172 Fun Facts About U.S. History

Who was the first President of the United States?

George Washington served as the first President from 1789 to 1797, after leading the Continental Army to victory in the Revolutionary War.

The 1846 Oregon Treaty set the US–British boundary along which parallel?

The 49th parallel: the 1846 Oregon Treaty extended to the Pacific the line already used east of the Rockies since 1818, though expansionists had demanded everything up to 54°40′.

What was the main purpose of the Lewis and Clark Expedition?

Commissioned by the president shortly after the 1803 land deal with France, the Corps of Discovery reached the Pacific in November 1805 and returned the next year.

Which amendment to the Constitution abolished slavery?

The 13th Amendment, ratified in 1865, abolished slavery and involuntary servitude throughout the United States, except as punishment for a crime.

Who shot the president at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., on 14 April 1865?

Booth was a well-known stage actor from a prominent theatrical family. He fled on horseback into Southern Maryland and was tracked down twelve days later in a barn on a Virginia farm, where a Union soldier shot him dead.

What was the name of the ship that brought the Pilgrims to Plymouth in 1620?

The Mayflower carried 102 passengers from England to Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620. The Pilgrims aboard signed the Mayflower Compact, an early form of self-governance.

Which battle is considered the turning point of the Civil War?

The Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863 was the bloodiest battle of the Civil War and is widely considered its turning point, halting General Lee's invasion of the North.

In what year was Texas admitted to the Union as the 28th state?

Texas joined the Union in 1845 after nearly a decade as an independent republic; the annexation helped trigger the Mexican–American War in 1846.

In what year did the U.S.-built Panama Canal open to shipping?

The Panama Canal opened to shipping in 1914; the United States took over the failed French project in 1904, and the SS Ancon made the first official transit on 15 August 1914.

Which war was fought between the North and South regions of the United States?

The American Civil War (1861-1865) was fought between the Union (Northern states) and the Confederacy (Southern states) primarily over slavery and states' rights.

In what year was NASA established?

NASA was established in 1958 by the National Aeronautics and Space Act, signed 29 July 1958, succeeding the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics and giving the space program a civilian focus.

Who delivered the famous 'I Have a Dream' speech during the March on Washington?

Martin Luther King Jr. delivered the speech on August 28, 1963, at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, to a crowd of more than 250,000 people.

Where did General Cornwallis surrender his army to Washington in October 1781?

Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown on 19 October 1781; claiming illness, he skipped the ceremony and sent Brigadier Charles O'Hara to hand over his sword.

At which 1876 engagement were Lt. Col. George Custer and five companies of the 7th Cavalry wiped out?

Lakota and other Plains peoples call it the Battle of the Greasy Grass; Custer's widow Libbie spent decades burnishing his legend.

Which Native American woman helped guide Lewis and Clark on their expedition?

Sacagawea, a Lemhi Shoshone woman, served as interpreter and guide for the Lewis and Clark Expedition from 1804 to 1806. Her knowledge of the terrain and languages was invaluable to the journey.

What was the primary cause of the War of 1812 between the United States and Britain?

The War of 1812 was largely provoked by Britain's practice of impressment, forcibly conscripting American sailors into the Royal Navy, along with British restrictions on American trade during the Napoleonic Wars.

Who was President of the United States in October 1962?

John F. Kennedy was inaugurated in January 1961. At 43 he was the youngest man ever elected to the presidency, and the first Catholic to hold it.

What term names the early-1950s campaign of anti-communist accusations led by a Wisconsin senator?

McCarthyism refers to the campaign of accusations of subversion and treason led by Senator Joseph McCarthy in the early 1950s. He targeted government employees, entertainers and academics with often baseless claims of communist ties.

Which state was admitted to the Union as the 50th state?

Hawaii became the 50th state on 21 August 1959; Alaska had been admitted in January of the same year as the 49th.

Which 1803 Supreme Court case established the principle of judicial review?

Marbury v. Madison (1803): Chief Justice John Marshall struck down part of the Judiciary Act of 1789, the first time the Court declared an act of Congress unconstitutional.

For how many days were 52 Americans held hostage in Iran from 1979 to 1981?

The hostages were held for 444 days, from 4 November 1979 to 20 January 1981; the crisis ended with the Algiers Accords, and they were released minutes after Ronald Reagan was sworn in.

What was the Underground Railroad?

The Underground Railroad was a secret network of escape routes for enslaved people; its routes ran to free states and Canada, and conductors such as Harriet Tubman guided escapees along them.

Who commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia from 1862 until its surrender in 1865?

Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House in April 1865, only months after being named general-in-chief of all Confederate forces.

What was the Homestead Act of 1862?

Claimants could take 160 acres if they lived on and improved the land for five years; by 1934 the government had granted 1.6 million homesteads.

Which President negotiated the purchase of Alaska from Russia?

President Andrew Johnson's Secretary of State William Seward negotiated the purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867 for $7.2 million. Critics initially called it 'Seward's Folly,' but it proved an extraordinary bargain.

The 1925 Scopes 'Monkey' trial over the teaching of evolution took place in which state?

Dayton, Tennessee: local boosters staged the case to put the small town on the map, and it drew Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan to opposite sides of the courtroom.

Which 272-word speech did Lincoln deliver at the dedication of a soldiers' cemetery in 1863?

The Gettysburg Address lasted only about two minutes and followed a two-hour oration by Edward Everett, the day's featured speaker.

What kind of economic activity dominated the antebellum South?

Plantation agriculture: large estates grew cash crops such as cotton, tobacco, rice and indigo, and the system depended on enslaved labor.

Who was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean?

Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly solo nonstop across the Atlantic Ocean in 1932, flying from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland. She later disappeared during an attempt to circumnavigate the globe in 1937.

What was the name of Franklin D. Roosevelt's domestic program to combat the Great Depression?

The New Deal, a 1933–1938 run of economic, social and political reforms, delivered relief, recovery and reform through programs, public works and financial regulation.

Which American inventor is credited with developing the first practical electric light bulb?

Thomas Edison developed the first commercially practical incandescent light bulb in 1879 at his laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey. While others had created earlier versions, Edison's design was the first to be long-lasting and economically viable.

What was the Trail of Tears?

About 60,000 people from the Cherokee, Muscogee, Seminole, Chickasaw, and Choctaw nations were marched to Indian Territory, in present-day Oklahoma, between 1830 and 1850.

Which amendment gave 18-year-olds the right to vote?

The 26th Amendment lowered the voting age from 21 to 18, driven by the argument that anyone old enough to be drafted for Vietnam was old enough to vote.

Where did the Wright brothers make the first controlled, sustained powered flight on December 17, 1903?

The Wright Flyer took off four miles south of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, at what is now Kill Devil Hills; the first flight lasted 12 seconds and covered 120 feet.

Which president was impeached by the House in December 1998 and acquitted by the Senate?

Bill Clinton was impeached on 19 December 1998 on two articles charging perjury and obstruction of justice; neither reached the 67 Senate votes needed for removal, and he was acquitted in February 1999.

Who was the first African American to serve as President of the United States?

Barack Obama was elected as the 44th President of the United States in 2008, becoming the first African American to hold the office. He served two terms, from 2009 to 2017.

What was the significance of the 1848 gathering at Seneca Falls, New York?

Seneca Falls was the first women's rights convention in the United States; held in July 1848, it produced the Declaration of Sentiments, whose demands included the vote for women.

Which president signed the act creating the National Park Service?

While Theodore Roosevelt greatly expanded protected lands, it was President Woodrow Wilson who signed the act creating the National Park Service in 1916. Roosevelt did establish many national monuments and forests, earning his reputation as the 'conservation president.'

What was the main goal of the abolitionist movement?

The abolitionist movement in the United States sought to end the institution of slavery. Key figures included Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, William Lloyd Garrison, and Sojourner Truth.

Which city hosted the Constitutional Convention in 1787?

The Constitutional Convention met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from May to September 1787 at Independence Hall. Delegates from 12 of the 13 states (Rhode Island did not attend) drafted the United States Constitution.

The 1814 bombardment of which fort inspired the words of 'The Star-Spangled Banner'?

Fort McHenry: Francis Scott Key watched the shelling from a ship in Baltimore harbor on 13–14 September 1814 and set his poem to the tune of an English drinking song.

Under what collective pen name were the 85 Federalist Papers published?

The name Publius honored Publius Valerius Publicola, a founder of the Roman Republic; Hamilton, Madison and Jay wrote the 85 essays for New York newspapers in 1787–88.

What was the Gilded Age in American history?

The label was applied by 1920s historians, who borrowed it from Mark Twain's 1873 novel The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today.

Which president signed the 1988 Civil Liberties Act granting redress to interned Japanese Americans?

Ronald Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act on 10 August 1988; it paid $20,000 to each surviving internee, and 82,219 people ultimately received redress checks.

The Whiskey Rebellion of the early 1790s, a protest against a federal excise tax, was centered in which state?

Western Pennsylvania: farmers around Pittsburgh resisted the 1791 excise on distilled spirits, and in 1794 President Washington personally led a militia army toward the region before the revolt collapsed.

Who served as the first Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court?

John Jay served as the first Chief Justice of the United States from 1789 to 1795. He had co-authored the Federalist Papers, and while on the court he negotiated the 1794 treaty with Britain that carries his name.

What was the primary purpose of the Monroe Doctrine?

Declared by President Monroe in 1823, it treated any European intervention in the hemisphere as a potentially hostile act toward the United States.

Which famous American industrialist founded Standard Oil?

John D. Rockefeller founded Standard Oil in 1870, which came to dominate the oil industry and became one of the first great U.S. business trusts. At its peak, it controlled about 90% of U.S. oil refining.

Which name is given to 29 October 1929, the climax of the Wall Street Crash?

Black Tuesday, October 29, 1929, was the most devastating stock market crash in U.S. history at that time. It marked the beginning of the Great Depression, which lasted through much of the 1930s.

Which colony was founded in 1607, making it the first permanent English settlement in North America?

Jamestown, Virginia was established in 1607 by the Virginia Company of London, predating Plymouth Colony by 13 years.

Which cash crop, introduced by John Rolfe around 1612, rescued the Virginia colony from economic failure?

Tobacco: Rolfe brought a sweeter strain from Trinidad, and by the late 1610s it was the Virginia colony's first profitable export.

Who was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence?

Thomas Jefferson was chosen by the Committee of Five to draft the Declaration, which was adopted on July 4, 1776.

Which 1777 battle is the Revolution's turning point because it secured French support?

At Saratoga, British General John Burgoyne surrendered his entire army of about 6,000 men on 17 October 1777, and a formal Franco-American alliance followed in February 1778.

What document, ratified in 1788, replaced the Articles of Confederation as US supreme law?

The Constitution was drafted in 1787 and took effect after New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify it in June 1788, replacing the Articles of Confederation with a federal system of government.

In what year was the Bill of Rights ratified?

The Bill of Rights was ratified on 15 December 1791; twelve articles were sent to the states, ten were ratified then, and one straggler finally became the 27th Amendment in 1992.

Who served as the first Secretary of the Treasury and established the national banking system?

Alexander Hamilton served as the first Secretary of the Treasury from 1789 to 1795, creating the First Bank of the United States and establishing federal fiscal policy.

What 1803 land deal doubled the size of the United States for approximately $15 million?

The Louisiana Purchase from France added roughly 828,000 square miles of territory west of the Mississippi River, at about 3 cents per acre.

Which 1846-48 war gave the US California, Nevada, Utah and parts of other states?

The Mexican-American War ended with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which ceded a vast territory known as the Mexican Cession to the United States.

Which 1857 Supreme Court ruling held that African Americans could not be citizens?

Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857): Chief Justice Roger Taney's 7–2 opinion held that Black Americans could not be citizens and struck down the Missouri Compromise, intensifying the tensions leading to the Civil War.

Which fort near Charleston, South Carolina, was bombarded by Confederate batteries on April 12–13, 1861?

Fort Sumter's Union garrison surrendered after 34 hours; remarkably, no one on either side was killed during the bombardment itself.

Which South Dakota monument carves the faces of four presidents into a granite mountain?

Mount Rushmore, carved by Gutzon Borglum's crews between 1927 and 1941, shows Washington, Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Lincoln in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

What was the post-Civil War period of federal efforts to rebuild the South and integrate freed people called?

Reconstruction lasted from 1865 to 1877 and saw the passage of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, though its gains were largely reversed by Jim Crow laws.

Which amendment ended nationwide Prohibition in 1933?

It is the only amendment ratified by state conventions rather than state legislatures, and the only one to repeal an earlier amendment.

Which industrialist dominated the American steel industry in the late 1800s?

Andrew Carnegie built Carnegie Steel Company into the largest and most profitable steel enterprise in the world before selling it to J.P. Morgan in 1901.

Which New York Harbor island processed millions of immigrants from 1892 to 1954?

Ellis Island processed roughly 12 million immigrants between 1892 and 1954; it was added to the Statue of Liberty National Monument in 1965.

Which president is known for "Trust Busting" corporate monopolies during the Progressive Era?

Theodore Roosevelt used the antitrust laws aggressively, filing 44 suits during his presidency and earning his reputation as a trust buster.

What was completed at Promontory Summit, Utah, in 1869 with a ceremonial golden spike?

The first transcontinental railroad connected the Central Pacific and Union Pacific lines, reducing cross-country travel from months to about a week.

Which 1898 conflict resulted in the U.S. acquiring Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines?

The Spanish-American War lasted only about four months, and the territories it brought marked the emergence of the United States as a global imperial power.

What intercepted 1917 German message helped push the US into World War I?

The Zimmermann Telegram: Berlin offered Mexico help recovering Texas, Arizona and New Mexico if it joined a war against the United States; Congress declared war on 6 April 1917.

Which constitutional amendment, ratified in 1920, guaranteed U.S. women the right to vote?

The 19th Amendment was the culmination of decades of work by the women's suffrage movement, led by figures like Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

Which constitutional amendment banned the manufacture and sale of alcohol in the U.S.?

The 18th Amendment took effect in January 1920 and was enforced by the Volstead Act, though it never outlawed possessing or drinking alcohol.

In what year did the Erie Canal open, linking the Great Lakes to the Atlantic via New York?

The Erie Canal opened in October 1825; tolls repaid the state's construction debt within about a decade, and the westward link helped make New York City the nation's dominant port.

Which president signed the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798?

John Adams signed the acts amid the undeclared Quasi-War with France; the Naturalization Act among them raised the residency requirement for citizenship from five years to fourteen.

What military attack on December 7, 1941, led the United States to enter World War II?

Japan's surprise attack on the naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, killed over 2,400 Americans and prompted Congress to declare war the following day.

What was the code name for the Allied invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944?

Operation Overlord, commonly known as D-Day, was the largest seaborne invasion in history, with over 156,000 Allied troops landing on five beaches in France.

Which secret U.S. project developed the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

The Manhattan Project, led by physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, employed over 125,000 workers and cost nearly $2 billion (about $28 billion today).

Under which presidential directive were 120,000 Japanese Americans interned in World War II?

Executive Order 9066, signed by Franklin Roosevelt on 19 February 1942, led to the mass incarceration of roughly 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry, most of them U.S. citizens.

Which president authorized the use of atomic bombs against Japan, effectively ending World War II?

Harry Truman became president after FDR's death in April 1945 and made the decision to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima (August 6) and Nagasaki (August 9).

Which US Cold War doctrine pledged to contain the spread of communism worldwide?

The Truman Doctrine, announced in 1947, committed the U.S. to supporting free peoples resisting subjugation, establishing containment as the cornerstone of Cold War strategy.

Which 1954 Supreme Court case declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional?

Brown v. Board of Education overturned the "separate but equal" doctrine established in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), marking a landmark victory for the civil rights movement.

In what year did Rosa Parks refuse to give up her bus seat in Montgomery, Alabama?

Rosa Parks was arrested on December 1, 1955. The subsequent Montgomery Bus Boycott, led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., ended when the Supreme Court ruled bus segregation unconstitutional.

Which 1962 confrontation over Soviet weapons in the Caribbean brought the superpowers to the brink of nuclear war?

The Cuban Missile Crisis lasted 13 days in October 1962; the United States imposed a naval quarantine of Cuba, and the Soviets agreed to remove their missiles in exchange for a U.S. pledge not to invade.

In front of which monument was the 'I Have a Dream' speech delivered in August 1963?

King spoke from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to a crowd of more than 250,000 at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on 28 August 1963.

Which 1964 law prohibited discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin?

The Civil Rights Act of 1964, signed on 2 July 1964, outlawed segregation in public accommodations and created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Which president escalated U.S. military involvement in Vietnam by committing combat troops in 1965?

LBJ dramatically expanded U.S. involvement after the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, eventually deploying over 500,000 troops to Vietnam.

Who became the first human to walk on the Moon during the Apollo 11 mission in July 1969?

Neil Armstrong stepped onto the lunar surface on July 20, 1969, famously saying, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

What political scandal forced President Richard Nixon to resign from office in 1974?

The Watergate scandal grew from a 1972 break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters and Nixon's cover-up; he resigned on 9 August 1974, the first president to do so.

Which 1965 act banned discriminatory practices such as literacy tests that disenfranchised African Americans?

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was signed by President Johnson and led to a dramatic increase in voter registration among African Americans, particularly in the South.

Which president signed the Camp David Accords in 1978, brokering peace between Egypt and Israel?

Jimmy Carter mediated the September 1978 Camp David Accords between Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, which led to the 1979 Egypt–Israel peace treaty.

Which terrorist organization carried out the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States?

Al-Qaeda's nineteen hijackers seized four airliners; two struck the World Trade Center, one hit the Pentagon, and one crashed in a Pennsylvania field.

Which state was the first to ratify the U.S. Constitution, on December 7, 1787?

Delaware ratified on 7 December 1787, five days before Pennsylvania, earning the nickname 'The First State'.

Which European country controlled New Orleans and the lands west of the Mississippi in 1775?

France ceded the territory to Spain in 1762 by the Treaty of Fontainebleau; Napoleon took it back in 1800 and sold it to the United States three years later.

Which president issued the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation?

Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation was a wartime executive order that freed enslaved people in rebel states. It did not immediately end slavery but transformed the war's purpose.

Which 1820 compromise admitted Maine as a free state and banned slavery north of 36°30′?

The Missouri Compromise of 1820 temporarily resolved the slavery expansion debate. It was later effectively repealed by the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854.

Which US program, announced in 1948, gave over $12 billion to rebuild Western European economies after WWII?

The Marshall Plan, officially the European Recovery Program, was proposed by Secretary of State George Marshall. It helped stabilize Europe and is considered one of the most successful foreign policy initiatives in U.S. history.

What 1830 federal law forced tens of thousands of Native Americans west of the Mississippi?

The Indian Removal Act, signed by President Andrew Jackson, led to the forced relocation known as the Trail of Tears, in which thousands of Cherokee and other peoples died.

What was the XYZ Affair of 1797-1798?

The XYZ Affair occurred when three French agents (referred to as X, Y, and Z) demanded bribes and a loan to France before negotiating with American diplomats. The incident outraged Americans and led to the Quasi-War with France.

What was the purpose of the Freedmen's Bureau, established in 1865?

The Freedmen's Bureau provided practical assistance to millions of formerly enslaved people and poor whites in the South after the Civil War, including establishing schools, negotiating labor contracts, and providing medical care during Reconstruction.

The Compromise of 1877 is seen as ending Reconstruction because Hayes did what?

The Compromise of 1877 resolved the disputed 1876 presidential election. Republicans agreed to withdraw federal troops from the South, ending Reconstruction and leaving African Americans vulnerable to disenfranchisement and Jim Crow laws.

What was the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (1964)?

The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, passed after alleged attacks on U.S. naval vessels, gave President Johnson authority to use military force in Southeast Asia without a formal declaration of war. It led to massive escalation of the Vietnam War.

What was the purpose of the Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918?

These acts criminalized interference with military operations, insubordination in the military, and 'disloyal' or 'abusive' language about the government or military. Socialist leader Eugene V. Debs was imprisoned under these laws for an anti-war speech.

What was the Lend-Lease Act of 1941?

The Lend-Lease Act authorized the President to transfer military supplies to any country whose defense was vital to U.S. security. It provided over $50 billion in supplies to the Allies, especially Britain and the Soviet Union, before and during U.S. involvement in WWII.

Which 1819 Supreme Court case affirmed Congress's implied power to charter a national bank?

McCulloch v. Maryland (1819): Chief Justice John Marshall held that the Necessary and Proper Clause let Congress charter the Second Bank of the United States and that Maryland could not tax it.

What was the Dawes Act of 1887?

The Dawes Act broke up communal tribal lands into individual allotments, with 'surplus' land sold to white settlers. It aimed to assimilate Native Americans into white culture but resulted in the loss of approximately two-thirds of tribal land holdings.

What was the Teapot Dome scandal of the 1920s?

The Teapot Dome scandal involved Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall secretly leasing federal oil reserves at Teapot Dome, Wyoming, and Elk Hills, California, to private oil companies in exchange for bribes. It was a major scandal of the Harding administration.

What was the significance of Shays' Rebellion (1786-1787)?

Shays' Rebellion, an armed uprising by debt-ridden farmers in Massachusetts, demonstrated that the Articles of Confederation created a federal government too weak to maintain order, directly motivating the 1787 Constitutional Convention.

E.D. Nixon, who planned to make Rosa Parks's 1955 arrest a test case, was president of Montgomery's chapter of what?

Nixon led the Montgomery NAACP; he had passed over 15-year-old Claudette Colvin, arrested that March, as the test case, and the boycott that followed Parks's arrest lasted 381 days.

Which colony did James Oglethorpe found in 1733 as a haven for England's debtors?

Georgia, chartered in 1732 and settled at Savannah in February 1733, was founded by James Oglethorpe as a fresh start for England's poor and a buffer against Spanish Florida.

Which Boston silversmith rode to Lexington on 18 April 1775 to warn of British troops?

Paul Revere, a Boston silversmith, rode to Lexington on the night of 18 April 1775 to warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock that British troops were marching; William Dawes rode a separate route.

Which Prussian officer drilled the Continental Army at Valley Forge in 1778?

Baron von Steuben arrived at Valley Forge in February 1778 and drilled the Continental Army in European tactics, writing the drill manual the U.S. Army used for decades.

Which general presided over Japan's formal surrender ceremony aboard USS Missouri in September 1945?

Douglas MacArthur, as Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, presided over the surrender ceremony in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945; Admiral Chester Nimitz signed for the United States.

Which Civil War nurse founded the American Red Cross in 1881?

Clara Barton, known as the 'Angel of the Battlefield' for her Civil War nursing, founded the American Red Cross in 1881 and led it until 1904.

Who was the first First Lady of the United States?

Martha Washington, married to George Washington since 1759, was the first First Lady, hosting weekly receptions in New York and Philadelphia during his presidency from 1789 to 1797.

Which 1919 treaty ending World War I did the U.S. Senate refuse to ratify?

The Senate rejected the Treaty of Versailles in November 1919 and again in March 1920, largely over the League of Nations covenant; the United States made a separate peace with Germany in 1921.

Who became the first woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, in 1981?

Sandra Day O'Connor, nominated by Ronald Reagan, joined the Supreme Court in September 1981 as its first female justice and served until 2006.

Which president pardoned Richard Nixon in September 1974?

Gerald Ford, who had succeeded Nixon in August 1974, granted him a 'full, free, and absolute pardon' on 8 September 1974 for any federal crimes committed in office.

Which military alliance did the United States help found in April 1949?

NATO was created by the North Atlantic Treaty, signed in Washington on 4 April 1949 by the United States, Canada and ten Western European nations as a collective-defense pact.

In which city was President Kennedy assassinated on 22 November 1963?

Kennedy was shot in Dallas on 22 November 1963 while riding in an open motorcade through Dealey Plaza; Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested within hours.

Which 1807 act signed by Jefferson closed American ports to foreign trade?

The Embargo Act of 1807, Jefferson's response to British and French seizures of neutral shipping, barred American ships from foreign trade and crippled New England's economy until its repeal in 1809.

In which city was George Washington inaugurated as president in April 1789?

Washington took the oath on the balcony of Federal Hall in New York City on 30 April 1789; the capital moved to Philadelphia in 1790 and to Washington in 1800.

Which country did the United States gain independence from?

The thirteen American colonies declared independence from Great Britain in 1776 and won it in the Revolutionary War, which Britain conceded in 1783.

Which 1966 Supreme Court case requires police to inform suspects of their rights before questioning?

Miranda v. Arizona (1966) held, 5–4, that suspects in custody must be told of their rights to remain silent and to an attorney before questioning, producing the 'Miranda warning'.

On which Pacific island did Joe Rosenthal photograph the famous 1945 flag-raising?

Iwo Jima: Joe Rosenthal photographed six servicemen raising the flag on Mount Suribachi on 23 February 1945, an image that won the Pulitzer Prize and inspired the Marine Corps War Memorial.

Who served as president of the Confederacy, the government formed by the eleven seceding Southern states?

Jefferson Davis, a former U.S. senator and secretary of war, led the Confederacy from February 1861 until its collapse in 1865; Alexander Stephens was his vice president.

Who was the President of the United States during most of World War II?

Franklin D. Roosevelt led the nation through most of World War II, serving as President from 1933 until his death on April 12, 1945, just weeks before Germany's surrender.

Which Founding Father is known as the 'Father of the Constitution'?

James Madison drafted the Virginia Plan, kept the fullest record of the 1787 convention debates and co-wrote the Federalist Papers, earning the title 'Father of the Constitution'.

On which 1776 date did Congress adopt the Lee Resolution declaring independence?

John Adams predicted that July 2 would be celebrated by future generations as the great anniversary festival; the signing of the engrossed parchment mostly happened on August 2.

How many stripes does the flag of the United States have?

The flag has 13 stripes, one for each original colony; the Flag Act of 1818 fixed the stripes at thirteen while adding a star for each new state.

Who wrote the 1776 pamphlet Common Sense urging independence from Britain?

Thomas Paine's pamphlet Common Sense, published in Philadelphia in January 1776, sold roughly 120,000 copies within three months and argued in plain language for independence from Britain.

Which amendment, ratified in 1868, guaranteed equal protection of the laws?

The 14th Amendment, ratified in July 1868, defined citizenship as birth or naturalization in the United States and barred states from denying any person equal protection of the laws.

Which river did Washington cross on 25 December 1776 to attack Trenton?

Washington crossed the ice-choked Delaware River on the night of 25–26 December 1776 and surprised the Hessian garrison at Trenton, New Jersey, capturing about 900 men.

What was the name of George Washington's plantation home on the Potomac River?

Mount Vernon, on the Potomac in Virginia, was George Washington's plantation home from 1754 until his death there in December 1799.

Whose famously large signature appears first on the Declaration of Independence?

John Hancock, president of the Continental Congress, signed the Declaration of Independence first and largest; his name became a byword for a signature.

Who made the first solo nonstop flight from New York to Paris in 1927?

Charles Lindbergh flew the Spirit of St. Louis from Long Island to Paris in about 33.5 hours on 20–21 May 1927, the first solo nonstop transatlantic flight.

Which city served as the Confederate capital for most of the Civil War?

Richmond, Virginia, became the Confederate capital in May 1861, replacing Montgomery, Alabama, and fell to Union forces on 3 April 1865.

Which river did the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo fix as the Texas–Mexico border?

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo fixed the Rio Grande as the Texas–Mexico boundary, settling the dispute with Mexico, which had claimed the Nueces River as the border.

Which 1963 Supreme Court case required states to provide lawyers for poor felony defendants?

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) held unanimously that states must provide a lawyer to felony defendants who cannot afford one, extending the Sixth Amendment right to counsel.

Which state was the first to secede from the Union, in December 1860?

South Carolina voted to secede on 20 December 1860, six weeks after Lincoln's election; ten more states followed by June 1861.

Who founded the Hull House settlement in Chicago in 1889?

Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr opened Hull House on Chicago's Near West Side in September 1889; Addams later won the 1931 Nobel Peace Prize.

Which 1889 event opened two million acres of the Unassigned Lands to settlers at noon?

The Oklahoma Land Rush of 22 April 1889 opened the two-million-acre Unassigned Lands at noon; some 50,000 people raced in, and 'Sooners' who sneaked in early gave the state its nickname.

Which U.S. battleship exploded in Havana harbor in February 1898, fuelling calls for war with Spain?

The USS Maine blew up in Havana harbor on 15 February 1898, killing about 260 sailors; 'Remember the Maine' became the rallying cry for the Spanish–American War.

Which 1832–33 crisis saw South Carolina declare federal tariffs void within its borders?

In the Nullification Crisis, South Carolina declared the tariffs of 1828 and 1832 void; Jackson threatened force, and Henry Clay's compromise tariff of 1833 defused the standoff.

What nickname did Andrew Jackson's troops give him for his toughness?

Andrew Jackson earned the nickname 'Old Hickory' from his troops during the War of 1812, who likened his toughness to hickory wood.

Which 1930s program put young men to work planting trees and building parks?

The Civilian Conservation Corps, created in March 1933, employed about three million young men over nine years planting nearly three billion trees and building parks and trails.

The Erie Canal, completed in 1825, linked Lake Erie with which waterway at Albany?

It runs from Albany on the Hudson to Buffalo on the lake; a canal linking the Hudson to the Great Lakes had first been proposed in the 1780s.

Which 1890 law, named for an Ohio senator, prohibits anticompetitive agreements and monopolies?

The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, sponsored by Ohio senator John Sherman, bans anticompetitive agreements and any conduct that monopolises or attempts to monopolise a market; Standard Oil was broken up under it in 1911.

Which 1935 act created federal old-age pensions funded by payroll taxes?

The Social Security Act, signed by Franklin Roosevelt on 14 August 1935, created federal old-age pensions funded by payroll taxes, along with unemployment insurance.

Which Chicago labor protest on May 4, 1886 ended with a bomb explosion?

In the Haymarket Affair, the blast and the police gunfire that followed killed seven officers and at least four civilians; the bomb-thrower was never identified, though eight anarchists were convicted.

Roughly how many militiamen did Washington assemble in 1794 to put down the Whiskey Rebellion?

About 13,000 militiamen came from Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania; the rebel leaders fled before the army arrived and there was no confrontation.

Which June 1942 U.S. naval victory sank four Japanese fleet carriers and is called a turning point of the Pacific war?

At Midway, Akagi, Kaga, Soryu and Hiryu all went down, along with the heavy cruiser Mikuma; US codebreakers had tipped off Admiral Nimitz to the Japanese plan.

Which president signed the Americans with Disabilities Act in July 1990?

George H. W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act on 26 July 1990, barring discrimination against people with disabilities in employment, public services and public accommodations.

Which Compromise of 1850 provision required free-state citizens to help capture escaped slaves?

Under the Fugitive Slave Act, officials who failed to arrest an alleged fugitive faced a $1,000 fine, and anyone giving a fugitive food or shelter risked six months in prison.

Which September 1862 battle was the bloodiest single day in American military history?

Antietam, fought near Sharpsburg, Maryland, on 17 September 1862, left about 23,000 casualties in one day; the Union's strategic win let Lincoln issue the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.

Which two activists primarily organized the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention?

Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott organized the convention; exactly 100 of the roughly 300 attendees signed the Declaration of Sentiments, which borrowed the form of the Declaration of Independence.

Which 1872 scandal exposed Union Pacific insiders giving congressmen shares in a railroad construction company?

The Crédit Mobilier scandal, exposed by the New York Sun in 1872, involved Union Pacific insiders skimming construction profits and handing shares to congressmen, implicating Vice President Schuyler Colfax.

What was the code name of the first nuclear weapons test, conducted on July 16, 1945, in New Mexico?

Trinity: J. Robert Oppenheimer chose the code name, possibly inspired by the poetry of John Donne; the plutonium device was detonated near Alamogordo, New Mexico, at 5:29 a.m. on 16 July 1945.

Which 1973 law requires the president to withdraw troops within 60 days without congressional approval?

The War Powers Resolution, passed over Nixon's veto in November 1973, requires the president to notify Congress within 48 hours of committing forces and to withdraw them within 60 days without authorization.

Which 1783 agreement ended the Revolutionary War and recognized the independence of the United States?

The Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3, 1783, formally ended the American Revolutionary War. Great Britain recognized American independence and ceded territory east of the Mississippi River to the new nation.

Which U.S. president served two non-consecutive terms as the 22nd and 24th president?

Grover Cleveland served as the 22nd president (1885-1889) and the 24th (1893-1897), the first to serve non-consecutive terms. He lost to Benjamin Harrison in 1888 despite winning the popular vote, then beat him in 1892.

Which 1854 law let settlers in two new territories decide the slavery question by popular sovereignty?

The Kansas-Nebraska Act, championed by Senator Stephen Douglas, stoked national tensions over slavery and led to the armed clashes known as 'Bleeding Kansas'.

What was the purpose of the Federalist Papers, published in 1787-1788?

The Federalist Papers were written to promote ratification of the Constitution, especially in New York; Hamilton, Madison and Jay wrote all 85 essays in 1787–88.

Which 1794 victory by Anthony Wayne ended the Northwest Indian War in Ohio?

At Fallen Timbers, near present-day Toledo, Ohio, Anthony Wayne's Legion of the United States defeated a Native confederacy on 20 August 1794, leading to the Treaty of Greenville in 1795.

Under the 1850 Fugitive Slave law, what fee arrangement gave commissioners an incentive to rule for slaveholders?

Commissioners received $10 for ruling for the claimant but only $5 for ruling against; hearings had no jury and the accused could not testify, so abolitionists called the fee a built-in bribe.

Which future president published his own proof of the Pythagorean theorem in 1876?

James Garfield, a former college teacher, published his trapezoid proof in the New England Journal of Education in 1876; in 1880 he became the first sitting House member elected president.

Which U.S. president fathered the most children, with 15 across two marriages?

John Tyler had eight children with his first wife, Letitia Christian, and seven more with Julia Gardiner, the last born in 1860 when he was 70.

Which amendment, ratified in 1913, let Congress levy a federal income tax?

The 16th Amendment, ratified in February 1913, gave Congress power to levy an income tax without apportioning it among the states, overturning an 1895 Supreme Court ruling.

Who found gold at Sutter's Mill on January 24, 1848, setting off the California gold rush?

James W. Marshall spotted gold flakes in the tailrace of Sutter's sawmill on the American River; the rush drew roughly 300,000 people to California and sped it to statehood in 1850.

Which accused man died under torture in 1692 Salem for refusing to enter a plea?

Giles Corey was pressed to death under stones in September 1692; nineteen others were hanged in the deadliest witch hunt in colonial North American history, and at least five died in jail.

Which Virginia governor did Nathaniel Bacon rise up against in 1676, chasing him from Jamestown?

Governor William Berkeley fled Jamestown, which the rebels burned; the alliance of indentured Europeans and Africans so alarmed elites that Virginia hardened its slave codes in 1705.

What 1861 innovation made the Pony Express obsolete after only about 18 months of service?

The transcontinental telegraph reached California in October 1861; Pony Express riders had cut coast-to-coast message time to about 10 days, but the company folded within days of the wire's completion.

How many garment workers died in the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in Manhattan?

146 workers, mostly young immigrant women, died on 25 March 1911; locked stairwell doors trapped them on the upper floors, and the disaster spurred factory-safety laws and strengthened the garment workers' union.

The Dust Bowl droughts of the 1930s came in three waves: 1934, 1936 and which span?

The third wave ran 1939–1940; some High Plains areas stayed in drought for as long as eight years, a crisis Steinbeck dramatised in The Grapes of Wrath.