what he called “the great American chocolate
bar.”
11. a. Derek Jeter. Such was Jeter’s reputation that when Rodriguez joined the Yankees in 2004,
Rodriguez moved to third base to allow Jeter to remain at shortstop.
12. c. Annie Leibovitz. Leibovitz began her career in 1970, when she first went to work for Rolling
Stone magazine. She left Rolling Stone in 1983 and has been with Vanity Fair since.
13. b. Martin Van Buren. Of all our presidents, eight were born British subjects: George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams,
Andrew Jackson, and William Harrison.
14. b. Bill Gates. A Harvard College dropout, Bill Gates formed Microsoft Corp. with Paul Allen.
Their Windows operating system runs on 80% of the world’s computers. Gates also funds the
world’s largest charity, the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation.
15. c. Julia Ward Howe. Mother’s Day in the United States originated in 1872 with Julia Ward
Howe, a writer, abolitionist, and suffragist. In 1911, President Woodrow Wilson made it a national
holiday.