Q 01/05

Which New York landmark bears the date July 4, 1776 in Roman numerals on a tablet?

A) Grant's Tomb

B) Statue of Liberty

C) Federal Hall

D) Washington Square Arch

Answer · why

B) Statue of Liberty

The Statue of Liberty carries the date as JULY IV MDCCLXXVI on the tablet in her left hand. Sculptor Bartholdi admired the Constitution, but chose the...

Q 02/05

Which 33-year-old Virginian wrote the first draft of the Declaration of Independence in rented rooms in June 1776?

A) Thomas Jefferson

B) James Madison

C) Patrick Henry

D) George Washington

Answer · why

A) Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson drafted it between June 11 and June 28 on the second floor of a rented house in Philadelphia. Congress then cut nearly a fourth of hi...

Q 03/05

Which secret society, a staple of conspiracy theories, did a Bavarian professor found on May 1, 1776?

A) The Freemasons

B) The Rosicrucians

C) The Carbonari

D) The Illuminati

Answer · why

D) The Illuminati

The Illuminati began as the Perfectibilists, with the Owl of Minerva as their symbol. Bavaria's ruler outlawed the order by edict in 1784, less than a...

Q 04/05

Whose large, stylish signature on the Declaration of Independence turned his name into American slang for an autograph?

A) Paul Revere

B) Robert Morris

C) John Hancock

D) John Jay

Answer · why

C) John Hancock

John Hancock signed as president of Congress when the document was adopted. He sent a printed copy to General Washington with instructions to have it ...

Q 05/05

Which town did Washington's army storm the morning after crossing the icy Delaware River on Christmas night 1776?

A) Princeton

B) Trenton

C) Morristown

D) Monmouth

Answer · why

B) Trenton

Trenton was held by about 1,400 German soldiers, and almost two-thirds of them were captured. The win lifted the army's sinking morale and inspired me...