Q 01/05

Which state took its motto, Live Free or Die, from a toast written by General John Stark?

A) Pennsylvania

B) Rhode Island

C) New Hampshire

D) Connecticut

Answer · why

C) New Hampshire

New Hampshire adopted the line in 1945 and later required it on license plates. Stark wrote the toast in 1809 because he was too ill to attend a reuni...

Q 02/05

Which state's one-word motto, Eureka, celebrates a gold strike that set off a famous rush?

A) California

B) Nevada

C) Colorado

D) South Dakota

Answer · why

A) California

California has carried the word on its seal since 1849, the year after gold turned up near Sutter's Mill. It means I have found it, and it is the only...

Q 03/05

Which state's seal shows Virtue standing over a fallen tyrant above the motto Sic semper tyrannis?

A) Maryland

B) Pennsylvania

C) Delaware

D) Virginia

Answer · why

D) Virginia

Virginia adopted the Latin phrase, meaning thus always to tyrants, in 1776 on George Mason's recommendation. John Wilkes Booth later wrote that he sho...

Q 04/05

Which state's motto, North to the Future, beat 760 other entries in a public contest?

A) Hawaii

B) Alaska

C) Maine

D) Idaho

Answer · why

B) Alaska

Alaska chose the phrase to mark the centennial of its purchase from Russia. The winning entry came from Juneau journalist Richard Peter, who collected...

Q 05/05

Which state's one-word motto, Friendship, echoes the Caddo word that gave the state its name?

A) Texas

B) Alabama

C) Utah

D) Iowa

Answer · why

A) Texas

Texas adopted the motto in 1930. Tejas was the Spanish spelling of a Caddo word sometimes translated as friends or allies.