My Old Kentucky Home Trivia Quiz

Answer: Frankfort

In 1792, Frankfort became the state capital after it offered more manpower for the construction of the statehouse than other cities in Kentucky. It was the only Union capital occupied by Confederate Troops during the Civil War.

It is known as one of the most beautiful capitol buildings in the country, in a city with a population of less than 30,000. I have to agree as to its beauty - there is a magnificent clock on the grounds made up entirely of flowers.

Answer: Horses

Many believe it is corn due to the production of bourbon, when in fact Kentucky has some of the world's leading Thoroughbred farms and auctions. It also leads the nation in burley tobacco, and is second in total tobacco production, as well as being in the top twenty in soybean, corn, winter wheat, hay and sorghum production.

Kentucky's other exports include marijuana (hemp) and disco balls. Ninety percent of the disco balls in the world are made in Louisville, and Kentucky is one of the top three marijuana producing states, just behind California and Tennessee.

Answer: Ohio River

The Ohio River flows 664 miles along the northern and western borders. Kentucky has more miles of flowing water than any other state except Alaska, with 1,100 commercially navigable miles. Black Mountain is KY's highest point at 4,145 ft above sea level, the lowest point is along the Mississippi in Fulton County at 275 ft above sea level.

Geographically Kentucky is in the Ohio Valley, but is considered a southern state.

Answer: Dr. Thomas Walker and Christopher Gist

It is thought that Daniel Boone was the first, but it was Walker and Gist who led the first survey. They led surveying parties in 1750 and 1751. But the outbreak of fighting between the British empire and Native Americans in the French & Indian war in 1754 held up any further exploration for over ten years. Boone led expeditions in 1767 and again in 1769 with John Finley and a party of hunters for a two year exploration.

In 1774, the first permanent settlement was constructed by James Harrod in present day Harrodsburg. Boonesboro was established in 1775.

Answer: Virginia

Originally declared a part of Virginia, Kentucky was made a separate county in 1776. After the end of the American Revolution, a movement of separation began and in 1792, it was made a separate state and admitted as the fifteen state in the Union.

Answer: Neutral

As a neutral state Kentucky was torn apart, often with brother fighting brother. It supplied about 100,000 troops to the North and 40,000 to the South.
Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis were both born in Kentucky within one year and 100 miles from each other. Both sides saw Kentucky's strategic potential and several bloody battles took place; the most violent was near Perryville in 1862 with a death toll of 16,00 dead and 5,400 wounded.

Answer: They were all born in Kentucky.

They were all born in Kentucky, as well as the Judds, Johnny Depp, John T. Thompson, inventor of the Thompson Machine Gun, and Nobel Prize winners Phillip Allen Sharp, who won the Nobel Prize winner in medicine for his discovery of split genes and research on cancer and hereditary diseases, and Thomas Hunt Morgan, known for his research in genetics. George Clooney, Nicholas (Nick) Joseph Clooney (George's father and brother of Rosemary Clooney), Duncan Hines, Marsha Norman, Diane Sawyer, Robert Penn Warren, Ned Beatty, Loretta Lynn and Jennifer Lawrence were also all born in Kentucky.

Answer: 400 miles

It is more than 400 miles and five levels of "explored" and "mapped" systems with many vast chambers and labyrinths, with more still being discovered. A young slave, Stephen Bishop, was an early guide and mapped some of its passages by oil lamp. He described it as an "eerie beauty". Bishop died in 1859, and is buried in the "Old Guides Cemetery" near the entrance. If you ever find yourself in Kentucky this would be a must see.

Mammoth Cave is also a United Nations World Heritage Site.

Answer: England

Today's Thoroughbreds can be traced back to stallions imported to England from the Mid East in the 17th and 18th centuries. Byerley Turk, Godolphin Adrian and Darley Arabian mares were crossed with Oriental breeds; almost all share genetic codes with the three Arabian imports.

Answer: 95%

Ninety-five percent of the world's Bourbon is made in Kentucky. "All Bourbon is whiskey, but not all whiskey is Bourbon", there are rules:
1. To be called Bourbon it must be at least 51% corn.
2. By law it must be aged in a brand new, charred White Oak barrel- meaning a barrel can only be used once for Bourbon.
3. All the corn and grain becomes "distillers grain" or "slop" and used as feed for cattle.
4. Nothing can be used in the distilling except H2O.
5. To be called Bourbon it must be made in the U.S.
6. By law, it must be aged in barrels for at least two years.
As the Bourbon "sleeps" in its barrel it loses some to evaporation which is called "the Angels' share".

There are a few more running jokes,one says "there are more barrels in Kentucky than people". And another is, "if they stop making it right now, there would be enough to last 20 years."

A good bartender should do a "multiple pour", something called "suspended solids" are in Bourbon and this is a way of "waking them up".