|
Year
|
Hint
|
Answer
|
|
1776
|
Document declaring independence from Britain
|
Declaration of Independence
|
|
1777
|
Turning point of the Revolutionary War
|
Battles of Saratoga
|
|
1778
|
Country that joins the Revolutionary War as a U.S. ally
|
France
|
|
1779
|
Country that declares war on Britain in support of the U.S.
|
Spain
|
|
1780
|
General who defects to the British
|
Benedict Arnold
|
|
1781
|
Last major battle of the Revolutionary War
|
Siege of Yorktown
|
|
1782
|
City where Bank of North America opens as the first central bank
|
Philadelphia
|
|
1783
|
Treaty that officially ends the Revolutionary War
|
Treaty of Paris
|
|
1784
|
Native American League that signs a treaty ceding land to the U.S.
|
Iroquois
|
|
1785
|
Adopted by Congress as nation’s official currency
|
United States Dollar
|
|
1786
|
Rebellion in Massachusetts over debt and taxation led by a former soldier
|
Shay's Rebellion
|
|
1787
|
Written by Hamilton, Madison, and Jay to support a new Constitution
|
The Federalist Papers
|
|
1788
|
State with the first permanent settlement beyond the original colonies
|
Ohio
|
|
1789
|
First U.S. President after a unanimous election
|
George Washington
|
|
1790
|
Occurs every decade, first one measures the population to be 3,929,214
|
United States Census
|
|
1791
|
The 14th state admitted to the Union
|
Vermont
|
|
1792
|
Honored with a holiday 300 years after his transatlantic voyage
|
Christopher Columbus
|
|
1793
|
Inventor who created the cotton gin
|
Eli Whitney
|
|
1794
|
City whose French Quarter is hit by a fire
|
New Orleans
|
|
1795
|
University that opens to students in Chapel Hill
|
University of North Carolina
|
|
1796
|
Famous letter written by Washington as his term ends
|
Farewell Address
|
|
1797
|
Vice President who becomes the 2nd President of the U.S.
|
John Adams
|
|
1798
|
Scandal involving censored names of French diplomats
|
XYZ Affair
|
|
1799
|
Virginia estate where George Washington dies
|
Mount Vernon
|
|
1800
|
Library founded in Washington, D.C
|
Library of Congress
|
|
1801
|
Appointed as Chief Justice, the longest-serving in U.S. history
|
John Marshall
|
|
1802
|
City in New York where the Military Academy is founded
|
West Point
|
|
1803
|
Territory purchased from France by Thomas Jefferson
|
Louisiana
|
|
1804
|
Former Treasurer killed in a duel with Aaron Burr
|
Alexander Hamilton
|
|
1805
|
Explorers who reach the Pacific after charting the new territory
|
Lewis and Clark
|
|
1806
|
Publishes the first American English dictionary
|
Noah Webster
|
|
1807
|
Form of transportation launched by Fulton on the Hudson River
|
Steamboat
|
|
1808
|
Their importation is banned, ending a 200 year trade
|
Slaves
|
|
1809
|
4th President of the United States
|
James Madison
|
|
1810
|
Short-lived nation that secedes from Spain and joins the U.S.
|
West Florida
|
|
1811
|
Shawnee chief defeated at the Battle of Tippecanoe
|
Tecumseh
|
|
1812
|
City U.S. army surrenders in without a fight after failed invasion of Canada
|
Detroit
|
|
1813
|
Lake of a major naval battle where six British ships are captured
|
Lake Erie
|
|
1814
|
National anthem written by Francis Scott Key during British bombardment
|
The Star-Spangled Banner
|
|
1815
|
Treaty signed in Belgium ending the War of 1812
|
Treaty of Ghent
|
|
1816
|
Future city where Fort Dearborn is reestablished
|
Chicago
|
|
1817
|
River connected to to Great Lakes through the Erie Canal
|
Hudson River
|
|
1818
|
General and future President who attacks Seminoles in Florida
|
Andrew Jackson
|
|
1819
|
Caused by the collapse of the Second Bank of the U.S.
|
Panic of 1819
|
|
1820
|
State admitted alongside Maine in a compromise
|
Missouri
|
|
1821
|
African country founded as a conoly for freed American slaves
|
Liberia
|
|
1822
|
Territory created through Adams-Onis Treaty
|
Florida
|
|
1823
|
Future state Stephen F. Austin settles in with 300 families
|
Texas
|
|
1824
|
Name given when no candidate won a majority of votes in the presidential election, leading to Congress electing the President
|
Corrupt Bargain
|
|
1825
|
Era associated with Monroe's presidency that ends
|
Era of Good Feelings
|
|
1826
|
Native American group forced to cede land in Georgia
|
Creek
|
|
1827
|
First commercial railroad in America (property in Monopoly)
|
Baltimore and Ohio
|
|
1828
|
Political party that's founded, active to this day
|
Democratic Party
|
|
1829
|
Substance that caused a rush to Georgia
|
Gold
|
|
1830
|
Book published by Joseph Smith sacred to Latter-day Saints
|
Book of Mormon
|
|
1831
|
Slave who leads a violent revolt in Virginia
|
Nat Turner
|
|
1832
|
University where Skull and Bones secret society is founded
|
Yale
|
|
1833
|
Political party formed to oppose Andrew Jackson
|
Whig Party
|
|
1834
|
Kentucky senator known as the "Great Compromisor" who names and helps found above party
|
Henry Clay
|
|
1835
|
Fully paid off for the only time in U.S. history
|
National debt
|
|
1836
|
Mission in San Antonio besieged by the Mexican Army
|
Alamo
|
|
1837
|
8th President of the United States
|
Martin Van Buren
|
|
1838
|
Communication system demonstrated by Samuel Morse
|
Telegraph
|
|
1839
|
Native American group forcibly removed from their homeland
|
Cherokee
|
|
1840
|
Landmass circumnavigated and claimed for the U.S. by Charles Wilkes
|
Antarctica
|
|
1841
|
President who takes office then shortly dies
|
William Henry Harrison
|
|
1842
|
Line of latitude that the U.S.-Canada border is set at
|
49th Parallel
|
|
1843
|
Publisher of "The Tell-Tale Heart"
|
Edgar Allen Poe
|
|
1844
|
Successor to Joseph Smith as president of the Latter-day Saints
|
Brigham Young
|
|
1845
|
Term coined by O’Sullivan to justify westward expansion
|
Manifest Destiny
|
|
1846
|
Monument that gets cracked on George Washington's birthday
|
Liberty Bell
|
|
1847
|
Mexican port city siezed by the U.S. after an amphibious assault
|
Veracruz
|
|
1848
|
City in New York where the first women’s rights convention occurs
|
Seneca Falls
|
|
1849
|
Abolitionist and Underground Railroad conductor who escapes slavery
|
Harriet Tubman
|
|
1850
|
Act in the Compromise of 1850 mandating the return of slaves
|
Fugitive Slave Act
|
|
1851
|
Novel published by Herman Melville about a whale
|
Moby Dick
|
|
1852
|
Book by Harriet Beecher Stowe that influences views on slavery
|
Uncle Tom's Cabin
|
|
1853
|
Last major land purchase in the contiguous U.S. in southern Arizona
|
Gadsden Purchase
|
|
1854
|
Country forced to open trade by Commodore Perry
|
Japan
|
|
1855
|
State that "bleeds" over slavery conflict
|
Kansas
|
|
1856
|
Colloqiual name of the American Party
|
Know Nothings
|
|
1857
|
Slave whose Supreme Court "decision" rules against constitutional rights for African Americans
|
Dred Scott
|
|
1858
|
Senator who debates Lincoln in Illinois
|
Stephen Douglas
|
|
1859
|
Federal arsenal raided by John Brown in slave revolt
|
Harper's Ferry
|
|
1860
|
First state to secede from the Union
|
South Carolina
|
|
1861
|
Fort captured by the confederacy to start the Civil War
|
Fort Sumter
|
|
1862
|
Bloodiest day in U.S. history at this battle
|
Battle of Antietam
|
|
1863
|
Executive order by Lincoln freeing slaves in the Confederacy
|
Emancipation Proclamation
|
|
1864
|
Georgia city Sherman reaches on his March to the Sea
|
Savannah
|
|
1865
|
Assassin who shoots Lincoln
|
John Wilkes Booth
|
|
1866
|
Civil War veteran appointed as nation's first five-star general
|
Ulysses S. Grant
|
|
1867
|
Territory purchased from Russia
|
Alaska
|
|
1868
|
City where The University of California is founded
|
Oakland
|
|
1869
|
Outlaw who commits his first bank robbery
|
Jesse James
|
|
1870
|
Businessman who founds the Standard Oil Company
|
John D. Rockefeller
|
|
1871
|
What Mrs. O'Leary's cow kicks over to cause the Great Chicago Fire
|
Lantern
|
|
1872
|
World's first national park
|
Yellowstone
|
|
1873
|
Brand of blue jeans that begins production
|
Levi's
|
|
1874
|
Animal chosen to represent the Republican Party
|
Elephant
|
|
1875
|
Inventor who makes the first sound transmission
|
Alexander Graham Bell
|
|
1876
|
Battle where Chiefs Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull are victorious
|
Battle of Little Bighorn
|
|
1877
|
D.C.'s daily newspaper that begins publication
|
The Washington Post
|
|
1878
|
Inventor who patents the phonograph
|
Thomas Edison
|
|
1879
|
First iteration of New York City's historic arena that opens
|
Madison Square Garden
|
|
1880
|
Population milestone the U.S. passes
|
50,000,000
|
|
1881
|
President who is shot at a train station
|
James Garfield
|
|
1882
|
Group of people "excluded" from immigration
|
Chinese
|
|
1883
|
Bridge connecting NYC boroughs that opens
|
Brooklyn Bridge
|
|
1884
|
Publishes Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
|
Mark Twain
|
|
1885
|
Monument that arrives to New York Harbor
|
Statue of Liberty
|
|
1886
|
Drink invented by Dr. Pemberton
|
Coca-Cola
|
|
1887
|
Tradition to predict winter first observed in Punxsutawney
|
Groundhog Day
|
|
1888
|
D.C. landmark opened to the public
|
Washington Monument
|
|
1889
|
New York City based business newspaper first published
|
The Wall Street Journal
|
|
1890
|
Law passed to promote competition among businesses
|
Sherman Antitrust Act
|
|
1891
|
Sport invented by Dr. Naismith at Springfield College
|
Basketball
|
|
1892
|
New York Harbor immigration station that opens
|
Ellis Island
|
|
1893
|
President who begins his 2nd nonconsecutive term
|
Grover Cleveland
|
|
1894
|
Confectionery company founded in Pennsylvania
|
Hershey
|
|
1895
|
City in North Carolina where the Biltmore Estate is opened
|
Asheville
|
|
1896
|
Supreme Court decision introducing "separate but equal"
|
Plessy v. Ferguson
|
|
1897
|
City that hosts its first marathon race
|
Boston
|
|
1898
|
Island where the USS Maine is sunk, leading to war with Spain
|
Cuba
|
|
1899
|
Declares independence after being ceded to the U.S. from Spain
|
Philippines
|
|
1900
|
Texas city wrecked by a hurricane with a death toll of 6,000+
|
Galveston
|
|
1901
|
Becomes President of the U.S. after McKinley is killed
|
Theodore Roosevelt
|
|
1902
|
Oregon national park that's established
|
Crater Lake
|
|
1903
|
Brothers who make their first flight at Kitty Hawk
|
Wright brothers
|
|
1904
|
City that hosts the Summer Olympics
|
St. Louis
|
|
1905
|
City founded in the desert
|
Las Vegas
|
|
1906
|
Type of disaster that hits San Francisco
|
Earthquake
|
|
1907
|
Neighborhood that celebrates its first New Year's ball drop
|
Times Square
|
|
1908
|
Businessman who launches the Model T automobile
|
Henry Ford
|
|
1909
|
City whose historic motor speedway is opened
|
Indianapolis
|
|
1910
|
Youth organization founded by William D. Boyce
|
Boy Scouts of America
|
|
1911
|
Boston ballpark that begins construction
|
Fenway Park
|
|
1912
|
Ship that sinks en route to New York City
|
Titanic
|
|
1913
|
Region that reaches 134 °F, the highest temperature in world history
|
Death Valley
|
|
1914
|
Completion of U.S.-built waterway connecting two oceans
|
Panama Canal
|
|
1915
|
Controversial film about the Ku Klux Klan premieres
|
The Birth of a Nation
|
|
1916
|
Mexican revolutionary who leads a raid into New Mexico
|
Pancho Villa
|
|
1917
|
President who declares war on Germany
|
Woodrow Wilson
|
|
1918
|
Pandemic beginning in Kansas, the deadliest in history
|
Spanish flu
|
|
1919
|
Amendment granting women the right to vote
|
Nineteenth Amendment
|
|
1920
|
Era in which alcohol is banned that begins
|
Prohibition
|
|
1921
|
City whose cemetery unveils the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
|
Arlington
|
|
1922
|
Scandal where Secretary Fall leases oil reserves to private companies
|
Teapot Dome Scandal
|
|
1923
|
California district that erects its famous sign
|
Hollywood
|
|
1924
|
Company that holds its first Thanksgiving Day Parade
|
Macy's
|
|
1925
|
F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel about lovers in New York
|
The Great Gatsby
|
|
1926
|
Highway running from Chicago to Santa Monica established
|
Route 66
|
|
1927
|
Aviator who makes the first transatlantic flight
|
Charles Lindbergh
|
|
1928
|
Character who first appears in Steamboat Willie
|
Mickey Mouse
|
|
1929
|
Event that begins following the crashing of the New York Stock Exchange
|
Great Depression
|
|
1930
|
New York skyscraper that's the tallest in the world upon completion
|
Chrysler Building
|
|
1931
|
Chicago gangster arrested for tax evasion
|
Al Capone
|
|
1932
|
Athlete who calls his shot in the World Series
|
Babe Ruth
|
|
1933
|
Physicist who immigrates as a refugee from Nazi Germany
|
Albert Einstein
|
|
1934
|
Disaster where dust storms and droughts ravage the Great Plains
|
Dust Bowl
|
|
1935
|
Franklin D. Roosevelt's plan that establishes Social Security
|
New Deal
|
|
1936
|
Structure on the Colorado River that finishes construction
|
Hoover Dam
|
|
1937
|
Airship that bursts into flames over New Jersey
|
Hindenburg
|
|
1938
|
Comic book icon who makes their first appearance
|
Superman
|
|
1939
|
Protest song released by Billie Holiday
|
Strange Fruit
|
|
1940
|
Restaurant chain founded in San Bernardino
|
McDonald's
|
|
1941
|
Hawaii naval base attacked by Japan
|
Pearl Harbor
|
|
1942
|
Atoll where the U.S. defeats Japan's navy
|
Midway Atoll
|
|
1943
|
Appointed director of the Manhattan Project's Los Alamos Laboratory
|
J. Robert Oppenheimer
|
|
1944
|
Operation in which the Allies invade Normandy
|
D-Day
|
|
1945
|
First city the U.S. drops an atomic bomb on
|
Hiroshima
|
|
1946
|
Term for the political divide in Europe coined by Churchill in Missouri
|
Iron Curtain
|
|
1947
|
African American who breaks the color barrier in the MLB
|
Jackie Robinson
|
|
1948
|
City that the U.S. airlifts supplies into after a Soviet blockade
|
Berlin
|
|
1949
|
Military alliance formed in response to the Soviet threat
|
NATO
|
|
1950
|
Ideologically motivated war the U.S. gets involved in
|
Korean War
|
|
1951
|
Couple convicted as Soviet spies and sentenced to death
|
Julius and Ethel Rosenburg
|
|
1952
|
Detonated for the first time in the Pacific Ocean
|
Hydrogen Bomb
|
|
1953
|
CIA experiments to brainwash patients with drugs and torture
|
MKUltra
|
|
1954
|
Supreme Court case ruling segregated schools unconstitutional
|
Brown v. Board of Education
|
|
1955
|
Theme park that opens in Anaheim
|
Disneyland
|
|
1956
|
What actress Norma Jean Mortenson changes her name to
|
Marilyn Monroe
|
|
1957
|
Entertainer who moves to his Graceland estate
|
Elvis Presley
|
|
1958
|
Federal agency that gets established and launches Pioneer 1
|
NASA
|
|
1959
|
Admitted as the 50th and last state
|
Hawaii
|
|
1960
|
Harper Lee's novel about racial injustice in the South
|
To Kill a Mockingbird
|
|
1961
|
Failed military invasion into Cuba
|
Bay of Pigs Invasion
|
|
1962
|
13-day standoff with the Soviet Union over possible nuclear war
|
Cuban Missile Crisis
|
|
1963
|
City where President John F. Kennedy is assassinated
|
Dallas
|
|
1964
|
Defeats Sonny Liston to become the heavyweight boxing champion
|
Muhammad Ali
|
|
1965
|
War that President Lyndon B. Johnson sends troops to fight in
|
Vietnam War
|
|
1966
|
British band that plays their last concert at Candlestick Park
|
The Beatles
|
|
1967
|
Championship game of the NFL that is first played
|
Super Bowl
|
|
1968
|
Civil rights leader shot dead in Memphis
|
Martin Luther King Jr.
|
|
1969
|
Mission that sends U.S. astronauts to the moon
|
Apollo 11
|
|
1970
|
Country the U.S. invades to hunt for the Viet Cong
|
Cambodia
|
|
1971
|
Company that releases the first microprocessor chip
|
Intel
|
|
1972
|
First American chess champion after the "match of the century"
|
Bobby Fischer
|
|
1973
|
Chicago skyscraper that becomes the tallest in the world
|
Sears Tower
|
|
1974
|
Scandal that causes President Richard Nixon to resign
|
Watergate Scandal
|
|
1975
|
Company founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen
|
Microsoft
|
|
1976
|
Company founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak
|
Apple
|
|
1977
|
George Lucas film that becomes the highest-grossing in the world
|
Star Wars
|
|
1978
|
Serial killer who murdered dozens of young women is caught
|
Ted Bundy
|
|
1979
|
Country that takes 66 Americans hostage
|
Iran
|
|
1980
|
Nickname for U.S. defeat of Soviets in hockey during the Winter Olympics
|
Miracle On Ice
|
|
1981
|
Disease first recognized from gay men
|
AIDS
|
|
1982
|
Best selling album of all time released by Michael Jackson
|
Thriller
|
|
1983
|
Show whose final episode becomes the most watched TV broadcast
|
M*A*S*H
|
|
1984
|
City that hosts the Summer Olympics
|
Los Angeles
|
|
1985
|
Country that receives aid through the Live Aid concert
|
Ethiopia
|
|
1986
|
Space shuttle that disintegrates 73 seconds into flight
|
Challenger
|
|
1987
|
Leader who President Reagan calls to "tear down this wall"
|
Mikhail Gorbachev
|
|
1988
|
Hip-hop group that releases Straight Outta Compton
|
N.W.A
|
|
1989
|
Sitcom about a fictional version of its creator that premieres
|
Seinfeld
|
|
1990
|
Space telescope launched into low-earth orbit
|
Hubble
|
|
1991
|
War in which the U.S. attempts to liberate Kuwait
|
Gulf War
|
|
1992
|
Boxer sentenced to prison for sexual assault
|
Mike Tyson
|
|
1993
|
City where David Koresh's Branch Davidians get sieged
|
Waco
|
|
1994
|
NFL star who flees in a Ford Bronco after murdering his ex-wife
|
O.J. Simpson
|
|
1995
|
City where Timothy McVeigh bombs a federal building
|
Oklahoma City
|
|
1996
|
Terrorist bomber arrested in his Montana cabin
|
Ted Kaczynski
|
|
1997
|
Killed in a drive-by shooting just 6 months after Tupac
|
The Notorious B.I.G
|
|
1998
|
Retires from the Chicago Bulls after his 6th championsip
|
Michael Jordan
|
|
1999
|
Colorado school where 13 are killed in a shooting
|
Columbine
|
|
2000
|
Winner of the closest Presidential election in U.S. history
|
George W. Bush
|
|
2001
|
Date that terrorists hijack and crashed 4 planes
|
September 11
|
|
2002
|
Department formed to protect public security against terrorism
|
Department of Homeland Security
|
|
2003
|
Country the U.S. invades as part of a War on Terror
|
Iraq
|
|
2004
|
Social network site launched by Mark Zuckerberg
|
Facebook
|
|
2005
|
Hurricane that devastates New Orleans
|
Hurricane Katrina
|
|
2006
|
Space probe launched by NASA to perform a flyby of Pluto
|
New Horizons
|
|
2007
|
Its first generation is announced by Steve Jobs
|
iPhone
|
|
2008
|
Bubble that bursts to cause a major recession
|
Housing
|
|
2009
|
First African American President of the United States
|
Barack Obama
|
|
2010
|
Oil rig that explodes in the Gulf of Mexico
|
Deepwater Horizon
|
|
2011
|
Al-Qaeda leader killed by U.S. forces
|
Osama bin Laden
|
|
2012
|
Substance that Washington is the first state to legalize
|
Marijuana
|
|
2013
|
Service that releases its first original production, House of Cards
|
Netflix
|
|
2014
|
Building that opens in NYC, the tallest in the U.S.
|
One World Trade Center
|
|
2015
|
Right guaranteed in a Supreme Court case
|
Same-sex marriage
|
|
2016
|
Team that breaks their 108-year championship drought
|
Chicago Cubs
|
|
2017
|
Becomes the wealthiest person in the world
|
Jeff Bezos
|
|
2018
|
Country that enters a trade war with the U.S.
|
China
|
|
2019
|
Movie that becomes the new highest grossing in the world
|
Avengers: Endgame
|
|
2020
|
Pandemic that infects millions worldwide
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COVID-19
|
|
2021
|
Building stormed by protesters following election results
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United States Capitol
|
|
2022
|
Supreme Court case protecting the right to abortion that gets overturned
|
Roe v. Wade
|
|
2023
|
Country the U.S. supports following fighting in Gaza
|
Israel
|
|
2024
|
Presidential candidate shot in an assassination attempt
|
Donald Trump
|
|
2025
|
Head of the Department of Government Efficiency
|
Elon Musk
|
