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U.S. History for Dummies

Can you answer these 20 relatively easy questions about American history?
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Featured Quiz
Last updated: May 6, 2020
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First submittedMay 6, 2020
Times taken59,587
Average score85.0%
Rating4.41
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Question
Answer
Who was the first President of the United States?
George Washington
What country attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941,
"a day which will live in infamy"?
Japan
From what country did the United States gain its independence?
Great Britain
Who was born in Tupelo, Mississippi in 1935 and "left the building" for good in 1977?
Elvis Presley
What did the Wright Brothers invent?
The Airplane
Where did Neil Armstrong walk in 1969 that no other person had ever set foot on before?
The Moon
In what war did Ulysses Grant fight against Robert E. Lee?
Civil War
What was the name of the "railroad" which helped slaves escape from the south?
Underground Railroad
What industry caused the population of Detroit to explode in the
first half of the 20th century?
Auto Industry
What baseball player was known as the "Bambino" and the "Sultan of Swat"?
Babe Ruth
Which state was an independent country for 10 years before joining the U.S. in 1845?
Texas
What brought thousands of people to California in 1849?
Gold Rush
Who was the first African-American President of the United States?
Barack Obama
What city, founded on the shores of Lake Michigan in 1837, grew to become
the fourth largest city in the world by 1900?
Chicago
What war caused the death of 58,318 American soldiers in the 1960s and 1970s?
Vietnam War
What country was the primary adversary of the United States during the "Cold War"?
Soviet Union
Who was known as "Honest Abe"?
Abraham Lincoln
Who invented the phonograph, the movie camera, and the practical light bulb?
Thomas Edison
What holiday did the Pilgrims and their Native American neighbors celebrate
in the autumn of 1621?
Thanksgiving
Name one of the rights guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution.
Religion | Speech |
Press | Assembly |
Petition
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Double L Answers
79 Comments
cornflakesfu
+17
Level 87
May 6, 2020
Curious what percentage of people said "petition" for the last question.
TravelingMama
+7
Level 73
May 7, 2020
I tried "redress," I don't know why that came to mind before petition.
JDWI
+4
Level 40
Apr 15, 2021
I did. I guess I wanted to see if it was there.
music99
+10
Level 54
May 16, 2022
At least one supreme court justice missed that one
toccina
+2
Level 65
May 16, 2022
Maybe everybody isnt american?..
thiago1314
+13
Level 42
May 17, 2022
I tried guns lol (I'm not american). My second guess was free speech
Gidney
+1
Level 44
Feb 21, 2024
freedom to bear arms is the second ammendment i think
benjaminmarker
+21
Level 72
May 7, 2020
Never heard of Babe Ruth..
ander217
+5
Level 75
May 15, 2020
baseball player
CardinalSin
+16
Level 78
May 27, 2020
I think baseball's an American sport. It's like rounders.
averageuser0
+1
Level 54
Apr 25, 2023
It is.

It’s where you hit a ball with a bat and then run to a base

GeographyGeek42
+3
Level 66
Jul 3, 2020
Candy bar
MungoJerry
+23
Level 56
Jun 11, 2020
it's incredibly popular in the Dominican Republic, Columbia, South Korea and other countries. Not only an American sport
HTownBoyz
+17
Level 52
Jun 27, 2020
Japan, too
music99
+5
Level 54
May 16, 2022
Dominican Republic and Colombia are American countries.
Neodymium
+2
Level 59
Feb 24, 2023
What
averageuser0
+2
Level 54
Apr 25, 2023
They mean usa
ctleng76
+5
Level 65
May 16, 2022
It depends on what you mean by calling it an American sport. It was invented in the US, so if you are referring to where it started, then yes it can be called an American sport. Then again, Dominican Republic and Colombia are located in The Americas, so it still holds true there as well.
JackintheBox
+1
Level 79
Mar 7, 2023
Colombia*
mightythor
+5
Level 66
Jun 16, 2020
Never heard the phrase "Sultan of Swat".
Chutney
+8
Level 62
Jun 27, 2020
Neither have I, nor have I heard Bambino. Just guessed baseball players that most people know, like Ruth, Mays, Mantle, etc.
kenpo17
+5
Level 66
Jun 29, 2020
I'm mostly familiar with it from the phrase "curse of the Bambino," about how the Boston Red Sox went more than 80 years without winning a championship after they sold Babe Ruth's contract to the New York Yankees. Baseball players (and somewhat fans as well) are notoriously superstitious.
jbro
+3
Level 69
Jun 28, 2020
What?!?!?!?!?! He was the greatest baseball player of all time!
Chris19
+10
Level 51
Jul 12, 2020
While I don't doubt that he was the greatest baseball player of all times, I have never heard of him either (like I have never heard the name of the greatest ping pong player or the greatest underwater rugby player :-)).
bn9043
+1
Level 61
Oct 19, 2023
I googled both those, it's Ma Long for ping pong and Dezso Gyarmati for water polo

Yeah never heard of them

MinecraftFan
+1
Level 19
Nov 30, 2021
@benjaminmarker I am really surprised by that. I am under 10 and I know that.
TSeriesf0rdawin
+10
Level 31
Dec 9, 2021
ur also probably american
OvidiusPoeta
+3
Level 64
May 16, 2022
Every non American hasn't
Findlay
+6
Level 82
May 16, 2022
I could only name two baseball players. Fortunately for the purposes of this quiz, Babe Ruth was one of them.
ravnen
+1
Level 62
Oct 9, 2023
I agree. When you are not from the US you most likely have never heard of Babe Ruth.
Arp2600
+21
Level 86
May 7, 2020
Never heard of the Underground railroad. It may be a question for american dummies, but it's hard for the rest of the world (the same goes for Babe Ruth, though I guess he's the most famous baseball player...).
FadKrashmor
+7
Level 71
May 7, 2020
I guessed both: Babe Ruth is the only baseball player whose name I know, except for Joe DiMaggio now I think about it, but I only know that because of Marilyn Monroe.
Saundeep
+7
Level 53
Jun 27, 2020
We didn't start the fire!
averageuser0
+1
Level 54
Apr 25, 2023
It. Was always burning, since the worlds been turning
Joaster
+5
Level 60
Jun 27, 2020
Mrs. Robinson!
PaterN
+11
Level 78
May 7, 2020
I haven't ever heard about the underground railroad during the first 45 years of my life, but it's definitely worth knowing about. I can't say the same for Babe Ruth.
WillemLAif
+1
Level 76
May 10, 2020
I first encountered "the underground railroad" in high school history (forever ago) and later in the Simpsons. To-day, it's still in the reruns.
pinkysbrain
+2
Level 83
Jul 17, 2020
Being a fan of the Simpsons if you are not American is a great way to learn some american history/culture and sports that you would not be familiar with .
Stef2
+1
Level 61
May 27, 2020
Same, I only know Babe Ruth because of some youtube video.
Jeremy
+3
Level 74
Jun 27, 2020
I'm pretty sure the first time I had heard of Babe Ruth was when I first watched The Sandlot in elementary school. Though of course I've heard the name I don't think I would've known the answer to that question (short of just guessing famous baseball players) without seeing that movie.
TheKindCowboy
+1
Level 55
Mar 10, 2022
That movie is a classic
pitzikat
+2
Level 74
May 7, 2020
I wonder what percentage of Americans would score 100 on this one. . . .
emwcee
+2
Level 46
Jun 29, 2020
I would think 100 percent.
Kayleyy
+2
Level 37
Jun 17, 2022
Not me ✌
scherre
+10
Level 55
May 7, 2020
For dummies .. or non-Americans! Finally an American themed quiz I can get all right :)
fredbrandt
+2
Level 76
Jun 27, 2020
Nice quiz. Very easy if your are not an american with a little knowledge about USA !!
nicolasquiz
+2
Level 68
Jun 27, 2020
18/20 first try, only missed the Underground Railroad and Babe Ruth.
SWATkun
+1
Level 59
Jun 27, 2020
Please accept Freedom of Religion and Secularism for only Religion
ctleng76
+3
Level 65
May 16, 2022
Are you being funny or serious? The constitution doesn't use the word secularism. Whether or not you think it should be there doesn't mean it should be included as a correct answer.
kalbahamut
+3
Level 82
May 16, 2022
huh?

I'm not even sure if you're talking about the last question on the quiz; this wording is so clumsy. But, if you are... ct is right for once... the Constitution only guarantees that Congress will make no laws respecting religions or the free exercise of them... this protection is commonly referred to as the freedom of religion, and it is understood to preclude the government from banning any religions as well as preventing them from establishing any official religion. So... of course... Americans are free to practice, or not practice, any religion they choose. That's covered. But what is "freedom of secularism" anyway? That's not a thing.

Besides if you start typing in this odd phrase you've come up with, you'd get the answer anyway before you got that far.

CambodianQuizzer
+6
Level 65
Jun 27, 2020
Please accept George Ruth, or George Herman Ruth for Babe Ruth. Otherwise good quiz!
ctleng76
+8
Level 65
Jul 1, 2020
If you know his official first name, then surely you know his nickname. I think only accepting Babe Ruth is more than fair.
bn9043
+2
Level 61
Oct 19, 2023
Just "Ruth" works
lucd13
+3
Level 69
Jun 27, 2020
Sea of Tranquility isn't accepted?
Yahyasindhi1502
+1
Level 46
Oct 5, 2023
It's a quiz for Americans, that's too complicated for them ;D
TheCrusher
+10
Level 71
Jun 27, 2020
Thanksgiving was already a holiday in 1621? Those pilgrims must have been so stoked to get the day off!
Fishbone
+1
Level 49
Jun 30, 2020
^ +1
SpartanLlama
+2
Level 68
Jun 30, 2020
I got car by accident but probably would've gotten it anyway
Jiff123
+10
Level 48
Dec 28, 2021
I read that as, ‘I got in a car accident but probably would’ve gotten in it anyway'
WildStrawberries
+7
Level 51
Jul 3, 2020
Edison did not invent any of those things. Please read an actual historical account and not mythologized hagiographies.
Ferbin
+4
Level 76
Sep 29, 2020
Indeed. Although he does seem to have invented the phonograph, even if it was just one of many differently named machines (made by different people) that progressively developed the audio recording/reproducing technology. But the other two, yeah, he made some contributions to their development at best, but he certainly did not invent them.
kalbahamut
+1
Level 82
May 16, 2022
Sounds definitive.
Quizmaster
+2
Level ∞
Aug 18, 2023
"But the other two, yeah, he made some contributions to their development at best, but he certainly did not invent them."

This is every invention. Nobody invents anything truly from scratch.

JamesVI
+2
Level 65
Sep 25, 2020
We don't have Thanksgiving over here in Britannia however it is interesting to see that the Americans will be celebrating their 400th Thanksgiving next year!
HendogJP
+2
Level 59
Dec 4, 2020
It is the 400th year since the first Thanksgiving, but not the 400th Thanksgiving. Abraham Lincoln popularized Thanksgiving in the US after he thanked the Union Army in 1863, but it was made a national holiday in 1941, so it is the 80th Thanksgiving next year.
ritan
+1
Level 47
May 16, 2022
Got them all in 57 seconds, and I am not an American even
AlmostAGenius
+1
Level 81
May 16, 2022
You mean Niel Armstrong was the first to stand in front of a green screen, right?
Desmond2309
+1
Level 35
May 16, 2022
At first I thought dummies meant the fake people.
Margles
+1
Level 27
May 18, 2022
I need serious geography lessons! Chicago is on the shores of Lake Michigan? I never knew that.
Miri24
+1
Level 44
Jun 20, 2022
As a non-American I got every single one of these right on my first try loool
CMPower43
+1
Level 41
Sep 17, 2022
Wright brothers didn't invent the airplane, they just made it well known.
Quizmaster
+2
Level ∞
Aug 18, 2023
This is very wrong. Before 1903, the state of the art in flight was useless gliders. By 1908, the Wright Brothers plane was zooming around Paris, amazing their critics who couldn't believe how far things had come in just five years.

I said above that no one truly invents anything, but the Wright Brothers invention of the plane was pretty darn close to the Platonic ideal of invention.

They so far outstripped their rivals that its comical.

AJFSPPRDRTYTS
+2
Level 37
Dec 14, 2022
For the Cold War question you should accept "Russia" as a choice since it was later called that.
CarolTries
+1
Level 65
Jun 18, 2023
It wasn't the Wright brothers who created the airplane, it was Santos Dummont. Y'all really american-centric.
ooftownroad
+2
Level 61
Oct 5, 2023
he made the airSHIP

theres a difference

ColinSutton
+1
Level 48
Oct 5, 2023
A date that will live in infamy not day.
dunkinggandalf2
+1
Level 68
Oct 5, 2023
This quiz seems a lot harder than many other "for dummies" quiz. While I did get all the answers, I certainly wouldn't shame anyone for not knowing them all, especially if they're not from the US!
DannySkins
+1
Level 57
Oct 5, 2023
This would be a better quiz if it was limited to 90 or so seconds. The questions are so easy having to think fast would give it a bit of extra oomf.
Gidney
+1
Level 44
Feb 21, 2024
I forgot about elvis..
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