Q 01/05

The melody of The Star-Spangled Banner began as the club song of amateur musicians in which city?

A) London

B) Vienna

C) Philadelphia

D) Dublin

Answer · why

A) London

London was home to the Anacreontic Society, a gentlemen's club whose official song grew so popular in America that new patriotic words were fitted to ...

Q 02/05

Whose performance of The Star-Spangled Banner before Super Bowl XXV in 1991 was released as a hit single?

A) Mariah Carey

B) Whitney Houston

C) Gloria Estefan

D) Christina Aguilera

Answer · why

B) Whitney Houston

Whitney Houston sang it during the Gulf War and released it as a charity single for troops and their families; a reissue after the September 11 attack...

Q 03/05

Woody Guthrie wrote which folk anthem in 1940 as a critical reply to God Bless America?

A) Blowin' in the Wind

B) If I Had a Hammer

C) This Land Is Your Land

D) Where Have All the Flowers Gone

Answer · why

C) This Land Is Your Land

This Land Is Your Land was Guthrie's answer after he tired of hearing the older song on the radio, and his first, sarcastic title echoed its wording.

Q 04/05

The view from which Colorado mountain inspired Katharine Lee Bates to write America the Beautiful?

A) Mount Elbert

B) Longs Peak

C) Mount Blue Sky

D) Pikes Peak

Answer · why

D) Pikes Peak

Pikes Peak gave Bates her sweeping view of the Great Plains in 1893, while she was in Colorado Springs for a summer teaching job.

Q 05/05

The Stars and Stripes Forever took shape in its composer's mind aboard an ocean liner on which holiday?

A) Independence Day

B) Christmas Day

C) Thanksgiving Day

D) New Year's Day

Answer · why

B) Christmas Day

Christmas Day of 1896 found the composer sailing home from a European holiday, grieving his band manager's death; he wrote the notes down only after l...