The Ultimate Wisconsin Quiz

Answer: William Howard Taft

Pauline Wayne was actually the second White House cow. The first, Wooly Bully, died in 1910. The cow was a gift to President Taft from Wisconsin Senator Isaac Stephenson. Pauline gave birth to a calf named "Big Bill", named after the president.

Pauline Wayne lived at the White House from 1910 to 1913. When Taft left the White House, she was shipped back to Wisconsin.

William Howard Taft (1857-1930) was the 27th President. He largely continued the policies of Teddy Roosevelt, although his more conservative policies antagonized Roosevelt enough so Teddy ran against him in 1912. Taft had the worst performance of any president seeking re-election EVER. However, he had a comeback when Warren Harding named him Chief Justice, a position he held until his death.

Answer: Gypsy

Daly played Rose in the 1989-90 revival of "Gypsy". The play follows the early career of legendary stripper Gypsy Rose Lee and her overbearing stage mother. The play is one of Stephen Sondheim's early successes, opening in 1959. It has lots of incredible songs including "Let Me Entertain You," "Everything's Coming up Roses" and "Rose's Turn."

"Gypsy" has been revived numerous times: 1974, 1989, 2003 and 2008 and twice in London. The 1989 revival won the Tony Award for Best Revival.

Tyne Daly is probably best known as Mary Beth Lacey on the police procedural "Cagney and Lacey" (1982-86). She was nominated for the Best Actress Emmy six consecutive years and won four times.

Answer: Obsidian

Todd Rice is a Milwaukee native who teams up with his sister Jennie Lynn Hayden. When they discover their father was a Green Lantern, they obtain superpowers. Todd has the power to manipulate shadows and takes the name Obsidian. Jennie has her father's Green Lantern powers and takes the name Jade. Todd works for the Justice League, while Jenny eventually joins the Green Lantern Corps.

"Infinity Inc" is based on the children of members of the Justice League. It was created in 1983 and the series ran from March 1984 to June 1988.

Answer: Charles

Charles Ingalls (1836-1902) was born in Cuba, New York. He moved west right after the Civil War, settling in Wisconsin. His daughter Laura, who became a writer, was born in Pepin, Wisconsin in 1867. After a decade of traveling around the Midwest, the Ingalls finally settled in DeSmet, South Dakota. Charles died in June 1902 and is buried in DeSmet.

Albert and James were brothers of Laura, while Isaiah Edwards was a close friend of the Ingalls family.

Answer: Signers of the US Constitution

Tthe streets are named after the signers of the Constitution. Major streets in Madison include (Thomas) Mifflin, (John) Langdon, (Jonathan) Dayton and of course, Washington Avenue.

Answer: Silver Mound

Silver Mound dates back to at least 9000 BCE. It was the site of a quartzite mine, which the native people used to make arrowheads. Silver Mound is in Jackson County. The site was declared a National Historic Landmark in 2006.

Aztalan dates to the Middle Mississippian period, around 1000 to 1300 AD. It is notable for mound structures. It is in Jefferson County, just east of Lake Mills. It has been a National Historic Landmark since 1964.

Man Mound dates to between 750 and 1200 AD, and was created by Late Woodland peoples. It is a huge (214 foot) mound in the shape of a man. It is one of the few anthropomorphic mounds remaining in the United States. The site was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2016.

The Elmside Park Mounds are also late Woodland and date to between 800 and 1100 AD. They were built as ceremonial mounds, and are in the shape of animals. Elmside Park is on the east side of Madison, near lake Monona.

Answer: Lake Geneva

"Dungeons and Dragons" was released by TSR in 1974. At that time, the headquarters for TSR were at Gary Gygax's basement in Lake Geneva. Gygax spent much of his youth in Lake Geneva and moved back in his mid-20s.

The game was created by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson in 1973 and has its roots in a role playing game called "Chainmail!". The game is basically a framework that allows players to create adventures using medieval characters. The game was enormously successful and led to multiple spinoffs.

Answer: Georgia O'Keefe

Georgia O'Keefe (1887-1986) was born in Sun Prairie, just outside the state capitol of Madison. When she was 16, her family moved to Virginia. She returned to the Midwest to study at the Art Institute of Chicago from 1905 to 1906. She spent much of her career alternating between New York and New Mexico. O'Keefe was one of the leading impressionists of the 20th century, best known for her flower paintings. She died in Santa Fe in March 1986, at the age of 98.

Elaine Sturtevant was from Ohio, Frankenthaler grew up in New York City and Cassatt was from Pittsburgh.

Answer: Clifford Simak

Clifford Simak (1904-1988) was one of the more prolific science fiction writers of the 20th century. He was born in Millville, and used the Wisconsin town as the setting for several of his stories. His notable work includes "The Big Front Yard" which involved inter-dimensional portals and "Way Station" (1963) which also involved aliens and portals. "All Flesh is Grass" (1965) is one story set in Millville. Simak moved to Minneapolis in his mid-30s and lived there for the next 50 years.

Ray Bradbury is close, as he was a native of Waukegan, Illinois. Heinlein was a native of Kansas City and Williamson was from the southwest (Arizona and New Mexico).

Answer: Star Man

"Star Man" (1984) begins with a space craft crashing near Chequamegon Bay. The alien uses the DNA of a deceased man to create a human host, and he convinces the man's widow (Karen Allen) to take him to Arizona where he can reunite with his people.

Jeff Bridges was nominated for Best Actor for "Star Man" but lost to F Murray Abraham. Bridges did win a Saturn Award from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films and Karen Allen was nominated for a Saturn.

Chequamegon Bay is an inlet of Lake Superior in northern Wisconsin. The cities of Ashland and Washburn are along its shores.

"Jagged Edge" (1985) is set in San Francisco. "Nadine" (1987) is set in Texas. And "TRON" (1982) is set mostly in Cyberspace or in the fictional Center City.

Answer: electric guitar

Waukesha native Les Paul invented the electric guitar, which was a major factor in the creation of Rock and Roll music. Paul was also an extremely successful recording artist, with numerous hit songs in the 1940s and 1950s, including "How High the Moon" and "Vaya Con Dios".

Les Paul (1915-2009) was a towering figure in 20th century music. He has a permanent exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His name is on both the Hollywood Walk of Fame (1960) and the Nashville Walk of Fame (2011). And he won several Grammy Awards for his technical contributions to the field of music.

Answer: Jean Nicolet

While Etienne Brule was probably the first European to visit Wisconsin in around 1623, Jean Nicolet is the first verifiable visitor. Nicolet landed near Green Bay in 1634 and met with Ho Chunk Indians.

Jesuit missionary Jacques Marquette traveled across Wisconsin with Louis Jolliet in 1673. Nicolas Perrot traveled in Wisconsin between 1665 and 1670. And Robert LaSalle traveled along Lake Michigan between 1679 and 1682.

Answer: Racine

Saint Paul Missionary Baptist traces its roots to 1857 and the Colored Union Baptist Church. It was located on 10th and Main Streets (a block I lived on). For most of its history, the church has been on the 1100 block of Grand Avenue. Saint Paul's has a long record of involvement in the community, including economic development.

Answer: John Bardeen

John Bardeen holds the distinction of winning two Nobel Prizes in Physics. In 1957, he won inventing the transistor at Bell Laboratories in the 1940s. And in 1972, he won for his work on superconductivity, in which materials lose their resistance to electrical conduction at super cool temperatures.

Bardeen (1908-1991) was born in Madison. He got his BS and MS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin, and his PhD in Mathematics from Princeton. Following World War II, Bardeen worked at Bell Labs, where his discovery of the semi-conductor revolutionized the future of computers. Bardeen's work on superconductivity was done at the University of Illinois,

Bardeen died in 1991. He returned to Wisconsin in the end, and is buried at Forest Hill Cemetery in Madison.

Answer: San Francisco 49ers

Kaepernick was with the 49ers until he was fired over his political activism. In an effort to call attention to the Black Lives Matter movement, Kaepernick began kneeling at games during the National Anthem. Since being dropped by the 49ers in 2016, Kaepernick claims that the NFL has discriminated against him.

Kaepernick was born in Milwaukee in 1987 and spent his early years in Wisconsin before moving to California. A superstar athlete in high school, he played for the University of Nevada where he became the first quarterback in NCAA history with over 10,000 yards passing and 4,000 yards rushing. He was selected by the 49ers in the second round of the 2011 draft,

Answer: Johnny Galecki

Johnny Galecki was on the short lived "American Dreamer' which was on during the 1990-91 television season. It starred Robert Urich as a former journalist who moved to Wisconsin to live a simpler life. The show was set in Kenosha, in the southeast corner of the state.

Galecki would get his big break on "Roseanne" in 1991, as David Healey, the eventual husband of Darlene Conner. He would star on "The Big Bang Theory" as Leonard Hofstadter between 2007 and 2019.

Simon Helberg's first regular TV gig was on "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" (2006-07). Jim Parsons had a recurring role on "Judging Amy" (2004-05). And Kaley Cuoco was on the CBS sitcom "Ladies Man" (2000-01) before "Eight Simple Rules".

Answer: True

UW-Stout not only offers a BFA program in Game Design, but their program is one of the top ranked among public universities. The degree combines computer science and art to provide students the skills needed in the game design industry. Core courses include 20 credits in game design and 40 credits in art and art history.

UW-Stout touts itself as "Wisconsin's Polytechnical University" and boasts that 98.4 percent of graduates find employment. UW-Stout is located in Menomonie, which is in the northwest part of Wisconsin, between Eau Claire and Minneapolis.

Answer: New York

New York gave LaFollette 474,913, although that was only 14.5 percent of the state's total vote, which Calvin Coolidge won by a large margin. Wisconsin was second with 453,678 votes, a winning 54 percent of the vote. Illinois was third with 432,027 votes, 18 percent of the state's vote. And California gave LaFollette 424,649, almost one-third of the vote and a solid second place finish.

LaFollette received 4.8 million votes, 16.6 percent of the total vote. He won his home state of Wisconsin, and finished second in eleven others.

Robert Lafollette is the most important political figure in Wisconsin history. Known as "Fighting Bob" he fought for reform as both Governor and Senator. He was also a notable opponent of the First World War.

Answer: Mozzarella

Mozzarella tops the list, with almost one-third (30.2 percent) of all cheese produced in Wisconsin. Cheddar was a solid second at 21.1 percent. Asiago and Swiss are both produced in large quantities in Wisconsin, but are farther down the list.

Mozzarella cheese originated in Italy, where it is made from buffalo milk. Most of the mozzarella made in the United States is from cow's milk. The cheese is extremely popular as a topping on pizza.

Answer: Outagamie

Outagamie won(?) the contest as the "Drunkest county in America" in 2021. This is not surprising, as Appleton, the county seat, was named the "Drunkest City in America" in 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2021. Nearby Green Bay has also won the title.

Wisconsin regularly tops the list of "Drunkest Cities in America" often having seven of the top ten places on the list. Wisconsin communities topping the 2022 list were Green Bay, Eau Claire, Appleton, Madison, Oshkosh-Neenah, Wausau and LaCrosse. Fargo and Grand Forks ND kept it from being an all Wisconsin list.