Nebraska Trivia
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100 free Nebraska trivia questions with answers — geography quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
42 free Nebraska trivia questions with answers. Nebraska is the state that invented Kool-Aid, Arbor Day and the Reuben sandwich, runs the only one-house legislature in America, and sells out every football game since 1962. This quiz covers all of that plus the history (the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the Pony Express, statehood in 1867), the geography (the Sandhills, the Ogallala Aquifer, two time zones), Omaha and Lincoln, Warren Buffett, Chimney Rock, Carhenge and the sandhill cranes on the Platte. Easy questions cover the capital and the state's most famous exports. Harder ones ask how many senators sit in the unicameral, what Kool-Aid was called before it was a powder, how many cars are in Carhenge, and where a brick star marks the start of the West. It suits a Husker tailgate, a classroom, or a state-themed pub quiz round. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on the state, its cities, its history and its landmarks, and each question carries its source.
30 of 100 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What is Nebraska's most populous city, sitting on the Missouri River?
Omaha
Omaha is Nebraska's largest city by a wide margin: the 2020 census counted about 486,000 residents inside the city limits, well ahead of any other city in the state.
Q 02Nebraska became the 37th state on March 1 of which year?
1867
Nebraska was admitted as the 37th state on March 1, 1867, two years after the Civil War ended, after Congress overrode President Andrew Johnson's veto of the statehood bill.
Q 03The name Nebraska comes from Otoe and Omaha words meaning what?
Flat water
Flat water is the meaning of the Otoe and Omaha words behind the state's name; both describe the wide, shallow river that crosses the whole state from west to east.
Q 04What makes the Nebraska Legislature unique among US state legislatures?
It is unicameral and nonpartisan
It is unicameral and nonpartisan: voters approved a 1934 amendment merging the house and senate, and the single chamber, whose members are titled senators, first met in 1937.
Q 05How many members does the Nebraska Legislature have, making it the smallest in the country?
49
Nebraska's single chamber has 49 senators, the fewest of any state legislature; they serve four-year terms and, since a 2000 amendment, are limited to two consecutive terms.
Q 06Which soft drink, invented in Hastings in 1927, is Nebraska's official state soft drink?
Kool-Aid
Kool-Aid was created by Edwin Perkins in Hastings in 1927 as a powder that was far cheaper to ship than his bottled syrup; Nebraska made it the official state soft drink in 1998.
Q 07What was the liquid concentrate that Kool-Aid was developed from?
Fruit Smack
Fruit Smack was Edwin Perkins's bottled fruit syrup; in 1927 he dehydrated it into a powder sold in paper packets, far cheaper to ship than glass bottles that often broke in transit.
Q 08Which holiday was founded in Nebraska City by J. Sterling Morton?
Arbor Day
Arbor Day was proposed by J. Sterling Morton, a Nebraska City newspaper editor, and first observed across Nebraska on April 10, 1872; it became a legal state holiday in 1885.
Q 09Roughly how many trees were planted in Nebraska on the first Arbor Day in 1872?
One million
One million trees is the figure usually given for that first Arbor Day, April 10, 1872, when prizes were offered to the counties and individuals that planted the most.
Q 10Nebraska and which other state split electoral votes by district in the 2024 election?
Maine
Maine has split its electoral votes by congressional district since 1972 and Nebraska since 1992; each gives two votes to the statewide winner and one to the winner of each district.
Q 11Nebraska is split between which two time zones?
Central and Mountain
Central and Mountain: most of Nebraska runs on Central Time, while the Panhandle and a few neighbouring counties in the west observe Mountain Time.
Q 12Warren Buffett, the 'Oracle of Omaha', paid how much for his longtime Omaha house in 1958?
$31,500
$31,500 bought Warren Buffett his stucco house in Omaha's Dundee neighbourhood in 1958; he was born in Omaha in 1930, the son of congressman Howard Buffett.
Q 13Which four Fortune 500 companies were headquartered in Omaha on the 2025 list?
Berkshire Hathaway, Union Pacific, Mutual of Omaha and Kiewit
Q 21Which Japanese company opened a motorcycle assembly plant in the state capital in 1974?
Kawasaki
Kawasaki opened the Lincoln plant in 1974, the first Japanese-owned motorcycle factory in the United States; it later expanded into personal watercraft, all-terrain vehicles and rail cars.
Q 22Which regional fast-food chain, known for its bread-pocket sandwiches, began in the state capital?
Runza
Runza opened its first stand in Lincoln in 1949, selling the bread pocket stuffed with beef, cabbage and onions that founder Sally Everett adapted from a German-Russian family recipe.
Q 23How many national championships have the Nebraska Cornhuskers won in football?
Five
Five: 1970 and 1971 under Bob Devaney, then 1994, 1995 and 1997 under Tom Osborne, the last shared with Michigan after the AP and coaches' polls split.
Berkshire Hathaway, Union Pacific, Mutual of Omaha and Kiewit all made the 2025 Fortune 500, with Berkshire Hathaway inside the top ten; the construction firm Kiewit qualifies despite being employee-owned.
Q 14Which annual NCAA championship event has made its home in Omaha?
The College World Series
The College World Series has been played in Omaha each June since 1950, first at Rosenblatt Stadium and, from 2011, at the downtown ballpark later renamed Charles Schwab Field.
Q 15Which of these sandwiches is claimed as an Omaha invention?
The Reuben
The Reuben is said to have been created at Omaha's Blackstone Hotel in the 1920s and named for grocer Reuben Kulakofsky, a regular at the hotel's weekly poker game.
Q 16Omaha hosted a World's Fair in 1898 under what name?
The Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition
The Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition ran from June to October 1898 on Omaha's north side, drew about 2.6 million visitors, and was presided over by banker Gurdon Wattles.
Q 17Which US Air Force organisation moved to Offutt Air Force Base near Omaha in 1948?
Strategic Air Command
Strategic Air Command moved its headquarters from Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland to Offutt in November 1948; its successor, US Strategic Command, was based there from 1992.
Q 18Omaha hosted the first official performance of whose Wild West Show in 1883?
Buffalo Bill Cody's
Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West gave its first official performance at the Omaha fairgrounds in May 1883; Cody's Scout's Rest Ranch at North Platte later became a state historical park.
Q 19What was the state capital called before it was renamed for the assassinated president?
Lancaster
Lancaster was a tiny village when it was chosen as the new state capital and renamed for the assassinated Abraham Lincoln; it is the seat of Lancaster County, and the University of Nebraska was chartered there in 1869.
Q 20Nebraska's State Capitol, completed in 1932, ranks where among US capitols by height?
Second-tallest
Second-tallest: Bertram Goodhue's 400-foot tower, topped by Lee Lawrie's bronze statue The Sower, is exceeded among US capitols only by Louisiana's 450-foot building in Baton Rouge.
Q 24Nebraska's record home-football sellout streak at Memorial Stadium began in which year?
1962
1962 was Bob Devaney's first season as coach; the streak began with a loss to Missouri at Memorial Stadium on November 3 that year and grew into the longest in college football.
Q 25What is Nebraska's football defense nicknamed?
The Blackshirts
The Blackshirts name dates to 1964, when Bob Devaney's staff began giving the first-team defense black pullover practice jerseys so coaches could tell them apart from the offense.
Q 26Which three Cornhuskers have won the Heisman Trophy?
Johnny Rodgers, Mike Rozier and Eric Crouch
Johnny Rodgers, Mike Rozier and Eric Crouch won the Heisman in 1972, 1983 and 2001 respectively; Rozier rushed for 2,148 yards in his 1983 season.
Q 27The 1971 Nebraska-Oklahoma clash, won by top-ranked Nebraska, is remembered by what name?
The Game of the Century
The Game of the Century was played on Thanksgiving Day 1971 in Norman; a 72-yard first-quarter punt return put Nebraska ahead and Jeff Kinney's late touchdown sealed a 35-31 win.
Q 28Chimney Rock, a landmark on the Oregon Trail, rises how far above the North Platte valley?
Over 300 feet
Over 300 feet: the spire and its conical base rise about 325 feet above the North Platte valley near Bayard, and the landmark appears with a covered wagon on Nebraska's 2006 state quarter.
Q 29What is Carhenge, near Alliance?
A Stonehenge replica built from old cars
A Stonehenge replica built from old cars: Jim Reinders and his family assembled the grey-painted vehicles to match Stonehenge's dimensions and dedicated it at the summer solstice in 1987.
Q 30How many cars make up Carhenge's circle?
39
39 vehicles make up the circle, about 96 feet across, with a Cadillac standing in for the heel stone; three foreign cars are buried on site beneath a mock epitaph.