15 Minutes in the Midwest During the 21st Century Quiz

Answer: Mel Carnahan

Mel Carnahan ran against incumbent Senator John Ashcroft, who had also been a governor of Missouri. Carnahan's son, Roger, was piloting the twin engine air craft when it went down killing them both and an aide. It was too late to remove his name from the ballot and Carnahan was elected on November 8, 2000, three weeks after his death. Governor Roger Wilson then appointed Carnahan's wife, Jean, to fill his senate seat. Carnahan's son, Russ, is a U.S. Representative from Missouri and his daughter, Robin, is Missouri Secretary of State. John Ashcroft was appointed U.S. Attorney General in 2001 by President George Bush.
Jerry Litton won the U.S. Senate Democratic nomination in 1976 and died in a plane crash on his way to his victory party.
Alexander McNair was the first elected governor of Missouri in 1820. (Duchess716)

Answer: Al Franken

This contest between Al Franken-D and Norm Coleman-R incumbent resulted in a lengthy recount. Franken was eventually sworn in on July 7th 2009. Franken was associated with Saturday Night Live for more than 15 years.

Answer: The Gateway Arch, St Louis, MO

The North tram malfunctioned and both trams were shut down for over an hour. The St. Louis Fire Department manually evacuated a pregnant woman; all the other visitors waited until the emergency repairs were made and exited the viewing deck on the tram. Thankfully, there were no injuries.

Answer: Dennis Rader

With ten killings dating back to 1974, he eluded capture for 31 years. He was scheduled to go on trial in June of 2005, but immediately proceeding the start of the trial, changed his plea to guilty on all ten counts against him. He is serving ten consecutive life sentences in a correctional facility in Kansas, and will not be eligible for parole until he is 235 years old.

The other answers are all men involved in Kansas Congress, and had nothing to do with the murders, except they wanted Dennis Rader caught as much as the rest of the state did.

Answer: Ron Artest

Players Stephen Jackson and Jermaine O'Neal were prominently involved in the brawl, but Ron Artest deliberately went after a fan after having a cup of beer thrown at him. His behavior cast a shadow over the Indiana Pacers for years to come. All three other players spent time with the Pacers, the most well known being Reggie Miller, who spent his entire illustrious career with Indiana.

Answer: Terry Branstad

Terry Branstad served sixteen years as Iowa governor starting in 1983, and was inspired to try again in the 2000 election. He beat the incumbent Chet Culver in2000 and reacquired the governorship in January 2011. The other men are political figures of Iowa as well. Grassley and Harkin have been senators of Iowa for many years, and Robert Ray was the governor of Iowa before Branstad's first stint in the job.

Answer: I-35W Bridge

13 people lost their lives and 145 people were injured when the bridge collapsed during rush hour. The National Traffic Safety Board cited design flaws and faulty gusset plates as the likely cause of the collapse. The replacement bridge was opened on September 18th, 2009.
The Hubert Humphrey Metrodome has had its share of problems, most notably a roof collapse in December 2010 that resulted in two Minnesota Viking home games being moved to different venues. But no collapses occurred in 2007. And each time it occurred, they were able to repair without replacement.

Answer: It was a double deck bridge

The double-decker Meridian Bridge carried its northbound traffic on the top lane, while the southbound traffic were on the lane directly below it. It was a one-lane system both ways, so it was not a place you wanted your car to break down. The replacement bridge, the Discovery, didn't imitate its counterpart, electing to use the more conventional side-by-side roadway method. (-Spaudrey)

Answer: Detroit Lions

All four teams suffered subpar decades in the 2000's, but none had a worse year than the 2008 Detroit Lions, as they finished a perfect 0-16. They managed to go undefeated in the four preseason games, but all that changed once the regular season began. They fired their entire coaching staff and the General Manager at the end of the season.

Answer: James Frey

James Frey, for one full hour, felt the wrath of Oprah's shame ray back in January 2006. He has since seen some success, but for a long while no publicist would touch him. Oprah has stated after the fact that the book, while mostly fiction, has done much good in the world as an example of where drug addiction could get you, but she just wanted it clear that her publicist should have researched the book more before sending it to the world to see.

The other three authors recently won Book of the Year Awards for 2010.