Historical Dates Trivia

1. Jamestown, founded in 1607, was the first permanent English colony in America. How many years later was England's second permanent colony founded?

From Quiz American History Math

Answer: 13

Plymouth was founded in 1620, ending Jamestown's 13 years of being an only child, so to speak. Soon to follow Plymouth were New Hampshire three years later in 1623 and then Maryland in 1624. Had the Roanoke colony succeeded, it would have preceded Jamestown by a full 20 years, having been set up way back in 1587. Since Jamestown was founded in 1607 and Plymouth in 1620, therefore, the difference is 13 years. Jamestown became successful as a result of the efforts of John Smith as well as the successful growing of tobacco. Plymouth was founded by Puritans on land that had actually also been surveyed by Smith. One of Plymouth's great early governors was William Bradford, who served for around 30 years.

From Quiz Famous Dates in US History

Answer: An isle he called San Salvador Island, Bahamas

Columbus made four voyages to the New World. On his first trip he stopped at the Canary Islands to make repairs and to board supplies. After another five weeks, land was spotted that he called San Salvador, now part of the Bahamas Islands. He then proceeded south and went along the coasts of Cuba and Hispaniola. Columbus characterized the natives he met as intelligent, resourceful and said they would make fine slaves. However, he found them also to be suspicious and hostile. He took several prisoners but only seven survived the voyage back to Spain.

From Quiz A Date with History

Answer: Manhattan

The building of the first atomic bomb was known as the Manhattan Project by scientists in America because ten of its key sites were in Manhattan. The test for the first atomic bomb occurred in New Mexico on July 16, 1945. No one knew just what the nuclear bomb was going to do and a lie had to be made up to explain the large hole made by the detonation of the bomb. After a successful detonation, President Truman was told that the atomic bomb had worked perfectly.

From Quiz Basic North American History

Answer: Treaty of Ghent

The Treaty of Ghent was signed on Christmas Eve, 1814. The British were simply sick of fighting, and America had failed to control Canada and wanted to resume trade.

From Quiz American History Dates

Answer: September 17, 1862

The Battle of Antietam (or Sharpsburg) on September 17, 1862, climaxed the first of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's two attempts to carry the war into the North. About 40,000 Southerners were pitted against the 87,000-man Federal Army of the Potomac under Gen. George B. McClellan, and when the fighting ended, the course of the American Civil War had been greatly altered.

From Quiz Notable Dates in United States History

Answer: 1845

The event: In 1845, a gang of young men in Manhattan organized the Knickerbocker Baseball Club and wrote down the rules of the game children in England and America had played the game for years under names like "rounders," "one o' cat," "base," and of course, "baseball."

From Quiz United States History

Answer: October 1, 1908

At that time, the price of the car was $850.

From Quiz American History

Answer: 1876

General Custer led an exploring party of gold seekers into the Black Hills. Although the Army had promised to keep them away from Indian lands, they began to filter onto the lands. Custer found the main camp of the Sioux and their Cheyenne allies on the Little Big Horn River. Custer and 200 of his men, surrounded by around 2,500 warriors, were completely annihilated.

From Quiz Famous Dates in US History

Answer: Spain

In 1565 Pedro Menéndez de Aviles established Saint Augustine that served as the capital of Florida under Spanish rule for 200 years. It remained the capital under both British and American regimes until 1824 when it was moved to Tallahassee in 1824. Now it is mainly a tourist attraction due its preservation of historical buildings. It is not unusual to see a plaque noting the building dates from the 17th century but enter it to find that it sells designer sun glasses. However, just walking through the old section gives one a sense of history.

From Quiz A Date with History

Answer: Black Tuesday

Because of the stock market crash of 1929, the banking system was a mess when President Roosevelt became president in 1933. In order to fix the damage as best he could, President Roosevelt closed all the banks for three days. Before re-opening, each bank was given strict guidelines on citizens withdrawing money from the banks. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation was started because of the stock market crash. With the FDIC, banks could go out of business, but depositors would still get their money through the government.

From Quiz Basic North American History

Answer: having two houses

The Legislative Branch of the United State has a senate and an assembly. These two houses make it bicameral.

From Quiz American History Dates

Answer: January 28, 1986

The Challenger shuttle exploded 73 seconds into flight. On board was the first teacher in space.

From Quiz Notable Dates in United States History

Answer: 1903

This event took place on December 17, 1903, at Kitty Hawk beach on the North Carolina Outer Banks. Orville Wright was the pilot.

From Quiz United States History

Answer: 1682

Another event in that year was that Robert Cavelier and Sieur de La Salle claimed the lower Mississippi River country for France and called it Louisiana.

From Quiz American History

Answer: 1869

Lincoln signed the Pacific Railway Bill in 1862. The act authorized Union Pacific Railroad and Central Pacific Railroad to begin building a transcontinental tracks. Union Pacific was to build along a north-central route westward from Omaha and the Central Pacific Railroad eastward from Sacramento. Both railroads began work during the war but most work was done after 1865.

From Quiz Famous Dates in US History

Answer: Plymouth

Although much tradition is based on the Plymouth Rock landing, it probably did not happen. As travel writer Bill Bryson said "The one thing the Pilgrims certainly did not do was step ashore on Plymouth Rock. Quite apart from the consideration that it may have stood well above the high-water mark in 1620, no prudent mariner would try to bring a ship alongside a boulder on a heaving December sea when a sheltered inlet beckoned from near by." The location was first identified by 94-year-old Thomas Faunce in 1741, a 121 years after the event. The romance of the rock has led to myths and to adoration of the spot. However, no written records have ever been found prior to Faunce's oral testimony.

From Quiz Basic North American History

Answer: League of the Iroquois

These five nations were commonly called the League of the Iroquois. The Iroquois were some of the best known Indian groups.

From Quiz American History Dates

Answer: March 5, 1770

On the eve of March 5, 1770 a snowball fight broke out between Boston colonists and British forces. It ended with five dead colonists.

From Quiz Notable Dates in United States History

Answer: 1870

Rockefeller is famous for utilizing and mastering the business practice of "vertical integration." This practice involves owning all aspects of production - from the oil fields, to the railways that ship your product, to the companies that refine the oil, to the barrel companies that package the oil, to the distribution centers that sell the final product. Rockefeller was one of the true Robber Barons/Captains of inustry during the post civil war period in the United States.

From Quiz United States History

Answer: 1935

After the final block of concrete was poured and the dam topped-off, President Franklin Roosevelt commemorated the completion at a ceremony on September 30, 1935. Another event from that year was Babe Ruth hitting home run #714, a record that would stand for 39 years.

From Quiz American History

Answer: 1865

President Lincoln spoke his last public words on April 11, 1865. We all know who assassinated Pres. Lincoln - John Wilkes Booth

From Quiz Famous Dates in US History

Answer: 0

The twenty convicted 'witches' were hanged. The Salem Witch Trials were, according to one observer, "The nation's most notorious cases of mass hysteria (and)... as a vivid cautionary tale about the dangers of isolationism, religious extremism, false accusations, and lapses in due process." The so-called victims would writhe on the floor, appear to be having a fit accompanied by shrieking and screaming. The blame fell mostly upon social isolates in the community for casting 'spells'. A 1976 "Science Magazine" article suggested that the fungus ergot (found in rye, wheat and other cereals) can cause symptoms such as delusions, vomiting and muscle spasms. This may in some respect explain the 'spells', although historians discount it.

From Quiz A Date with History

Answer: 1969

On the moon, a crew of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first and second men to walk on the moon while Michael Collins was the command module pilot and had to stay in the space shuttle to pilot it. The crew of Apollo 11 left an American flag, a patch honoring the crew of Apollo 1, and a plaque that stated "Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the moon. July 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind."

From Quiz Basic North American History

Answer: Fort Sumter was attacked by the Confederacy

This famous event marked the beginning of the Civil War. The Confederacy ordered the Union to surrender. When rejected, the Confederates opened fire.

From Quiz American History Dates

Answer: June 25, 1876

Custer made a final stand at Little Bighorn - a turning point in the Great Sioux War of 1876.

From Quiz Notable Dates in United States History

Answer: 1789

The members of the Electoral College unanimously elected Washington, and wih thirty-four votes, John Adams was named vice-president. (It was also year of French Revolution).

From Quiz United States History

Answer: April 6, 1830

The church was organized by Joseph Smith of Fayette, NY. He was later assassinated, and Brigham Young took charge.

From Quiz American History

Answer: 1890

Nearly 200 Indians and 25 soldiers died in this battle.

From Quiz Famous Dates in US History

Answer: Doubled the number of slaves in a few years

Often times a labor saving device will eventually create alternate occupations. Finding a new way to take the seeds out of cotton rather than by hand had this effect. Invention of the cotton gin (short for engine) made cotton a more valuable crop as it became a prime method of making clothing. Slaves that might have spent hours picking seeds now went to the fields for the plowing, planting, tending, and harvesting. The popularity of cotton, also as an export, brought the need for cheap labor that the slaves provided.

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