Q 01/05

Because he knew little English, Baron von Steuben drafted his Valley Forge drills in which language?

A) German

B) French

C) Latin

D) Dutch

Answer · why

B) French

French was the military language of Europe, so he wrote in it each night and his secretary rushed the lessons into English for morning drill.

Q 02/05

A letter billed Baron von Steuben as a lieutenant general; what rank had he really reached in Prussia?

A) Major

B) Colonel

C) Captain

D) Brigadier

Answer · why

C) Captain

Captain was as high as he rose; a mistranslated staff title turned him into a general on paper, and Congress was duly impressed.

Q 03/05

Which habit, kept up in several languages, made Baron von Steuben popular with his troops?

A) Singing

B) Praying

C) Toasting

D) Swearing

Answer · why

D) Swearing

Swearing came so naturally to him that, when his own stock ran out, he called on an aide to curse the men in English for him.

Q 04/05

Which Hollywood action star voiced Baron von Steuben in the animated history series Liberty's Kids?

A) Arnold Schwarzenegger

B) Sylvester Stallone

C) Bruce Willis

D) Jean-Claude Van Damme

Answer · why

A) Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Schwarzenegger lent his Austrian accent to the Prussian general, in a cast that also had Dustin Hoffman as Benedict Arnold.

Q 05/05

Which John Hughes comedy sends its hero onto a float at Chicago's Von Steuben Day parade?

A) The Breakfast Club

B) Planes, Trains and Automobiles

C) Ferris Bueller's Day Off

D) Sixteen Candles

Answer · why

C) Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Ferris Bueller's Day Off shot the parade scene in late September, though the story takes place near the end of the school year.