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Presidential Assassinations Quizzes, Trivia and Puzzles
Presidential Assassinations Quizzes, Trivia

Presidential Assassinations Trivia

Presidential Assassinations Trivia Quizzes

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Delve into the dramatic and often haunting moments in American history where fates were changed in an instant by exploring the stories of intrigue, bravery, and tragedy surrounding pivotal figures in the nation's highest office.
10 Presidential Assassinations quizzes and 135 Presidential Assassinations trivia questions.
1.
  The Curse of the Presidents   great trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
The curse of the presidents is that every president elected every 20 years starting with 1840 has been killed or died while in office. Take this quiz to learn more.
Easier, 10 Qns, Ilona_Ritter, Oct 02 21
Easier
Ilona_Ritter
Oct 02 21
1979 plays
2.
  Lincoln/Kennedy; Kennedy/Lincoln.   great trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
A long list of 'coincidences' that connect Abraham Lincoln and John F Kennedy have been circulating for years. Some are certainly true, whilst others are quite misleading. Can you decipher which is which? All answers are either true or false :)
Average, 10 Qns, dopple44, Sep 10 10
Average
dopple44
1334 plays
3.
  Failed Assassinations of US Presidents   great trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 15 Qns
Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley, and John F. Kennedy were all assassinated while they held the office of President of the United States. These are 15 similar attempts that failed to work.
Average, 15 Qns, illiniman14, Feb 26 10
Average
illiniman14 gold member
894 plays
4.
  Assassination Attempts on U.S. Presidents   great trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 25 Qns
There have been eleven presidential assassinationsor attempts in U.S. history. How much do you know about them?
Tough, 25 Qns, ratboy131, Apr 04 14
Tough
ratboy131
2309 plays
5.
  Have A History Teacher Explain This Part 2    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
This is the second part of the Lincoln/Kennedy similarities. Coincidence?
Average, 10 Qns, dirtnastier, Apr 13 14
Average
dirtnastier
626 plays
6.
  Kennedy and Lincoln: Many Similarities    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
A quiz about some similarities between the lives of the 16th and 35th American presidents.
Average, 10 Qns, JasonP87, May 28 14
Average
JasonP87
425 plays
7.
  Have A History Teacher Explain This Part 1    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Have a history teacher explain this if they can. Coincidence?
Average, 10 Qns, dirtnastier, May 02 11
Average
dirtnastier
796 plays
8.
  Casualties of an Assassination    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Conspiracy theorists love pointing to the many "mysterious" deaths of people involved with investigations of Kennedy's assassination. But how many are actually mysterious?
Tough, 10 Qns, AlexT781, Mar 05 18
Tough
AlexT781
Mar 05 18
304 plays
9.
  Presidential Assassinations    
Multiple Choice
 25 Qns
All about the presidents who have been assassinated and the men who murdered them.
Difficult, 25 Qns, Amatullah, Sep 26 14
Difficult
Amatullah
1620 plays
10.
  The Neighbors Did What?    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Imagine you live in 19th century Harford County, Maryland and your neighbors are the Booths of Tudor Hall. What would the gossip be?
Tough, 10 Qns, chicochi3, Aug 22 09
Tough
chicochi3
346 plays
trivia question Quick Question
In what year was Abraham Lincoln ELECTED President of the United States?

From Quiz "Have A History Teacher Explain This Part 1"




Related Topics
  Kennedy, John F [World] (21 quizzes)


Presidential Assassinations Trivia Questions
1. Ten years after J F Kennedy's death, the claim of mysterious deaths of people connected to either the assassination or the Warren Commission first became popular among the general public through which movie?

From Quiz Casualties of an Assassination

Answer: "Executive Action"

Before 1973's "Executive Action", the idea that many people died mysteriously wasn't well known. However, like most related conspiracy theories, the later movie "JFK" gave it new life among a country that was daring to believe the official government story.

2. Precisely 100 years separate the years in which presidents Lincoln and Kennedy were elected. What were they?

From Quiz Kennedy and Lincoln: Many Similarities

Answer: 1860 and 1960

Lincoln was elected in 1860, defeating candidates John C. Breckinridge, John Bell, and Stephen A. Douglas. Kennedy was elected in 1960, defeating future president and former vice president Richard Nixon.

3. In what year was Abraham Lincoln ELECTED to Congress?

From Quiz Have A History Teacher Explain This Part 1

Answer: 1846

Lincoln was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1846. He served a two-year term.

4. To look at this curse we must first go back a little in time. During the War of 1812, Tecumseh was killed in battle. Who was the man who led the army that eventually killed Tecumseh on October 5, 1813?

From Quiz The Curse of the Presidents

Answer: William Harrison

Tecumseh was a Shawnee leader. Tecumseh had warned Harrison that the selling of the land that we now know as Ohio was illegal because the tribes who sold did not have the right to sell. Harrison didn't listen and tensions grew between the two. Both Tecumseh and Harrison knew war was inevitable.

5. Junius Brutus Booth, Sr. and Mary Ann Holmes married in 1821 and settled with their children in Harford County, Maryland. But there was a serious problem with this. What was it?

From Quiz The Neighbors Did What?

Answer: Junius Brutus Booth, Sr. still had a wife and child in England

Junius Brutus Booth, Sr. and Mary Ann Holmes were not legally married since he already had a wife in England. He kept his first wife in the dark about his second wife for 25 years. Thus, all ten of their children were illegitimate. Booth did have a drinking problem, but never laid a hand on his wife or any of his children. Nobody had to spread any rumors about Junius Brutus Booth,Sr. His reputation was his own worst enemy.

6. The first president who had an assassination attempt on him was Andrew Jackson, in 1835. The would-be assassin was Richard Lawrence. Why did he try to kill Jackson?

From Quiz Assassination Attempts on U.S. Presidents

Answer: He thought he was King Richard III of England and that the U.S. owed him money for property stolen from him.

On January 30, 1835, Jackson was walking out of a funeral in the Capitol when Lawrence jumped out of nowhere and fired a pistol eight feet from Jackson's heart. The pistol misfired, and Jackson attempted to hit Lawrence with his cane. Lawrence took a second pistol and fired again, and the gun miraculously also misfired. The people around Jackson tackled Lawrence to the ground, and Jackson escaped without injury.

7. Dorothy Kilgallen is arguably the favorite of most conspiracy theorists. She supposedly interviewed Jack Ruby in prison and had proof the assassination was a conspiracy. What is the problem with this supposed connection to Ruby?

From Quiz Casualties of an Assassination

Answer: She never interviewed him

There is no record of her ever speaking to Jack Ruby beyond a brief exchange during his trial, which had been arranged by Ruby's lawyer.

8. While Lincoln and Kennedy were each president, what similar event happened to one of their children?

From Quiz Kennedy and Lincoln: Many Similarities

Answer: One of their children died

Abraham Lincoln's son, William, died on February 20, 1862 (8 days after Lincoln's birthday), most likely from typhoid fever. Kennedy's son, Patrick, died on August 9, 1963, at the age of 2 days, from hyaline membrane disease.

9. In what year was John F. Kennedy ELECTED to Congress?

From Quiz Have A History Teacher Explain This Part 1

Answer: 1946

In 1946 John F. Kennedy ran for and won the vacated seat of James Michael Curley in the 10th Congressional district in Massachusetts. J.F.K. was a congressman for six years.

10. One member of the Booth family wrote a threatening letter to the President of the United States. One of the sentences in the letter was "I will cut your throat whilst you are sleeping." Which Booth wrote this letter?

From Quiz The Neighbors Did What?

Answer: Junius, Sr.

Junius Sr.'s authorship of this letter has been verified by handwriting analysis and hotel receipts. He wrote the letter and mailed it to President Andrew Jackson (president from 1829 to 1837) when he was drunk. He later apologized.

11. What was the verdict in Lawrence's trial?

From Quiz Assassination Attempts on U.S. Presidents

Answer: Not guilty because of insanity

In the case, Francis Scott Key (writer of "The Star-Spangled Banner") was the prosecuting attorney. Even a patriot like Key agreed that Lawrence was insane. During the trial, Lawrence was even quoted as saying, "It is for me, gentlemen, to pass judgement on you and not you upon me."

12. How many were convicted of conspiracy to kill Lincoln?

From Quiz Presidential Assassinations

Answer: 8

David E. Herold, George Atzerodt, Lewis Paine, and Mary Surratt were hung. Dr. Samuel Mudd (who was undoubtedly innocent), Edward Spangler (theater stage hand), and Lincoln's boyhood friends, Samuel Arnold and Michael O'Laughlin were imprisoned. O'Laughlin died in prison in 1867. President Johnson pardoned Arnold, Mudd, and Spangler in 1869.

13. A (yet again) coincidence between Kennedy and Lincoln is about their assassins and their V.P.s origins. What was this strange similarity?

From Quiz Kennedy and Lincoln: Many Similarities

Answer: All 4 were Southerners

John Wilkes Booth, who shot Lincoln, grew up in Maryland. Lee Harvey Oswald, who shot Kennedy, grew up in Texas. Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, grew up in North Carolina. And finally, Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, grew up in Texas.

14. What was the name of the theatre that President Lincoln was shot in?

From Quiz Have A History Teacher Explain This Part 2

Answer: Ford's Theatre

He was shot at point-blank range while watching a performance of "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C.

15. In what year was Abraham Lincoln ELECTED President of the United States?

From Quiz Have A History Teacher Explain This Part 1

Answer: 1860

On November 6, 1860, Lincoln was elected as our sixteenth President of the United States.

16. Junius Brutus Booth, Sr. had four sons. Three of them followed him to the stage and had successful acting careers. The fourth became a doctor in New York. Which of his four sons did not become an actor?

From Quiz The Neighbors Did What?

Answer: Joseph

After the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln in 1865, it would not have been wise for Joseph to become an actor.

17. One of the most famous assassinations was that of Abraham Lincoln, who was killed by John Wilkes Booth in Ford's Theatre in 1865. What day was it?

From Quiz Assassination Attempts on U.S. Presidents

Answer: Good Friday

On April 14, 1865, while Lincoln was watching the play "Our American Cousin", Booth sneaked into the unguarded section that the president was in. Booth raised his pistol and shot Lincoln in the head, and the bullet went through his skull and stopped behind his right eye. Booth escaped the theater (although he had a broken leg), but was later found in a tobacco barn in Virginia eight days later. A pistol went off, and no one knows if Booth was killed from a soldier's bullet, or if he committed suicide.

18. Who came from a family of clearly psychotic people (his father believed himself to be immortal)?

From Quiz Presidential Assassinations

Answer: Guiteau

19. Another coincidence is that both Lincoln and Kennedy were shot on the same day of the week. What day was that?

From Quiz Kennedy and Lincoln: Many Similarities

Answer: Friday

Abraham Lincoln was shot on Good Friday, April 14, 1865 (the Friday before Easter) while Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, which was the Friday before Thanksgiving.

20. What type of car was President Kennedy riding in when he was shot?

From Quiz Have A History Teacher Explain This Part 2

Answer: Ford Lincoln Continental

President Kennedy was shot in a "Lincoln" made by "Ford". The Ford Lincoln Continental, that was modified for President Kennedy, had a snap-together bubble top which was open on the day of the assassination. The vehicle was known to be very hot inside when the bubble top was in place. The Lincoln had several other tops, but none of the tops were bullet proof.

21. In what year was John F. Kennedy ELECTED President of the United States?

From Quiz Have A History Teacher Explain This Part 1

Answer: 1960

On Tuesday, November 8, 1960 John F. Kennedy defeated Richard Nixon in one of the closest presidential elections ever. Kennedy only led Nixon by two-tenths of one percent in the popular vote. Kennedy had 49.7% to Nixon's 49.5%.

22. The year is now 1880 and James Garfield has just been elected president of the United States. He died on September 19, 1881. Who assassinated him?

From Quiz The Curse of the Presidents

Answer: Charles J. Guiteau

Guiteau had plans to assassinate Garfield at an earlier date, but postponed his plans because Garfield's wife was ill at the time and he did not want to upset her while she was sick. Guiteau believed he was doing what God wanted him to do. He didn't mind being hanged because he believed he was going to see the Lord. We now have the presidents elected in 1840, 1860, and 1880 dying while in office.

23. One member of the Booth family saved the life of President Abraham Lincoln's son Robert. Which one was it?

From Quiz The Neighbors Did What?

Answer: Edwin

Robert Lincoln told the story of being saved from falling under a train in late 1864 or early 1865. Robert Lincoln recognized Edwin Booth, who many consider to have been the most famous actor of his day. It was several years later when Edwin Booth found out who it was he had rescued.

24. Who whispered, 'My wife, be careful, Cortel you, how you tell her, oh, be careful'?

From Quiz Presidential Assassinations

Answer: McKinley

25. President Lincoln had four sons. What were the names of his first two children?

From Quiz Have A History Teacher Explain This Part 2

Answer: Robert and Edward

Lincoln had a son named Robert and a son named Edward. Robert Todd Lincoln was the first born on August 1, 1843. He was the only Lincoln child to live past his teen years. He went on to serve as Secretary of War (1881-1885) under Presidents James Garfield and Chester A. Arthur. Robert Lincoln lived to be 82 years old. Lincoln's second child was Edward Baker Lincoln. Edward was born on March 10, 1846. Of all the Lincoln children, Edward died the youngest, as he was only four years old. Willie Lincoln died at age 11. Tad Lincoln died at age 18.

26. On what day of the week were both John F. Kennedy and Abraham Lincoln shot?

From Quiz Have A History Teacher Explain This Part 1

Answer: Friday

President Kennedy was shot in Dallas, Texas, at 12:30 pm Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963. President Lincoln was shot on Friday, April 14, 1865 while attending the play "Our American Cousin". He died nine hours later.

27. The year is now 1900, and William McKinley has been elected president of the United States. McKinley died on September 14, 1901. He was the third president to be assassinated. Who was his assassin?

From Quiz The Curse of the Presidents

Answer: Leon Czolgosz

McKinley was greeting the American people at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, NY. Czolgosz had the gun hidden and walked right up to him. McKinley put his hand out to Czolgosz, who pushed the president's hand away and shot him at point blank range. Czolgosz's lawyers had a difficult time defending him as he refused to speak to either one of them. He was found guilty and given the electric chair. Emma Goldman, who was also an anarchist, was arrested as the government believed she was part of the conspiracy. However, she was released as no evidence was found that she was involved. The presidents elected in 1840, 1860, 1880, and 1900 have all died while in office.

28. Why were the people involved in Lincoln's assassination given a military trial?

From Quiz Assassination Attempts on U.S. Presidents

Answer: Lincoln was commander-in-chief of the armed forces

Edwin Stanton, Secretary of War, ordered a military trial. Lincoln was buried on May 4, 1865, in the Oak Ridge Cemetery with his son.

29. Which assassin's wife divorced him for cruelty?

From Quiz Presidential Assassinations

Answer: Guiteau

30. Captain Michael Groves died from a heart attack on December 3, 1963. He, too, appears in the list of those who died "mysteriously" from a sudden heart attack. How, exactly, was this Army captain connected to the assassination or investigation?

From Quiz Casualties of an Assassination

Answer: He commanded the Honor Guard during Kennedy's funeral

Dying so quickly after the assassination probably sparks interest in almost anybody. At least until you find out his roll was nothing more than the Honor Guard commander. No shocking connections here, unless you count his inclusion in the conspiracy theories.

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