That's an Intersecting Question... Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Where I-80 intersects with I-35, the two run concurrently for a few miles, but the intersection of the two is also connected by a short distance of I-235. As you roll along on I-235 you will notice the golden dome of a midwestern state's capitol. Which state is it?

Answer: Iowa

Iowa's original capital was in Iowa City, which has its own domed "Old Capitol" on the campus of the University of Iowa. The current capitol, located in Des Moines, was built between 1871 and 1886. The dome is covered with 23 carat gold leaf, as is the smaller Old Capitol.

Besides the setting for the Iowa Legislature and state offices, also within the Capitol is an 18-foot model of the USS Iowa on loan from the U.S. Navy, as well as dolls of Iowa's 41 First Ladies, each dressed in miniatures of their inaugural gowns.

2. In the final months of 2013, controversy was brewing at our next interstate intersection. The home of an iconic American sports franchise since it helped found a major professional league when it arrived in its present location in 1937, the team where the I-270 branch of I-70 meets I-95 was under attack for its nickname, which many people felt was demeaning to a certain segment of Americans and needed to be changed. What team is it?

Answer: Washington Redskins

The Redskins won the NFL championship in the team's first year in Washington in 1937. By 2013 colleges and professional sports nicknames which feature Native American tribes or characteristics were under scrutiny. The NCAA, for example, was demanding that schools like the University of North Dakota ("Fighting Sioux") abandon their nicknames, while allowing some schools who garner support from specific tribes, like Florida State ("Seminoles") to keep their mascots.

3. Our next location, where I-80 meets I-15, features a Seagull Monument and the home of a nationally-known choir. Also here is a state capitol, as well as a temple for what uniquely American religious group?

Answer: Mormons

The Seagull Monument commemorates an event in 1848 when seagulls destroyed a marauding storm of locusts intent on destroying the Mormons' crops. This "miracle of the gulls" also resulted in the seagull becoming Utah's state bird. Founded in 1847, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir held its first concert at the Mormon Tabernacle on 4 July, 1873, and has performed at five presidential inaugurations, beginning with President Johnson's in 1965. President Ronald Reagan once called the Choir "America's Choir".

4. Our next intersection is a wild one with FOUR interstates meeting. So one can leave here heading north on I-69, or heading either north or south on I-65. One can head east or west on either I-70 or I-74. But the latter two actually cross, so eastbound traffic on I-70 is north of I-74, while westbound traffic on I-70 is south of I-74. And once again the intersection meets at a state capital, with the state and its capital both named after the same things. What is the basis of both the state and city names?

Answer: Natives of America

Although some people would regard their names as being of questionable political correctness in 2013, Indiana and Indianapolis are both named after America's indigenous people. Of course Indianapolis is the home of the "Indy 500". The Hoosier capital also boasts two historic homes for visitors, those of President Benjamin Harrison, a 16-room Victorian mansion, and of poet James Whitcomb Riley, Indiana's unofficial poet laureate.

5. We're tooling along on I-10, a highway that connects America's Atlantic and Pacific coasts, and we intersect with I-55 on the edge of what looks like a large lake, but which is actually a brackish estuary covering an area of 630 square miles at a depth of only 12-14 feet. Just 25 miles from our intersection is a city famous for its music (some say it is the birthplace of jazz), food, history, and multiethnic character, as well as for its week-long religious festival. What city is that?

Answer: New Orleans

I-55 connects New Orleans with Chicago while passing through Memphis and St. Louis, all of which are hotbeds of jazz, but it is hard to argue with the claims of "The Big Easy" for its birthplace. I-10 runs along the southern edge of Lake Pontchartrain for about 40 miles.

It is actually an estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico and is brackish, meaning that its water is salty, as opposed to freshwater, as in lakes and rivers. Its salinity reaches about half that of seawater on the eastern reaches of the lake, where it connects with the Gulf through a series of straits and lagoons. Lake Pontchartrain receives fresh water from five lakes and two bayous.

6. Our next intersection is where I-40 and I-25 cross each other at a city whose airport has an elevation over a mile at 5,312 feet. Although this city is on the edge of a desert and has an arid climate, within its area of over 180 square miles are six bridges over an exotic river on whose banks the city is situated. Can you correctly identify this city that was founded in 1706?

Answer: Albuquerque

Albuquerque lies on the Rio Grande, which is classified as an exotic river because it flows through a desert. Albuquerque lies on the northern edge of the Chihuahuan Desert ecoregion. Its annual rainfall total is less than half of the evaporation rate of its area. According to a "Men's Fitness" magazine in 2007, Albuquerque was ranked as the top most fittest city in America. Among its scenic highlights are Petroglyph National Monument and a tram up into the peaks of the Sandia Mountains which surround the city.

7. Alrighty, we haven't been on I-90 yet. A couple of miles or so from its intersection with I-91 is the "City of Firsts", which claims the building of the first gasoline-powered car as well as its predecessor, the first horseless carriage. Other innovations include using interchangeable parts on an assembly line and printing the first English dictionary of the American language. What city claims these "firsts", among others?

Answer: Springfield, MA

James Naismith also "invented" basketball in Springfield, Massachusetts, and the Indian Motorcycle Company, which claims to be the "first successful" motorcycle company, also originated there. It is difficult to count the number of Springields in the United States, but the four choices on our question ranked by population are S, MO (159,000), S, MA (153,000), S, IL (116,000, also the state capital), and S, OR (59,000).

There are over 30 Springfields in the USA, with Wisconsin claiming five different towns by that name.

8. In addition to being at the intersection of Interstate Highways 20, 75, and 85, this city must be at the intersection of lots of air routes, because as of 2013, its airport has been the world's busiest, measured by passenger traffic, ever since 1998. Which city is it, that has not only won a World Series, but has also hosted an Olympiad?

Answer: Atlanta

The airport is the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. In 2012 95 million passengers went through the airport and its 207 domestic and international gates. The Braves won their only World Series in Atlanta in 1995 after winning the 1957 Series as the Milwaukee Braves and the 1914 Series as the Boston Braves.

By the way, before moving to Washington and becoming the Washington Redskins, the NFL franchise played in Boston as the Boston Braves. Atlanta hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 1996.

9. Although little or none of the plot action of this off-beat Coen Brothers film takes place in the city located at the intersection of I-94 and I-29, the city's name was used for the film's title. What is the name of this film that won seven Academy Award nominations?

Answer: Fargo

"Fargo" was filmed almost entirely in Minnesota, which is where the story takes place, although some of the snow-covered outdoor scenes were filmed in North Dakota. The plot revolves around a Minneapolis car dealer's attempt to hire two men to kidnap his wife so he can extort money from her father. Fargo is involved only to the extent that the car salesmen meets the kidnappers there. Plans quickly fall apart in the story and several murders take place.

The Fargo scene was actually filmed in a Minneapolis bar which has since been demolished.

10. Here's an intersecting question. Which interstate, I-50 or I-60, intersects with the most north-south interstate highways at state capitals?

Answer: Neither, these interstate highways do not exist

When the interstates were set up there was an attempt to avoid conflicts with the new interstate numbers and the old US highway numbers. Under the old US highway numbering system, the lower east-west route numbers were in the north and the higher ones were in the south, so in Iowa, for example, Highway 20 was north of Highway 30. To avoid confusion the new interstate numbers are lower in the south and higher in the north, so I-10 is closer to Mexico and I-90 is closer to Canada.

The decision was also made to not use 50 and 60, in order to be sure there would be no mixing. Thus there is still a US Route 50, but not an I-50. "Interstate 60", however, is a 2002 movie subtitled "Episodes of the Road".

It has been called "supernatural", a fairy tale, a miracle, a "mind game", and "a metaphysical comedy/drama road film".

Its stars include Michael J. Fox in a cameo, as well as Kurt Russell, Christopher Lloyd, Amy Smart, and Gary Oldman.

Source: Author shvdotr

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor stedman before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Here are some questions about some of the great sites and sights to be seen where America's even-numbered east-west interstates intersect with odd-numbered north-south highways. Hope you have fun.

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