Famous People from Arizona Trivia Quiz

Answer: Sandra Day O'Connor

Sandra Day O'Connor was born in El Paso, Texas but lived the majority of her young life in Duncan, Arizona. She attended Stanford Law School where she dated future Chief Justice of the Supreme Court William Rehnquist. Rehnquist actually proposed marriage to her but she declined.

She married John Jay O'Connor, a fellow lawyer, in 1952. O'Connor served in several positions in Arizona state and local governments including the State Senate and the Arizona Court of Appeals. She was nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1981 by Ronald Reagan who had promised to appoint a woman to the Court.

She was confirmed unanimously. During her tenure, she was generally seen as the swing vote in many important cases.

Answer: Vietnam War

John McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone. A member of the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War, McCain was captured when he was plane was shot down and imprisoned in the Hanoi Hilton for five and a half years. He spent much of the time injured from his capture and tortured further. He went long periods of time without medical treatment. He was released in 1973. In 1983, McCain was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and shortly after to the U.S. Senate. He lost the 2000 Republican Primary for U.S. President and the general election for president in 2008.

During the last few years of his life, he infamously came into public conflicts with Donald Trump, a fellow Republican. As a candidate for president, Trump said McCain was not a war hero because he was captured. During his presidency, Trump and McCain often clashed over policy matters as well. McCain cast the deciding vote to not repeal the Affordable Care Act. McCain died in 2018 and his widow Cindy endorsed Joe Biden for president against Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election. McCain and Biden had been friends from their time in the Senate together despite running on opposite tickets in the 2008 presidential plection.

Answer: Apache

Cochise was a Chiricahua Apache whose name means oak or, more specifically, having the strength of an oak. He was born in the Southwestern part of the U.S. (likely in either Arizona or New Mexico) when it was still controlled by Spain. After the Mexican-American War, the U.S. and Apache had a tentative peace agreement that was broken several times.

The U.S. had captured several family members of Cochise and this led him to rebel against the U.S. Much of the fighting took place in the 1860s in Arizona's Dragoon Mountains. Cochise would die there in 1874 after a stronger peace treaty was brokered.

Answer: Zane Grey

Zane Grey was born in Zanesville, Ohio with the birthname of Pearl Zane Grey. He was very antisocial as a child but excelled in sports, especially baseball. After marrying and starting a family, he relocated to California to seek peace. When that failed, he moved alone into a cabin in Mogollon Rim, Arizona for several months at a time where he began writing western novels.

However, Arizona was becoming increasingly crowded and overrun by tourists so he let his cabin fall into decay. His best known work is "Riders of the Purple Sage" published in 1912.

After he ceased writing, Grey made a living from royalties from the film adaptation of his novels.

Answer: Twilight

Stephenie Meyer created the popular vampire-romance novels in the "Twilight" series. The books focus on Bella Swan who, like Meyer, hails from Phoenix, Arizona and her love triangle with Edward the vampire and Jacob the werewolf. Meyer is a practicing member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and her religion has influenced her writing. Unlike other teenage romance novels, much of the plot of the "Twilight" series does not focus on sex or obvious sexual tension.

There is no underaged drinking or smoking either.

Answer: Fleetwood Mac

Stevie Nicks was born Stephanie Lynn Nicks in Phoenix, Arizona. She was a member of the band Fleetwood Mac which she joined in 1975 when she was dating guitarist Lindsay Buckingham. She continued to tour with Fleetwood Mac even after she started a solo career.

She was the first woman to be inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame twice, once with Fleetwood Mac and once for her solo career.

Answer: Pluto

Percival Lowell was an astronomer originally from Massachusetts. However, he relocated to Flagstaff, Arizona to continue his search for what he called Planet X. He chose Arizona because the sky was clear and there were very few obstacles such as light pollution to hinder his research.

He founded the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff in 1894. Lowell laid the foundation that would ultimately lead to the discovery of Pluto, his Planet X by Clyde Tombaugh in 1930. Lowell had believed there must be a planet beyond Neptune because of certain gravitational pulls.

While there was a (then) planet beyond Neptune, Lowell's theory about gravity was incorrect.

Answer: La La Land

Emma Stone was born in Scottsdale, Arizona in 1988. It was in Arizona where Stone first took up acting as a child in the local community theaters. Her first big break came in 2007 when she played a wild teenager named Jules in the comedy film "Superbad".

Her first Academy Award nomination came in 2015 when she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for the film "Birdman" but she lost to Patricia Arquette. She was nominated for Best Actress for the first time in 2017 and won for playing Mia Dolan, an aspiring actress in "La La Land".

Answer: Historical romance

Diana Gabaldon is primarily known for writing the "Outlander" historical romance/science fiction series. She also wrote the "Lord John" series which is a historical mystery series spun off from "Outlander". She was born in Scottsdale and taught at Arizona State University until she retired after her books became commercial successes. Her son is Sam Sykes who is also a fantasy writer.

Answer: Geronimo

Geronimo was an Apache leader who led raids against the U.S. during the Apache War. Geronimo was a medicine man by trade although he did prove to be a quality fighter and strategist. He was captured by the U.S. several times and was confined to reservations and was later transported around the country as part of a traveling western show.

He was often forced to perform skill shows for large audiences and his image was exploited to sell merchandise. He remained a prisoner of the U.S. from his surrender at Fort Bowie, Arizona in 1886 until his death in 1909.