50 free Nebraska trivia questions with answers — geography quiz, new questions added Aug 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 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What is Nebraska's most populous city, sitting on the Missouri River?
Omaha
The capital moved from Omaha at statehood in 1867 to a village called Lancaster, renamed for the recently assassinated president.
Q 02Nebraska became the 37th state on March 1 of which year?
1867
That was two years after the Civil War ended; the territory itself dates to the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854.
Q 03The name Nebraska comes from Otoe and Omaha words meaning what?
Flat water
It describes the Platte River, and Platte itself is French for flat.
Q 04What makes the Nebraska Legislature unique among US state legislatures?
It is unicameral and nonpartisan
Voters abolished the state senate and house in 1934 and the single chamber first met in 1937; its 49 members are still called senators.
Q 05How many members does the Nebraska Legislature have, making it the smallest in the country?
49
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
Edwin Perkins removed the liquid from his Fruit Smack concentrate to cut shipping costs; Hastings still holds Kool-Aid Days every August.
Q 07What was the liquid concentrate that Kool-Aid was developed from?
Fruit Smack
The powder was cheaper to ship, and the Kool-Aid Man pitcher became the brand's mascot.
Q 08Which holiday was founded in Nebraska City by J. Sterling Morton?
Arbor Day
About one million trees were planted in Nebraska on the first one, April 10, 1872, and the National Arbor Day Foundation is still based in Nebraska City.
Q 09Roughly how many trees were planted in Nebraska on the first Arbor Day in 1872?
One million
The date has since become a global tree-planting movement, though different countries pick different days.
Q 10Nebraska and which other state split electoral votes by district in the 2024 election?
Maine
Under a 1991 law, two votes go to the statewide winner and one to the winner of each of the three districts.
Q 11Nebraska is split between which two time zones?
Central and Mountain
The Panhandle and nearby counties keep Mountain Time; the state has 93 counties in all.
Q 12Warren Buffett, the 'Oracle of Omaha', paid how much for his longtime Omaha house in 1958?
$31,500
He was born in Omaha in 1930, the son of a congressman, and Berkshire Hathaway is one of four Fortune 500 companies headquartered in the city.
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
The plant built bikes for the North American market and still operates.
Q 22Which regional fast-food chain, known for its bread-pocket sandwiches, began in the state capital?
Runza
Valentino's pizza also started in Lincoln.
Q 23How many national championships have the Nebraska Cornhuskers won in football?
Five
They came in 1970, 1971, 1994, 1995 and 1997 under Bob Devaney and Tom Osborne, plus seven unclaimed titles.
Q 24Nebraska's record home-football sellout streak at Memorial Stadium began in which year?
More than 40 insurance companies were based in Omaha at the industry's 1960s peak.
Q 14Which annual NCAA championship event has made its home in Omaha?
The College World Series
It is played at what was TD Ameritrade Park; the Henry Doorly Zoo is the city's other big draw.
Q 15Which of these sandwiches is claimed as an Omaha invention?
The Reuben
Omaha also claims the TV dinner, Raisin Bran, cake mix, center-pivot irrigation and the Top 40 radio format.
Q 16Omaha hosted a World's Fair in 1898 under what name?
The Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition
Gurdon Wattles led the fair celebrating the Midwest's agricultural and industrial growth.
Q 17Which US Air Force organisation moved to Offutt Air Force Base near Omaha in 1948?
Strategic Air Command
The move gave the area a major economic boost after the Depression; Offutt remains an active airbase.
Q 18Omaha hosted the first official performance of whose Wild West Show in 1883?
Buffalo Bill Cody's
Eight thousand people attended; Cody's ranch at North Platte is now a state historical park.
Q 19What was the state capital called before it was renamed for the assassinated president?
Lancaster
It remains the seat of Lancaster County, and the University of Nebraska was founded there in 1869.
Q 20Nebraska's State Capitol, completed in 1932, ranks where among US capitols by height?
Second-tallest
Bertram Goodhue's tower is topped by a statue called The Sower; a Lincoln law caps other buildings below it.
1962
The streak began on November 3 of Bob Devaney's first season, a loss to Missouri in front of 36,501 people.
Q 25What is Nebraska's football defense nicknamed?
The Blackshirts
Starting defenders wear black jerseys in practice; the stadium itself is called the Sea of Red.
Q 26Which three Cornhuskers have won the Heisman Trophy?
Johnny Rodgers, Mike Rozier and Eric Crouch
Crouch's "Black 41 Flash Reverse" touchdown against Oklahoma was the iconic play of his 2001 Heisman season.
Q 27The 1971 Nebraska-Oklahoma clash, won by top-ranked Nebraska, is remembered by what name?
The Game of the Century
Johnny Rodgers's punt return highlighted it; the two schools shared the Big Eight title 33 times in its last 36 years.
Q 28Chimney Rock, a landmark on the Oregon Trail, rises how far above the North Platte valley?
Over 300 feet
It was taller when pioneers first saw it and has been whittled by erosion, lightning and reportedly cannon fire; it appears on Nebraska's state quarter.
Q 29What is Carhenge, near Alliance?
A Stonehenge replica built from old cars
Jim Reinders and about 35 relatives built it from 39 vehicles and dedicated it at the 1987 summer solstice.
Q 30How many cars make up Carhenge's circle?
39
The circle is about 96 feet across, and three foreign cars are buried on site under a mock epitaph.