How well do you really know our country?

On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence. Today, the Fourth of July is a celebration of the nation created on that momentous occasion 245 years ago. But how well do you really know the people and places of the United States? Take this quiz to find out.

True or false
1. Thomas Jefferson was the first president to live in the White House.
2. Sonia Sotomayor was the first Hispanic American to serve on the Supreme Court.
3. The United States Constitution was inspired by the Iroquois Confederacy.
4. Frederick Douglass was the first African American senator.
5. The Washington Monument is the tallest monument in the United States.

What happened first
6. The Louisiana Purchase or the passage of the Bill of Rights?
7. The invention of the telephone or the establishment of the first national park?
8. The founding of the Ford Motor Company or the Wright brothers’ first flight?
9. The creation of the National Football League or the ratification of the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote?
10. The passage of the Civil Rights Act or the creation of NASA?

By the numbers
11. How many UNESCO World Heritage Sites are in the United States?

a. 24
b. 37
c. 50

12. What percentage of fire departments in the United States are staffed entirely by volunteers?

a. 30 percent
b. 55 percent
c. 70 percent

13. How many states does the Mississippi River run through?

a. 8
b. 10
c. 15

Answers
1. False (It was John Adams)
2. True
3. True
4. False (It was Hiram Rhodes Revels)
5. False (It’s the Gateway Arch)
6. Bill of Rights, 1791 (Louisiana Purchase, 1803)
7. Yellowstone, 1872 (Telephone, 1876)
8. Ford, June 1903 (Wright brothers, December 1903)
9. Women’s suffrage, Aug. 18, 1920 (NFL, Aug. 20, 1920)
10. NASA, 1958 (Civil Rights Act, 1964)
11. a)
12. c)
13. b)