Can you answer these real "Jeopardy!" clues about American history?

- Clue: The first African American to win a Pulitzer Prize; in 1968 she was named poet laureate of Illinois.
- Category: AFRICAN AMERICAN FIRSTS
- Value: $2000
- Date episode aired: Tuesday, May 8, 2018

Gwendolyn Brooks won the Pulitzer Prize in 1950, for her work "Annie Allen," which also won the Eunice Tietjens Memorial Prize in 1949, awarded by Poetry magazine. In Chicago, Brooks mentored poets like Nikki Giovanni. Brooks' works have been described as "devoted to small, carefully cerebrated, terse portraits of the Black urban poor."

- Clue: This Connecticut native was a general in both the American and the British armies during the war.
- Category: THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
- Value: $2000
- Date episode aired: Monday, July 4, 2011

Most Americans learn in school that Benedict Arnold betrayed the United States during the American Revolution, but he was also once described as "blessed with almost superhuman energy and endurance," "handsome and charismatic," and "the most accomplished and graceful skater" some had ever seen. Arnold spent much of his early life in Norwich and New Haven, Connecticut, and died in London in 1801.

- Clue: Title of a 1985 Bruce Springsteen hit, or a book about him by Dave Marsh.
- Category: '80s ROCK
- Value: $600
- Date episode aired: Friday, Jan. 31, 2003

You may also like: Knitting, cheerleading, fishing: This is what a cellphone ban looks like in one school district

"Glory Days" was a hit single off Springsteen's 1984 album "Born in the U.S.A." Part of the inspiration for the song was Springsteen's Little League teammate in Freehold, New Jersey. On the diamond, Springsteen, who played right field, was nicknamed "Saddie."

- Clue: In 1773, she put out the first book of poetry by an African American.
- Category: AFRICAN-AMERICAN HISTORY
- Value: $2000
- Date episode aired: Monday, Feb. 17, 2014

Phillis Wheatley's work has been cited as a catalyst for the country's early anti-slavery movement. Growing up in West Africa, Wheatley was an enslaved woman sent to Boston. Wheatley engrossed herself in the Bible, and Greek and Latin classics as she formulated her poetic stylings.

- Clue: Civil War opponents Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee fought on the same side in this war.
- Category: WEIRD HISTORY
- Value: $400
- Date episode aired: Friday, June 14, 2013

Both Lee and Grant attended West Point. At the time of the Mexican-American War, Lee had ascended to captain, while Lee was a lieutenant. In Mexico, Lee and Grant participated in a march from Veracruz to Mexico City.

You may also like: Higher ed's dubious deal with prison health care

- Clue: In 2015, she made history as the first African American female principal dancer with the American Ballet Theater.
- Category: SHE DID IT!
- Value: $800
- Date episode aired: Friday, May 11, 2018

Misty Copeland began ballet studies in California at 13. She joined the American Ballet Theater Studio Company in 2000, and has authored a memoir, children's books, and was named to the "2015 Time 100" by Time magazine.

- Clue: In 1807, Marshall wrote the opinion for United States vs. this politician, making standards of evidence for treason.
- Category: MARSHALL LAW
- Value: $1600 clue (Daily Double $2000)
- Date episode aired: Monday, Sept. 24, 2012

John Marshall presided over Aaron Burr's treason trial; Burr was eventually acquitted. Thomas Jefferson directed the prosecution team, and later it was recorded that Jefferson considered Burr "a danger to the republic." Burr infamously killed Alexander Hamilton in 1804.

- Clue: In 1926, she became curator of ethnology at the American Museum of Natural History.
- Category: THE MEADIA
- Value: $800
- Date episode aired: Friday, June 28, 2002

You may also like: Why the health care industry is one of the biggest cybercrime targets

Margaret Mead was more than an anthropologist. She was an author, lecturer, and a "general among the foot soldiers of feminism." Mead was also president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1975.

- Clue: An Arkansas toothpick was a large one of these.
- Category: CIVIL WAR SLANG
- Value: $500
- Date episode aired: Wednesday, June 2, 1999

The bowie knife was made famous by James Bowie in the 19th century, and further popularized as a weapon of choice for Hollywood combat heroes. However, the knife also apparently served as inspiration as the stage name for David Bowie, who told the BBC that he liked the name because, "the Bowie knife was sharpened on both sides so it cuts both ways."

- Clue: In 1579, during his trip around the world, he stopped near present-day San Francisco and named the area Nova Albion.
- Category: EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY
- Value: $800
- Date episode aired: Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Sir Francis Drake was regarded by the English as one of the foremost explorers of the West Indies and Roanoke Island, and a valuable asset for England's territorial expansion in the Americas. However, he was also a pirate and slave trader, and in frequent battle with Spanish armies.

You may also like: The history and significance of Juneteenth

- Clue: On Jan. 22, 1970, this first jumbo jet took flight with 324 passengers from New York City to London.
- Category: AVIATION FIRSTS
- Value: $800
- Date episode aired: Monday, Sept. 22, 2014

At the time of its inception, the 747 was the largest civilian airplane in the world, and it was built in about 16 months. One year of test flights preceded the maiden voyage; the original 747 even included space for a cocktail lounge.

- Clue: In 1989, Bertram Lee and Peter Bynoe became the first Black owners of a major sports franchise, this city's NBA Nuggets.
- Category: AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY
- Value: $100
- Date episode aired: Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2001

The Nuggets joined the NBA in 1976, having previously played in the American Basketball Association. After purchasing the team, Lee evoked images of Jackie Robinson breaking baseball's color barrier. The sale price of the team was for a reported $65 million.

- Clue: Brother to "The Prophet," this Shawnee leader organized 18th-century Native American resistance in Ohio and Indiana.
- Category: NATIVE AMERICAN HISTORY
- Value: $2000
- Date episode aired: Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2018

You may also like: Women's suffrage, but for whom? These 10 Black suffragists fought for the vote before—and long after—the 19th Amendment

A legend surrounding Tecumseh is that he was born as a great meteor flashed across the sky. Throughout his life, he helped combine Native American forces throughout North America, even as American and British forces continued to colonize the land. Tecumseh aligned with the British during the War of 1812, in his hopes that such an alliance could lead to construction of an independent nation for Native Americans.

- Clue: Her, in 1869 in a women's suffrage newspaper: "Join the union, girls, and together say equal pay for equal work."
- Category: QUOTATIONS IN AMERICAN HISTORY
- Value: $800
- Date episode aired: Friday, Oct. 30, 2015

The Susan B. Anthony quote reportedly appeared in a newspaper called "The Revolution." A leader of the women's suffrage movement, Anthony was raised in a Quaker household and she had seven brothers and sisters who passionately fought for the emancipation of slaves.

- Clue: This Civil War general's left arm is buried at Ellwood Plantation; the rest of him is interred at the Virginia Military Institute.
- Category: HISTORIC VIRGINIA
- Value: $1200
- Date episode aired: Monday, July 14, 2008

Now named Ellwood manor, one of Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson's burial sites was built around 1790 by William Jones. After Jackson was wounded by friendly fire at Chancellorsville, Virginia, surgeons removed his left arm and chaplain Beverly Tucker Lacy buried it in the graveyard at Ellwood.

You may also like: 'Stop the Bleed' kits could help shooting victims. Why don't more people know about them?

- Clue: To combat fuel shortages, Congress enacted this for almost 10 months in 1974, from January to October.
- Category: "D" IN AMERICAN HISTORY
- Value: $600
- Date episode aired: Thursday, Sept. 21, 2017

Allegedly, Benjamin Franklin conjured up a concept similar to daylight saving time to conserve energy. Germany enacted a daylight saving time system during World War I to conserve fuel. In the U.S., daylight saving time ends on the first Sunday in November each year.

- Clue: Around 1790, Benjamin Banneker helped survey the land that became this city
- Category: AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY
- Value: $1600
- Date episode aired: Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2015

In addition to urban planning, Benjamin Banneker was a scientist, author, and farmer. Although Banneker helped survey Washington D.C., which now has a population of nearly 694,000, he was raised in Baltimore County.

- Clue: A prominent member of the Harlem Renaissance, she wrote the 1937 novel "Their Eyes Were Watching God."
- Category: AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY
- Value: $1600
- Date episode aired: Monday, Feb. 1, 2016

You may also like: The number of 18-year-olds is about to drop sharply, packing a wallop for colleges—and the economy

"There is no book more important to me than this one," said Alice Walker of "Their Eyes Were Watching God." Hurston was also the author of children's books and a nonfiction tome, "Barracoon: The Story of the Last 'Black Cargo,'" which was published posthumously in 2018.

- Clue: Gary Locke of this "Evergreen State" is the first Chinese American governor in U.S. history.
- Category: ASIAN AMERICAN ACHIEVERS
- Value: $100
- Date episode aired: Monday, May 22, 2000

Gary Locke has also been secretary of commerce and U.S. ambassador to China. He served as interim president of Bellevue College in Bellevue, Washington, from 2020 to 2023, and has been chairman of the Committee of 100 since 2021.

- Clue: When King George VI visited this woman and her husband in 1939, she made news by serving hot dogs.
- Category: PRESIDENTS AND FIRST LADIES
- Value: $1200
- Date episode aired: Monday, Sept. 15, 2008

Supposedly, King George VI had never eaten a hot dog before. He ate two hot dogs and drank a beer. The hot dogs were served on a silver platter, but consumed on paper plates.

You may also like: 50 facts and figures about D-Day

- Clue: Was the first Republican president.
- Category: THE U.S. PRESIDENT WHO ...
- Value: $600
- Date episode aired: Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2006

Overall, there have been 19 Republican presidents. According to Abraham Lincoln's White House biography, his debates against Stephen A. Douglas for a Senate seat won him acclaim; despite losing that election in 1858, he won the Republican nomination for president two years later.

- Clue: More Frenchmen than Americans participated in the 1781 siege of this town, the last major battle of the American Revolution.
- Category: AMERICAN HISTORY
- Value: $400
- Date episode aired: Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2019

British General Charles Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown on Oct. 19, 1781. Yorktown was established in 1691, and it also became a site for battles during the Civil War.

- Clue: Oct. 18, 1977: This Yankee star hits 3 home runs off the Dodgers in game 6 of the World Series.
- Category: YANKEE STADIUM MOMENTS
- Value: $200
- Date episode aired: Monday, May 17, 2010

You may also like: Law and disorder: Police oversight and training confront a changing landscape

Reggie Jackson, nicknamed "Mr. October," was named most valuable player of the 1977 World Series. In total, Jackson won five World Series titles, and bashed 563 career home runs. He also memorably appeared in the film, "The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad."

- Clue: This education reformer took John Quincy Adams' seat in the House of Representatives, where he vigorously opposed slavery.
- Category: AMERICAN HISTORY
- Value: $2000
- Date episode aired: Friday, May 29, 2020

Horace Mann began his career as a lawyer and legislator, but later became known for his devotion to public education. Mann pushed for women to be recruited as teachers. Today, a prestigious school bearing his name is located in the Bronx, New York.

- Clue: In August 2009, former President Bill Clinton helped win the release of two journalists after meeting with this North Korean leader.
- Category: WORLD LEADERS
- Value: $800
- Date episode aired: Thursday, March 18, 2010

During the 1990s, the Clinton administration worked ardently at establishing ties with North Korea. Almost a decade after leaving office, Clinton helped captives Euna Lee and Laura Ling—reporters with a media outlet founded by Clinton's vice president Al Gore—in their release from North Korea.

You may also like: How biohazard training for first responders and property managers can help combat the fentanyl crisis