Trick Questions? No Way! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Nevada

Nevada became American territory through the 1846-1848 Mexican War. Louisiana, Nebraska, Missouri, Iowa, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and portions of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Texas, Minnesota, and the Dakotas were included in the Louisiana Purchase.

Answer: 1618-1648

This epic conflict began as a war between Catholic and Protestant countries. By its end, religion had ceased to define which side each country was on.

Answer: George Washington

Despite specious legends to the contrary, George Washington was the first person to hold the office of President of the United States. John Hanson presided over the Congress assembled under the Articles of Confederation (aka the Continental Congress), but he cannot historically claim the title of "President of the United States" any more than Jamestown founder John Smith could, given the latter's position as first executive of an American colony.

Answer: William Shakespeare

Though the other names mentioned do have their champions for authorship of Shakespeare's plays, almost all serious scholars of the Bard regard Shakespeare as the one and only writer of the plays attributed to him, including "Hamlet". People as prominent as Charlie Chaplin and Malcolm X are among the Shakespeare skeptics, but most such dissenters do not study the Bard's work as a profession.

Answer: All four

There was a fifth Marx brother, Gummo, but he bowed out of the act early on in the Brothers' career and did not appear in any of their films.

Answer: The United States

The Duke was born Marion Robert Morrison in Winterset, Iowa, which joined the Union in 1846. His family changed his middle name to Michael when he was still a small child. Though the Duke would use the screen name John Wayne, he never legally adopted that name and always signed legal documents "Marion Morrison".

Answer: 1915

The company was renamed in 1935 after merging with Twentieth Century Pictures.

Answer: They weigh the same

You may have heard the canard that a pound of gold weighs less than a pound of feathers because gold is weighed using the troy system, rather than the more common avoirdupois scale. The troy system only applies to precious metals and gems, though. Steel and iron are both weighed on the avoirdupois scale, regardless of what alloy the steel is.

Answer: 26

Though the 18th Amendment prohibiting alcoholic beverages was repealed in 1933 by the 21st Amendment, this did not change the numbering system for amendments to the Constitution.

Answer: Chicago, USA

Though the venerable reference originated in Edinburgh and was long associated with Cambridge University, it was been published by Sears Roebuck in Chicago from 1921 to 2010, when the print edition ceased. The last edition published in Britain, the 11th, has since been regarded as the "classic" Britannica and is now in the public domain.