Q 01/05

The 1859 US–British standoff on San Juan Island, Washington, began with the shooting of which animal?

A) A horse

B) A sheep

C) A pig

D) A cow

Answer · why

C) A pig

A pig was the only casualty of the so-called Pig War. The dispute dragged on until arbitration under German Emperor Wilhelm I settled who owned the is...

Q 02/05

Which city would Portland, Oregon, be named after had its founders' 1845 coin toss gone the other way?

A) Boston

B) Hartford

C) Providence

D) Albany

Answer · why

A) Boston

Boston was the hometown of co-founder Asa Lovejoy, who lost the best-of-three toss to Francis Pettygrove of Portland, Maine. The penny is now on displ...

Q 03/05

Highway engineers in Florence, Oregon, used dynamite in 1970 to dispose of which beached animal?

A) A giant squid

B) An elephant seal

C) A basking shark

D) A sperm whale

Answer · why

D) A sperm whale

A sperm whale 45 feet long had washed ashore. The engineer in charge said he was not sure how much dynamite the job needed, and got it because his sup...

Q 04/05

Which legendary creature has been illegal to kill in Skamania County, Washington, since a 1969 ordinance?

A) Jackalope

B) Bigfoot

C) Thunderbird

D) Chupacabra

Answer · why

B) Bigfoot

Bigfoot, or Sasquatch, is protected by an ordinance Skamania County passed on April 1, 1969. The first version threatened a $10,000 fine and five year...

Q 05/05

Which annual holiday was first celebrated in Spokane, Washington, in 1910 at the urging of Sonora Smart Dodd?

A) Father's Day

B) Grandparents' Day

C) Arbor Day

D) Veterans Day

Answer · why

A) Father's Day

Father's Day grew from Sonora Smart Dodd's wish to honor her own father, a Civil War veteran who raised six children as a single parent.