DV Journal

Memorial Day is when we pause and honor those who gave their lives for our freedom. Some were famous men who died in battle. Others were unknown soldiers killed in historic battles. How much do you know about America’s military history? Test your knowledge with this short quiz.

1. Which single-day battle had the most American combat deaths?

A: Battle of the Bulge

B: Gettysburg

C: Bunker Hill

D: Antietam

Answer: D. The deadliest single-day battle in American history was the Civil War’s Battle of Antietam, with 23,000 casualties, including 3,675 Union and Confederate soldiers killed.

2. This ill-fated military action during America’s “Cold War” with international communism claimed four American lives and nearly undermined a new president.

A: The Gulf of Tonkin

B: The Bay of Pigs

C: The Berlin Airlift

D: The London Blitz

Answer: B. Four American CIA operatives died during the failed 1961 attempt by U.S.-backed Cuban exiles to overthrow Fidel Castro. They were pilots from the Alabama Air National Guard who flew B-26 bombers in support of the invasion.

3. This famous American died at the Alamo during the Texas Revolution, but he never fired a shot.

A: Davy Crockett

B: William Travis

C: James Bowie

D: Daniel Boone

Answer: C. When Mexican Gen. Santa Anna’s forces took the Alamo in 1836, they killed nearly every combatant, including the bedridden Bowie. He was sick, possibly with typhoid or tuberculosis, for the entire siege.

4.  The Spanish-American War is remembered as the “splendid little war.” What battle saw the largest number of American deaths in that war?

A: Manila Bay

B: Santiago de Cuba

C: San Juan Hill

D: Explosion of the USS Maine

Answer: C. Col. Theodore Roosevelt is famous for leading his Rough Riders in a charge up San Juan Hill in Cuba on July 1, 1898. And he did — although the fighting was actually on Kettle Hill and the Rough Riders walked (their horses hadn’t arrived). Still, the 144 soldiers who died there made it the war’s costliest battle for the Americans.

5. What is the highest political office held by an American killed in combat?

A: Governor

B: U.S. Senator

C: Vice President

D: Member of Congress

Answer: B. President Abraham Lincoln came under fire (though at a distance) while in office, but the highest-ranking sitting official to die in combat was U.S. Sen. Edward Baker, R-Ore., during the Civil War’s Battle of Ball’s Bluff in 1861.

6. World War II was the deadliest struggle in human history. On what battlefield did more Americans lay down their lives than any other in that conflict?

A: Pearl Harbor

B: D-Day Invasion at Normandy

C: Iwo Jima

D: Battle of the Bulge

Answer: D. Just when it seemed victory in Europe was in sight, the Germans launched a lethal counteroffensive. Americans paid dearly in the December 1944-January 1945 Battle of the Bulge, halting the attack at the cost of 19,000 lives.

7. Many famous U.S. entertainers served in World War II, and some made the ultimate sacrifice. Among them was this famous musician.

A: Glenn Miller

B: Tony Bennett

C: B.B. King

D: John Coltrane

Answer: A. All four of these musicians served in the military during WWII, but only Miller didn’t make it home. His flight from England to Paris disappeared over the English Channel in 1944, and he was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star.

It’s a uniquely American institution. Early each year, the president delivers a much-anticipated State of the Union address. Then it’s (usually) quickly forgotten. How much do you know about this annual tradition? Test your knowledge with this short, fun quiz.

1. What was responsible for starting the custom?

A: The Declaration of Independence

B: The Articles of Confederation

C: The Federalist papers

D: The Constitution

Answer: D. Article II, Section 3 says the president “shall from time to time give to the Congress Information on the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.” Though a precise timeline isn’t spelled out, all presidents since George Washington have interpreted that to mean once a year.

2. Who began referring to it as the State of the Union address?

A: George Washington

B: Thomas Jefferson

C: Herbert Hoover

D: Franklin D. Roosevelt

Answer: D. Up until the 1930s, it was simply called the president’s “Annual Message.” FDR christened it with the name we know today.

3.  Only two presidents didn’t deliver an Annual Message or a State of the Union address. Who were they, and why didn’t they observe the custom?

A: William Henry Harrison and James Garfield

B: William McKinley and John F. Kennedy

C: Warren Harding and Harry Truman

D: Zachary Taylor and Abraham Lincoln

Answer: A. Harrison died of illness, and Garfield was assassinated before they could send their first Annual Message.

4. Perhaps because he wasn’t a great public speaker, President Thomas Jefferson broke with his predecessors and sent his Annual Message in writing, not in person. That tradition continued until this president revived the tradition of addressing Congress in person.

A: George Washington

B: Chester Arthur 

C: Rutherford B. Hayes

D: Woodrow Wilson

Answer: D. Woodrow Wilson returned the president’s Annual Message to Capitol Hill in person in 1913.

5. While most addresses are rosy and optimistic, who delivered what’s widely considered the most alarmist State of the Union?

A: Abraham Lincoln, 1861

B: Woodrow Wilson, 1917

C: Franklin Roosevelt, 1941

D: John F. Kennedy, 1961

Answer: D. Speaking to Congress on January 30, just 10 days after taking office, Kennedy’s address came at the height of the Cold War. It contained such troubling warnings as the “hour of national peril” and “we draw nearer the hour of maximum danger.”

6. Which Annual Message/State of the Union addresses set technological records?

A: Calvin Coolidge, 1923

B: Harry Truman, 1947

C: Bill Clinton, 1997

D: All the above

Answer: D. Coolidge had the first speech carried on radio; Truman’s speech was the first broadcast on television; and Clinton’s speech was the first streamed on the internet.

7. Whose address was the longest delivered in person?

A: Millard Fillmore

B: Ulysses S. Grant

C: Bill Clinton

D: George W. Bush

Answer: C. Clinton spoke for one hour, 28 minutes, and 49 seconds in 2000. The longest message was from Jimmy Carter in 1981, whose 33,667-word report was the last sent in writing.

8.  Which president listed his “Four Freedoms” to inspire a nation as war loomed?

A: Abraham Lincoln, 1861

B: Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1941

C: George W. Bush, 2002

D: Teddy Roosevelt, 1905

Answer: B. Roosevelt spelled out his “Four Freedoms” as World War II raged in Europe (and would soon engulf America): The freedom of speech, the freedom of worship, the freedom from want, and the freedom from fear.

9. Which president used his address to reverse his previous political philosophy and declare, “The era of Big Government is over”?

A: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1965

B: Andrew Jackson, 1831

C: George H.W. Bush, 1992

D: Bill Clinton, 1996

Answer: D. After tax hikes and a failed healthcare plan led to the first Republican House majority since 1952, the pragmatic Arkansas governor saw the writing on the wall.

Millions will watch President Trump deliver his second inaugural address on Monday. Over the years, some of those speeches contained memorable lines; others were immediately forgotten. Below are some phrases from inaugural addresses. Do you know who said them?

1. “There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America.”

A: George W. Bush, 2001

B: Lyndon Johnson, 1965

C: Bill Clinton, 1993

D: Richard Nixon, 1969

Answer: C. Bill Clinton, like many presidents before him, began his presidency on a positive note. He left office with the highest approval rating (66 percent) in the modern era.

2. “We have called by different names brethren of the same principle. We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists.”

A: Thomas Jefferson, 1801

B: Andrew Jackson, 1829

C: Benjamin Harrison, 1889

D: William Howard Taft, 1909

Answer: A. Despite the conciliatory tone, political historians trace the modern partisan divide back to the Jefferson era, when the role of political parties began to emerge.

3. “Those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside.”

A: Franklin Roosevelt, 1945

B: Harry Truman, 1949

C: Dwight Eisenhower, 1957

D: John F. Kennedy, 1961

Answer: D. Though best remembered for his famous “Ask not what your country can do for you” line, Kennedy’s speech came during the height of the Cold War and contained a tacit warning for world powers to keep their hands off former colonies that were becoming independent nations.

4. “In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.”

A: Theodore Roosevelt, 1905

B: Franklin Roosevelt, 1941

C: Lyndon Johnson, 1965

D: Ronald Reagan, 1981

Answer: D. Reagan’s 1980 election saw not only the defeat of Jimmy Carter but also a reversal of a nearly 50-year embrace of ever-bigger government. His first inaugural address marked a sea change in how many Americans viewed Washington.

5. “With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in.”

A: Thomas Jefferson, 1805

B: Abraham Lincoln, 1865

C: Rutherford B. Hayes, 1877

D: Woodrow Wilson, 1917

Answer: B. Lincoln made this pledge of unity and compassion to a divided nation just 41 days before he was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth.

6. “Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

A: Calvin Coolidge, 1925

B: Herbert Hoover, 1929

C: Franklin Roosevelt, 1933

D: Jimmy Carter, 1977

Answer: C. Entering office at the depth of the Great Depression and amid increasing bank failures, Roosevelt used the first of his record four inaugural addresses to calm his jittery fellow citizens.

7. “Having determined not to be a candidate for reelection…”

A: Martin Van Buren, 1837

B: William Henry Harrison, 1841

C: James Buchanan, 1857

D: Ulysses S. Grant, 1869

Answer: C. Buchanan was the only first-term president to use his inaugural address to declare himself a lame duck. Given that the country fell apart and slid into the tragedy of the Civil War on his watch, that was probably a good thing.

8. “I shall endeavor to express the high sense I entertain of this distinguished honor.”

A: George Washington, 1793

B: James Garfield, 1881

C: Warren Harding, 1921

D: George H.W. Bush, 1989

Answer: A. Washington not only gave the first inaugural address, but his second (from which this line is taken) was also the shortest. At 135 words, he finished speaking in about one minute.

Americans celebrating New Year’s on January 1, 1925, were just as excited about their futures as we are today, 100 years later. What was in store a century ago for the year ahead? Find out with this short, fun quiz.

1. On Jan. 3, 1925, a famous figure proclaimed himself a dictator. Who was he?

A: Adolf Hitler

B: Benito Mussolini

C: Josef Stalin

D: Francisco Franco

Answer: B. Having served as prime minister of Italy since 1922, the Fascist Party chief known as “Il Duce” (The Leader) delivered a speech to the Chamber of Deputies where he dropped all pretense of democracy. It is widely viewed as the start of his dictatorship.

2. On Jan. 5, 1925, Nellie Tayloe Ross did something no other American woman had ever done. What was it?

A: Elected CEO of a corporation

B: Swam the Mississippi River

C: Became governor of a state

D: Became a U.S. Army general

Answer: C. Ross was inaugurated that day as governor of Wyoming, making her the first female elected state chief executive in the United States. Her husband died in office in 1924, and she won a special election to serve the rest of his term. (Texas’ famous Miriam “Ma” Ferguson also won a special election as governor in 1924 and was inaugurated two weeks later.) Ross went on to serve as director of the U.S. Mint, the first woman to hold that job, too.

3. Dubbed one of several “Trials of the Century,” the Scopes Trial was a national sensation that involved what?

A: A challenge to Prohibition

B: A famous kidnapping

C: A double murder

D: Teaching evolution in public schools

Answer: D. For 11 days in July, teacher John T. Scopes was on trial in Dayton, Tenn., for violating a state law that banned evolution in the classroom. The prosecution team included three-time Democratic nominee for president William Jennings Bryan, and it was the first U.S. trial to be broadcast on national radio. Though Scopes was found guilty, his conviction was later overturned on a technicality.

4. On March 18, 1925, one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history occurred. What was it?

A: The San Francisco Earthquake

B: The Tri-State Tornado

C: The Great Blizzard of ’25

D: The Great New England Hurricane

Answer: B. About 700 people were killed and more than 2,000 injured when a string of powerful tornadoes roared across a 220-mile stretch of Missouri, Illinois and Indiana. Railroad tracks were ripped from the ground, and debris was blown 50 miles. It remains the deadliest tornado outbreak in U.S. history.

5. On April 10, 1925, “The Great Gatsby” was published. It is widely considered the quintessential account of the Jazz Age. Who wrote it?

A: Ernest Hemingway

B: William Faulkner

C: F. Scott Fitzgerald

D: Willa Cather

Answer: C. Not only was “The Great Gatsby” Fitzgerald’s masterpiece but it also captured the spirit of many wealthy young people in the post-World War I generation.

6. Another book was published 90 days later. It foretold a far different era that lay ahead. What was it?

A: Brave New World

B: Mein Kampf

C: Things to Come

D: Atlas Shrugged

Answer: B. Adolf Hitler’s manifesto of hate was first printed in Germany on July 18, 1925. It made Hitler wealthy and had sold 5.2 million copies in 11 languages by the time World War II began in 1939. It is still in print.

7. On June 6, 1925, one of the “Big Three” U.S. automakers was founded. It remains a major force in the auto world today. That company was the namesake of which founder?

A: Henry Ford

B: Walter Chrysler

C: Charles Nash

D: Robert E. Olds

Answer: B. The Chrysler Corp.’s founder, Walter Chrysler, was Time magazine’s Man of the Year in 1928 and went on to finance the construction of New York City’s Chrysler Building.

8.  On Dec. 12, 1925, the very first type of this brand-new business opened that still exists today. What was it?

A: Radio station

B: Fast-food restaurant

C: Motel

D: Laundromat

Answer: C. The Milestone Mo-Tel began operating in San Luis Obispo, Calif. It was the first in the world to target auto travelers.

Thanksgiving is marked by tradition. And yet the way we celebrate has changed over the past century. What’s different today from 100 years ago, Thanksgiving 1923? Find out with this short, fun quiz.

1. This year, Thanksgiving is on November 23. What was the date in 1923?

A: November 14

B: November 22

C: November 23

D: November 29

Answer: D. The fourth Thursday in November wasn’t the established date for the federal holiday until 1941. Before that, each president chose the date and issued a Thanksgiving proclamation. President Calvin Coolidge picked the fifth Thursday in November 1923.

2. Americans will pay an average of $1.71 per pound for their Thanksgiving turkey this year. How much did they pay 100 years ago?

A: 23 cents a pound

B: 45 cents a pound

C: 56 cents a pound

D: 99 cents a pound

Answer: B. While 45 cents may sound cheap, turkey was far more costly a century ago. Adjusted for inflation, that 45 cents is equal to $8.10 today. By comparison, in 1923, a gallon of milk cost 35 cents; a new Chevrolet Roadster $570; and a large four-bedroom house $7,000.

3. Then, as now, sports were an important part of Thanksgiving Day festivities. What was the most popular sporting event on Thanksgiving Day in 1923?

A: Hockey matches

B: Football games

C: Boxing matches

D: Bicycle races

Answer: B. High school games began being played on Thanksgiving Day in the 1890s. By 1923, the NFL had a busy card on Nov. 29. The biggest game was the Chicago Bears 3-0 victory over the Chicago (now Arizona) Cardinals. Other games that day: Canton Bulldogs 28, Toledo Maroons 0; Green Bay Packers 19, Hammond Pros 0; and Milwaukee Badgers 16, Racine Legion 0. (All four games were shutouts!)

4. Thanksgiving in 2023 is now considered the official start of the holiday season, with Santa Claus appearing at the end of parades and Yuletide lights glowing that night. What was considered the optimal time for putting up Christmas decorations in 1923?

A. Thanksgiving week

B: Thanksgiving Day

C: The day after Thanksgiving

D: December

Answer: D. It was considered poor taste to hang decorations in November. In fact, a Christmas tradition that commenced that same year was held much later in the season than it is today. President Coolidge flipped the switch, lighting the first National Christmas Tree at 5 p.m. on December 24, 1923. (It will be held Nov. 30 this year.)

5. What time did the legendary Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade through the streets of New York City begin in 1923?

A: 10 a.m.

B: Noon

C: 1 p.m.

D: 3 p.m.

Answer: This is a trick question. The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade didn’t begin until 1924. Philadelphia’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, launched in 1920, is the nation’s oldest.

6. This side dish makes the occasional cameo appearance on our Thanksgiving tables today, but it was a staple of many holiday menus in 1923.

A: Coconut

B: Venison

C: Oysters

D: Cabbage

Answer: C. Starting in the 19th century, Americans were crazy for oysters, particularly around the holidays. They appeared in stews, dressings, and (of course) on the half shell. Even in the Midwest, barrels of oysters were sent from the coast by rail in time for the Thanksgiving feast.

The president may be America’s commander in chief, but over the years, many have experienced the same wartime wounds from losing family in battle as their fellow citizens. This Memorial Day weekend, test your knowledge of presidential relatives who made the ultimate sacrifice with this short, easy and fascinating quiz.

1. This president, who received the Medal of Honor posthumously for his own wartime gallantry, was deeply shaken by the loss of his son in World War I.

A. Grover Cleveland

B. William McKinley

C. Theodore Roosevelt

D. Calvin Coolidge

Answer: C.  Quentin Roosevelt, 20, was shot down in aerial combat over France on Bastille Day (July 14) 1918. Roosevelt’s youngest son, he was the only child of a president ever killed in battle.

2. This future president lost two brothers in America’s war for independence.

A. Martin Van Buren

B.  Andrew Jackson

C.  John Adams

D.  John Quincy Adams

Answer: B.  Hugh Jackson died of heat exhaustion after the 1779 Battle of Stono Ferry near Charleston, South Carolina. Robert Jackson died of smallpox after being released from a British prison camp.

3. This president lost several in-laws who died fighting the cause he led.

A. Abraham Lincoln

B. Ulysses S. Grant

C. James Garfield

D. Benjamin Harrison

Answer: A. While Lincoln’s wife, Mary, was devoted to the Union, her younger half-brothers fought for the Confederacy. Two (Alexander and Samuel Todd) were killed. After her half-sister’s husband Brig. Gen. Ben Hardin Helm was killed at Chickamauga, both Lincolns were criticized for Emilie Helm staying with them in the White House.

4. In November 1781, John Parke “Jacky” Custis contracted a fever during the Siege of Yorktown and died at age 26, just 17 days after the British surrender. He was related to which future president?

A. John Adams 

B. Andrew Jackson

C. George Washington

D. Millard Fillmore

Answer: C.  Custis’ mother was Martha Custis Washington. He was George Washington’s stepson and served as the general’s aide-de-camp during the siege. After his death, George and Martha raised Custis’ two youngest children at Mount Vernon.

5.  This future president was decorated for his heroism in World War II. His older brother was killed in the same conflict.

A. Gerald R. Ford 

B. Richard M. Nixon

C. Lyndon B. Johnson

D. John F. Kennedy

Answer: D. While John F. Kennedy fought in the Pacific, older brother Joseph Kennedy Jr. was killed in Europe in 1944 on a mission involving a pilotless aircraft, a forerunner of today’s military drones.

6.  On May 15, 1864, 10 teenage military cadets from the Virginia Military Institute were killed in the Battle of New Market, Va. One was related to which president?

A. George Washington

B. Thomas Jefferson

C. James Madison

D. James Monroe

Answer: B. Thomas Garland Jefferson was 17 and the great-grandnephew of his namesake.

7.  Lt. Charles Carroll Wood was a descendant of an American president, but he died in 1899 while fighting as a citizen of another nation. Which one? 

A. Canada 

B. France 

C. Germany

D. United Kingdom

Answer: A.  Born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Wood was Zachary Taylor’s great-grandson. Another ancestor had signed the Declaration of Independence. He was the first Canadian officer killed in the Second Boer War fought in South Africa.

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Most American schoolchildren learn about Christopher Columbus, his patronage from King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain, and his three ships that came to the New World. But few of us know very much about what that “world” was like when Columbus arrived. Here’s a fun quiz to test your knowledge.

1. The New World got the name “America” from …?

A. The Latin word for “Amazing Land”

B. A tribute to Queen Amelia of the Netherlands

C. The explorer Amerigo Vespucci

D. A mineral commonly found in its soil

2. Based on the best current estimates of demographers, how many people lived in the Americas when Columbus arrived?

A. 4 million

B. 40 million

C. 400 million

D. Fewer than a million

3. How many men sailed with Columbus on the Pinta, Nina and Santa Maria?

A. 90

B. 100

C. 125

D. 150

4. When the Europeans arrived, the dominant force on the continent was …?

A. The Mayan Empire

B. The Iroquois Confederacy

C. The Olmecs

D. The Aztec Empire

5. Before Columbus arrived, which of the following was not available to the people of the Americas?

A. Horses

B. Coffee

C. Wheat

D. All of the above

6. Which of the following was not available in Europe until Columbus reached the New World?

A. Corn

B. Potatoes

C. Chocolate

D. All of the above

7. The “Pinta” was not the ship’s formal name, but a nickname given by the sailors. It meant:

A. “Painted one” or “prostitute.”

B. “Pony”

C. It was short for “pinata.”

D. A reference to the pine in the ship’s construction.

8. The Europeans in Central America faced warriors who wielded the “atlatl.” What sort of weapon was it?

A. A curved sword.

B. A primitive firearm.

C. A device that flung darts and spears.

D. A lasso.

9. While 1492 may have been his most famous trip, how many voyages did Columbus make to the New World?

A. One

B. Two

C. Three

D. Four

10. Columbus spent most of the last year of his life …?

A. Living like a king in Spain

B. Exploring the coastline of the Americas

C. Castaway on Jamaica waiting for rescue

D. Building his family home in Hispaniola

ANSWERS:  1-C, 2-B, 3-A, 4-A, 5-D, 6-D, 7-A, 8-C, 9-D, 10-C

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Presidents Day, which originated in the 1880s, will be observed on February 21 this year. The quiz below, from the Ashbrook Center at Ashland University, provides an opportunity for you to test your knowledge of America’s presidents and the American presidency. It was written by Sarah M. Burns,  a member of the Ashbrook Center faculty and an associate professor of political science at Rochester Institute of Technology.

1. Presidents Day originally was established to honor which president?

A. George Washington

B. Abraham Lincoln

C. Thomas Jefferson

D. All of the above

2. Only two presidents were among the signers of the Constitution.  Which two were they?

A. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson

B. George Washington and John Adams

C. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison

D. James Madison and George Washington

3. Which of the following is not specified in the Constitution’s list of crimes that warrant a president’s removal from office on impeachment?

A. Treason

B. Abuse of power

C. Bribery

D. High crimes and misdemeanors

4. Of all the presidents, only one had a formal education in political science. Who was that?

A. Jimmy Carter

B.  Harry Truman

C.  John F. Kennedy

D. Woodrow Wilson

5. Which president named the president’s residence and workplace the White House?

A. John Adams

B. Andrew Johnson

C. Theodore Roosevelt

D. Zachary Taylor

6. Four U.S. presidents were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Who were they?

A. Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Jimmy Carter, and Barack Obama

B. Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Woodrow Wilson. and Barack Obama

C. Theodore Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, and Barack Obama

D. John F. Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama

7. Which president served as a Supreme Court justice after his presidential term in office?

A. Grover Cleveland

B. Calvin Coolidge

C. Benjamin Harrison

D. William Taft

8. Which document is most responsible for laying out the process by which we nominate presidential candidates today?

A. Article II of the U.S. Constitution

B. The 22nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution

C. The McGovern-Fraser Commission Report of 1971

D. The Brownlow Committee Report of 1937

9. Two U.S. presidents began life as indentured servants.  Who were they?

A. Zachary Taylor and James Polk

B. Millard Filmore and Andrew Johnson

C. Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant

D. John Tyler and James Buchanan

10. Which famous historical document is read on the U.S. Senate floor every Presidents Day?

A.  Declaration of Independence

B. George Washington’s farewell address

C. Gettysburg Address

D. John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address

Answers: 1-A, 2-D, 3-B, 4-D, 5-C, 6-A, 7-D, 8-C, 9-B, 10-B

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November 11 is both Veterans Day and the 100th anniversary of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the solemn landmark at Arlington National Cemetery honoring military personnel killed in action who have never been identified. Since 1999, a vacant crypt on the grounds has honored missing service members from the Vietnam War.

The quiz below, from the Ashbrook Center at Ashland University, Ashland, Ohio, provides an opportunity for you to test your knowledge of Veterans Day and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

1. What was Veterans Day originally called?

A. Armed Forces Day

B. Remembrance Day

C. Soldiers Day

D. Armistice Day

2. In what year was the name changed to Veterans Day?

A. 1938

B. 1945

C. 1954

D. 1962

3. Starting in 1971, after the Uniform Holiday Bill was passed moving federal holiday observances to Mondays, Veterans Day was observed on different dates. What president signed the legislation returning the annual observance to its original date?

A. Richard M. Nixon

B. Gerald R. Ford

C. Jimmy Carter

D. Ronald Reagan

4. Why is Veterans Day always observed on November 11, rather than on a Monday, like other national holidays?

A. The World War I ceasefire was signed on the 11th day of the 11th month

B. The Allies won the First Battle of Ypres on November 11

C.  The last World War I soldier returned home on that date

D. The Battle of the Somme ended on November 11 after 141 days

5. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, there are approximately how many veterans living in the United States today?

A. 7 million

B. 12 million

C. 19 million

D. 46 million

6. Which U.S. state is credited with being the home to the most Medal of Honor winners?

A. New York

B. Pennsylvania

C. Ohio

D. Texas

7. In proposing legislation to create the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in 1921, which congressman said, “It is hoped that the grave of this unidentified warrior will become a shrine of patriotism for all the ages to come, which will be a source of inspiration, reverence and love of country for future generations”?

A. William A. Ashbrook of Ohio

B. Champ Clark of Missouri

C. Hamilton Fish III of New York

D. Frederick Gillett of Massachusetts

8. Which U.S. president officiated at the ceremony dedicating the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier?

A. Woodrow Wilson

B. Warren Harding

C. Calvin Coolidge

D. Herbert Hoover

9. In addition to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Arlington National Cemetery also houses a Tomb of the Civil War Unknowns. Of the 2,111 unidentified soldiers buried there, 1,800 were recovered from which battlefield?

A. Antietam

B. Vicksburg

C. Gettysburg

D. Manassas (Bull Run)

10. Which former general said, “The highest obligation and privilege of citizenship is that of bearing arms for one’s country”?

A. George Patton

B. John Pershing

C. George Marshall

D. Douglas MacArthur

ANSWERS: 1-D, 2-C, 3-B, 4-A, 5-C, 6-A, 7-C, 8-B, 9-D, 10-A

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