Tennessee Trivia
Tennessee History Quiz
Test your knowledge of Tennessee presidents, pioneers, Civil War history, Oak Ridge, state leaders, and historic people and places.
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More Tennessee History Trivia
| # | Question | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | What American Naval hero from Knoxville is remembered for his famous rally cry "Damn the torpedoes!"? | Admiral David Farragut |
| 2 | What Carthage native served as U.S. Vice President from 1993-2001? | Albert Gore Jr. |
| 3 | What U.S. Vice President and Tennesseeans graduated from Harvard University in 1969? | Albert Gore Jr. |
| 4 | What TN Senator served three terms in the U.S. Senate from 1953-1979? | Albert Gore Sr. |
| 5 | What World War I hero was born in Pall Mall in 1887? | Alvin Cullum York (Sergeant York) |
| 6 | In 1796, who became the very first Tennessee congressman? | Andrew Jackson |
| 7 | What Tennessee U.S. Senator became the 7th U.S. President in 1828 and served for two terms in office? | Andrew Jackson |
| 8 | What Greenville resident became the 17th U.S. President after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in 1865? | Andrew Johnson |
| 9 | What secret weapon of mass destruction was first assembled in Oak Ridge in 1945? | Atomic bomb |
| 10 | General Andrew Jackson of TN was the leader of what victorious battle on January 8, 1815? | Battle of New Orleans |
| 11 | What Republican U.S. Senator from TN graduated from Princeton and Harvard was a heart surgeon for 17 years? | Bill Frist |
| 12 | During the American Civil War, the battle of Missionary Ridge was conducted in what East, TN city? | Chattanooga |
| 13 | What American Indian tribe was denied of their appeals for government protection by President Andrew Jackson? | Cherokees |
| 14 | What American Statesman born in Overton (now Pickett) County won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1945? | Cordell Hull |
| 15 | Trailblazer Daniel Boone cleared this passageway through the Cumberland Mountains. | Cumberland Gap |
| 16 | What Amer. Politician and frontiersman from TN was killed at the Alamo? | Davy Crockett |
| 17 | What Nashville born astronomer born in 1857 had a star named after him? | Edward E. Barnard (Barnard's Star) |
| 18 | What U.S. senator and reformer is known as the creator of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)? | George W. Norris |
| 19 | What Memphis, TN State Representative graduated from John Gumpton College with a B.S. in Mortuary Science? | Harold E. Ford |
| 20 | What female Tennessean became the first woman U.S. Senator? | Hattie Caraway |
| 21 | What Spanish explorer crossed the Mississippi and met with the Chickasaw Indian tribe near Memphis in 1541? | Hernando De Soto |
| 22 | Who is Jasper Newton Daniel better known as? | Jack Daniel |
| 23 | What Nashville lawyer and state Governor became the 11th U.S. President (1845-1849)? | James Knox Polk |
| 24 | What TN, U.S. President declared war on Mexico on May 11, 1846? | James Knox Polk |
| 25 | What American Statesman born near Nashville, defeated James Polk to become speaker of the house in 1834? | John Bell |
| 26 | What Native American chief of the Cherokee Nation was born near Lookout Mt.. in 1790? | John Ross (Coowescoowe) |
| 27 | Who was the first Governor of Tennessee? | John Sevier |
| 28 | What Spanish explorer, explored East TN in 1560 and built several cabins near Chattanooga that he later abandoned? | Juan Pardo |
| 29 | In 1796, Congress made Tennessee the 16th state of the Union, what city was first named as the state capital? | Knoxville |
| 30 | What secret terrorist organization was started in Pulaski in 1865? | Ku Klux Klan |
| 31 | What former University of TN president served as Secretary of Education under President George H. W. Bush? | Lamar Alexander |
| 32 | Where was the civil war battle called "The Battle Above the Clouds" fought? | Lookout Mtn.Chattanooga, TN |
| 33 | What American civil rights leader and Nobel prize winner was assassinated on April 4, 1968 in Memphis? | Martin Luther King Jr. |
| 34 | In the 1800's Tennesseeans earned their nickname as the Volunteer State by volunteering for what? | Military duty |
| 35 | What citrus soft drink that was invented in Tennessee derived its name from moonshine? | Mountain Dew |
| 36 | Where was Tennessee's state capital from 1819-1826? | Murfreesboro |
| 37 | What American Confederate Calvary general born in Bedford Co. became the first leader of the original Ku Klux Klan? | Nathan Bedford Forrest |
| 38 | What black American poet, essayist and lecturer born in Knoxville founded Nikton Limited publishing company? | Nikki Giovanni |
| 39 | What American Civil War general founded Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate in 1895? | Oliver Otis Howard |
| 40 | After graduating from Tennessee State University in 1976, this talk show host went on to form HARPO productions. | Oprah Winfrey |
| 41 | What former TN governor was sent to prison in 1979 for selling pardons? | Ray Blanton |
| 42 | What garment did Governor Lamar Alexander associate with his campaign? | Red and Black Plaid Shirts |
| 43 | What military commander and Tennessee governor resigned his position and went to live with the Cherokee Indians? | Sam Houston |
| 44 | What Native American leader and inventor of the Cherokee Alphabet was born in Taskigi around 1770? | Sequoya |
| 45 | Tennesseean and World War I hero Alvin Cullum York was better known as? | Sergeant York |
| 46 | What endangered fish caused a U.S. Supreme court to delay the construction of Tellico Dam in the late 1970's? | Snail Darter |
| 47 | What federal corporation was created in 1933 to develop the natural resources of the Tennessee valley? | Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) |
| 48 | What was the name of the secret government project in Oak Ridge that produced the Atomic Bomb? | The Manhattan Project |
| 49 | What privately controlled institute of higher learning in Nashville was founded in 1873 as Central University? | Vanderbilt University |
| 50 | Who founded the city of Knoxville? | William Blount |
| 51 | What Nashville born adventurer was inaugurated as president of Nicaragua in 1856? | William Walker |
| 52 | In 1982 Knoxville was the host for what major world event? | World's Fair |
| 53 | What Hollywood actress with a 90210 address was born in Memphis, on April 12, 1971? | Shannen Doherty |
| 54 | What legendary railroad engineer that live in Jackson was killed in a train crash on April 30, 1900? | Casey Jones |
| 55 | What had 11,127,786 visitors in one year? | 1982 Worlds Fair Knoxville, TN |
| 56 | What Tennessee whiskey maker was never married but never seen out of the company of women? | Jack Daniels |
| 57 | What was the name of the Cherokee Indian village that the name Tennessee was derived from? | Tanasi |
| 58 | What was Tennessee's first Television station? | WMCT Memphis 1948 |
| 59 | What Tennessee Senator was US Senate Majority Leader from 1981-1984? | Howard H. Baker Jr. |
| 60 | The first settlement in middle TN located in Castalian Springs is called what? | Wynnwood |
| 61 | In 1756 this was the 1st Anglo-American settlement west of the Alleghenies and South of the Pennsylvania. | Fort Loudon near Knoxville |
| 62 | Although Knoxville was founded by William Blount, who was the city named after? | General Henry Knox |
| 63 | From Fort Donelson, during the Civil War, who said "No terms except immediate and unconditional surrender can be accepted" ? | General Ulysses S. Grant |
| 64 | In 1715 what disease greatly devastated the Cherokee Indians, reducing their population to about 11,000? | Smallpox |
| 65 | What Nashville mayor and millionaire was elected as governor of Tennessee in 2002? | Phil Bredeson |
| 66 | In 1969, escaped convict James Earl Ray plead guilty to killing Martin Luther King Jr. and was sentenced to 99 years in what prison? | Brushy Mountain State Prison |
| 67 | In 1983 what two Knoxville banking brothers were responsible for the fourth largest bank failure in U.S. history | Jake and C.H. Butcher |
| 68 | In 1994 what 73 year old Chattanooga resident was convicted of the 1963 slaying of civil rights leader Metgar Evars? | Byron DeLa Beckwith |
| 69 | Where was Coca Cola first bottled? | Chattanooga in 1899 |
| 70 | Little Diamond, born in the Knoxville Zoo was the first one of these to be born in the western hemisphere. | African Elephant |
| 71 | What popular Tennessee public service announcement first "littered" the airwaves in 1976 and then again in 1998? | "Tennessee Trash" |
| 72 | On June 8, 1861, what did the state of Tennessee join? | The Confederacy |
| 73 | Who was the first Confederate commander in Tennessee? | Gen. Leonidas Polk |
| 74 | Who did Abraham Lincoln appoint as military governor of Tennessee? | Senator Andrew Johnson |
| 75 | What Confederate general was killed in 1862 during the battle of Shiloh? | Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston |
| 76 | What Tennessean U.S. President was the first President to ever be impeached? | Pres. Andrew Johnson |
| 77 | In Sept. 1864, what Confederate Calvary officer was killed in Greenville by Union troops while he was performing a surprise raid? | John Hunt Morgan |
| 78 | What National hero Naval officer that was born near Knoxville in 1801, entered the navy as a midshipman at age 9? | Admiral David Farrugut |
| 79 | What was former Governor Ned McWherter's trademark snack? | Nilla Wafers |
| 80 | With 23,000 casualties, where in Tennessee was the "bloodiest battle" of the Civil War fought? | Stones River |
