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hen in the course of human n events, it becomes necessary for one people e to answer a series of general questions aboutt those events ... well, it can be surprisingly tricky. Even when the subject is as familiar as the U.S. of A. Sure, we’re e a young country; but there’s still 237 years of history to master. Plus, America is really big! From the mountains, to the prairies, to the oceans white with foam, m, there’s just so much to know. But fear not, my fellow Americans: This quiz provides a refresherr on our nation’s history, geography, arts, and sciences, just in time forr the Fourth. So grab a pencil, take a deep breath, and see how much star-spangled trivia you really know.

BY KEN JENNINGS

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These ribbons are given to some of America’s bravest service members. Do you know which is which? a. The Silver Star b. The Air Force Cross c. The Medal of Honor d. The Distinguished Service Cross

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The Statue of Liberty, dedi dedicated in 1886, was g to the United a gift Stat from the people States oof what nation?

Can you, the people, put these constitutional amendments in correct numerical order? a. Women receive the right to vote. b. Freedom of speech is protected. c. Prohibition is repealed. d. The right to a jury trial is established. e. Slavery is abolished. f. The voting age is lowered to 18.

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Do you recognize the first words communicated by these technologies? Match the medium to its message. 1. Samuel Morse’s commercial telegraph 2. Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone 3. Feature film with synchronized dialogue 4. YouTube video a. “All right, so here we are in front of the elephants.” b. “Wait a minute! Wait a minute! You ain’t heard nothin’ yet.” c. “Mr. Watson, come here—I want to see you.” d. “What hath God wrought?”

AFP/AFP/GETTY IMAGES; HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES; EILEEN DARBY/TIME LIFE PICTURES/GETTY IMAGES; HANK WALKER/TIME LIFE PICTURES/GETTY IMAGES; HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES; ISTOCKPHOTO

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Three of these foreign-sounding foreign-soundin foods are actually origin. American in origin Which ones? a. German chocolate cake b. French fries c. Russian dressing dressin d. Chinese chicken salad e. Danish pastries f. English muffins

PHOTOS, CLOCKWISE FROM FAR LEFT: ISTOCKPHOTO; TONY BURNS/GETTY IMAGES; WIKIMEDIA COMMONS (4); 1818 / DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE BY JOHN TRUMBULL / IMAGE BY © POODLESROCK/CORBIS;

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My Country,

8 Can you spot the five differences between this painting and the real one on the cover? See them side by side, get the visual key, and discover fun facts about John Trumbull’s masterpiece at parade.com/cover

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Match each president to his administration’s domestic policy program. a. The New Frontier b. The New Deal c. The Square Deal d. The Great Society e. The Fair Deal

1____ Franklin D. Roosevelt

2 ____ Theodore Roosevelt

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Which of the following products did botanist and inventor George Washington Carver make from peanuts? a. Shampoo b. Fake oysters

c. Fruit drink mix d. Nitroglycerine e. Insecticide f. Printer’s ink

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Sequoyah is a hero of the Cherokee people because in

1821 he gave them what? a. A decisive victory over the U.S. Cavalry b. An elected government c. A major land grant d. A written language

Abner Doubleday is sometimes called the inventor of baseball. That’s not true, but what was Doubleday’s real historical claim to fame? a. He ordered the first Union shots of the Civil War. b. He purchased Alaska from Russia. c. He was the only survivor of the Alamo. d. He mapped the Oregon Trail.

3 ____ Harry Truman

4 ____ John F. Kennedy

5 ____ Lyndon B. Johnson

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Quiz of Thee

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The man on the $10 bill was never president. So why is he pictured there? a. He was the first secretary of the Treasury. b. He was chief justice of the Supreme Court. c. He said, “Give me liberty or give me death.” d. He was the first signer of the Declaration of Independence.

The Oscar for Best Picture has gone to a western—that quintessential American movie genre—only three times. Which of these classics was not a winner? a. High Noon b. Unforgiven c. Dances With Wolves d. Cimarron

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of America’s freshwater is contained in the Great Lakes. Put the lakes in order of the amount of water each holds (from the most gallons to the least). a. Lake Erie b. Lake Huron c. Lake Michigan d. Lake Ontario e. Lake Superior ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Match these fabled Old West gunslingers to their real names. 1. Billy the Kid 2. Butch Cassidy 3. Calamity Jane 4. Buffalo Bill 5. Belle Starr 6. Annie Oakley

a. Myra Shirley b. Robert Parker c. Martha Canary d. William McCarty e. William Cody f. Phoebe Moses

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The famous long glissando that opens composer George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” is played on what instrument? t? a. Harp b. Clarinet c. Trumpet d. Violin

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Why was lyricist Francis Scott Key present at the British bombardment of Baltimore’s Fort McHenry the night he conceived “The Star-Spangled Banner”? a. He was a militia

member defending the fort. b. He was a lawyer negotiating the release of a prisoner. c. He was a doctor treating the wounded. d. He was a barber cutting the British admiral’s hair.

17 How much do you know about the fruits of America’s literary labors? Complete each title with its missing ingredient. a. Plum b. Raisin c. Mango d. Grape e. Huckleberry

1. The House on ______ Street BY SANDRA CISNEROS

2. The ______ s of Wrath BY JOHN STEINBECK

3. On the Banks of ______ Creek BY L AURA INGALLS WILDER

4. The Adventures of ______ Finn BY MARK TWAIN

5. A ______ in the Sun BY LORRAINE HANSBERRY

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PHOTOS, FROM LEFT: ISTOCKPHOTO (2). OPPOSITE: ATANAS BEZOV/GETTY IMAGES

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The tip of the Washington Monument was constructed out of a material that (at the time) was one of the rarest and most precious substances on earth. What is that material? a. Celluloid plastic b. Stainless steel c. Rubber d. Aluminum

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Houston, we have a problem: These milestones in American space exploration are all mixed up. Can you put them in chronological order? a. First American space walk b. First landing on an asteroid c. First American woman in space d. First man on the moon e. First Mars orbiter f. First multinational manned mission

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The SALT and START treaties that the U.S. signed between 1972 and 1991 were aimed at limiting what? a. Nuclear weapons b. Greenhouse gas emissions c. Human rights violations d. Tax dodging

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Below is a close-up of the Four Corners, the only place in the U.S. where four states meet at one point. Can you label each state?_

a. ___

b. ___

c. ___

d. ___

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True or false: George Washington decorated the White House personally, not even accepting help from his wife, Martha.

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Complete this title of one of the most important memoirs of the 19th century: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American _____. a. Admiral b. Tycoon c. Slave d. Poet

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Who is the only woman ever to lie in honor in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol following her death? a. Helen Keller b. Susan B. Anthony c. Rosa Parks d. Eleanor Roosevelt

GO ONLINE FOR MORE FUN CHALLENGES! Could you pass the U.S. citizenship test? Do you have the skills to be a wilderness guide? The street smarts to drive a New York City cab? The strength to qualify for Navy SEAL training? Or the baseball knowledge to be a (better) umpire? Find out at parade.com/quizzes CONTINUED ON PAGE 13

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AN SWE R S 1. a, c, and d 2. 1-c, 2-d, 3-a, 4-b 3. France 4. b (First Amendment), d (Sixth), e (13th), a (19th), c (21st), f (26th) 5. 1-d, 2-c, 3-b, 4-a 6. All of them 7. d 8. You can see the five differences highlighted at parade.com/cover. 9. a. Doubleday was second in command of the Union garrison at Fort Sumter when the war began there. 10. 1-b, 2-c, 3-e, 4-a, 5-d 11. a. Alexander Hamilton appears on the $10 bill. 12. 1-d, 2-b, 3-c, 4-e, 5-a, 6-f 13. a. High Noon was nominated but lost to The Greatest Show on Earth at the 1953 awards. 14. b 15. e, c, b, d, a. Lake Superior holds almost 3,000 cubic miles of water, more than the four other lakes put together. 16. b 17. 1-c, 2-d, 3-a, 4-e, 5-b 18. d. Two years after the monument was completed, cheap aluminum processing was invented. 19. a (1965), d (1969), e (1971), f (1975), c (1983), b (2001) 20. a 21. a-Utah, b-Colorado, c-Arizona, d-New Mexico 22. False. The White House wasn’t occupied until John Adams’s presidency, in 1800. 23. c 24. c. Thirty-two other Americans have lain in state or honor at the rotunda, mostly ex-presidents, members of Congress, military heroes, and “unknown soldiers.”

Jeopardy! champ Ken Jennings is Parade’s trivia columnist and author of Because I Said So.

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