100+ california history trivia questions and answers
If you are living in California or serious to know about California then California history trivia questions and answers is the best option for you. In this post, we tried to cover the maximum and most popular trivia questions, which will be beneficial and fruitful to know.
I personally love California because of the beaches of the Pacific Ocean, which covered 900 miles of area. Also, Los Angeles considers the best Hollywood entertainment industry.
California Introduction
California is a state in the United States located in the Pacific region with 39.5 million population. The state is considered the hottest and driest place in the United States. The largest city in California is Los Angeles and its capital is Sacramento.
The region was first sighted by a Spanish navigator Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo in 1542. While it became a territory of the United States in 1847 after the Mexican and American wars. Agricultural and manufacturing are the leading sectors of the state and rich natural resources such as timber, natural gas, and petroleum. This post on California History Trivia questions and answers can expand your knowledge about the history of California.
California History Trivia
1. In which region of the USA the California state located?
Show Answer
Pacific region
2. Which state of the USA is most populous? And do you know the total population of that state?
Show Answer
California state is the most populous among all, and the population is 39.5 million
3. Do you know the total area of California State in square miles?
Show Answer
163,696 square miles
4. Is California a state of the USA?
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Yes
5. Do you know the name of the capital of California?
Show Answer
The capital of California is Sacramento
6. Which is the most populous city in California? What is the total population?
Show Answer
Los Angeles with 18.7 million population
7. Do you know the nickname of California?
Show Answer
The golden state
8. When did California become a state?
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September, 9 1850
9. What percentage of California state covered by water?
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4.7% which means 7737 square miles covered by water
10. Do you know the highest elevation of California?
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14505 feet
11. Where is the lowest elevation of California located and what is the elevation value?
Show Answer
Bad water Basin with -279 feet
12. In which categories history of California is divided?
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Native American Period, European Exploration Period, Spanish Colonial Period, Mexican Period, and the United States Statehood.
13. Which place is considered the hottest and driest place in the United States?
Show Answer
California
14. Which is the largest living tree in the world located in California?
Show Answer
General Sherman in Sequoia National Park
15. What is the size of the trunk of the tree?
Show Answer
Slightly greater than 102 feet.
16. What is the name of the state’s largest mountain?
Show Answer
The Sierra Nevadas
17. What was the estimated population of California when the Europeans came?
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Around 300,000
18. Name the tribes in California?
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Karok, Maidu, Mojave, Yokuts, Pomo, Modoc, Paiute, and Cahuilleno.
19. Why did the Franciscans come to California?
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To train them for the life in European Colonial society.
20. What are the most common nicknames of California?
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The Golden State, The Land of Milk and Honey and The Grapes State.
California is also famous for the name ‘The Golden State’ and ‘The Grapes State’. The area of the states is 163,694 square miles of which 7737 square miles (4.7%) are covered with water.
The famous bird of the state is the California quill while Gold trout is the most famous fish in the country.
California History Timeline
21. What is the percentage of Spanish speakers in California?
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28.8% population can speak Spanish
22. What is the time zone format of California?
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UTC-08-00 (PST)
23. Do you know the USPS abbreviation for California?
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The USPS abbreviation of California is CA
24. Do you remember the ISO 3166 code for California?
Show Answer
US-CA
25. What is the trade abbreviation of California?
Show Answer
Calif., Cal.
26. What is the official website address of the California government?
The explorer of California is Hernan Cortes, Francisco de Ulloa, Francis Duke, and many others. Hernan Cortes discovered the Baja California Peninsula while exploring northern western Mexico.
Francisco de Ulloa explores the west Coast and Sir Francisco Drake is famous for claiming California for England.
Explorers of California Quiz
41. In 1536 who discovered the Baja California Peninsula while exploring the northern western part of Mexico?
Show Answer
Hernan Cortes
42. The explorer of the west coast (current Mexico) Francisco de Ulloa belonged to which country?
Show Answer
He was from Spain
43. When did Hernan Cortes reach the Caribbean island from Spain?
Show Answer
In 1504
44. What is the size of ‘Baja California’?
Show Answer
It is 800 miles long and 30 to 145 miles wide.
45. On 3 May 1535, where Cortes entered with three ships?
Show Answer
The Bay of La Paz
46. Who and when California was claimed for England?
Show Answer
Sir Francis Drake in 1579
47. Who were the two most famous conquistadors?
Show Answer
Hernan Cortes and Francisco Pizzaro
48. When the explorer Sir Francis Drake died?
Show Answer
28 January 1596
49. For what was the explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo known for?
Show Answer
For exploring the West Coast of North America on behalf of the Spanish Empire.
50. What was the nationality of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo?
Show Answer
Portuguese
51. Who was the first European in California?
Show Answer
Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo
52. When did Sebastian Vizcaino explore California?
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In 1602-03
53. Where and when Sebastian Vizcaino died?
Show Answer
In Mexico in 1629.
54. When and where the explorer Ewing Young was born?
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In 1792 in Tennessee.
55. What was the profession of Young before this?
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He was a trapper and trader in New Mexico.
56. What was the name of James Ohio Pattie’s father?
Show Answer
Sylvester
57. When did Pattie and a group of trappers move toward California?
Show Answer
In 1828
58. In which book Pattie wrote his adventures in California?
Show Answer
The Personal Narrative of James O. Pattie
59. Where the explorer Peter Skene Ogden was born?
Show Answer
In Quebec City, Canada in 1790.
60. The explorer James Pierson Beckwourth was the son of who?
Show Answer
He was the son of a Revolutionary War officer and slave owner.
Some more California History facts are provided in this post. The state of Oregon is in the North of California while in the East there are Nevada and Arizona states. On 10th June 1846, California was declared a Republic by the Americans however, the Mexican-American war ended the Republic.
California History Facts
61. What was the great movement led by the backers of California Sen. William M. Gwinn?
Show Answer
To divide California into two states: one slave and one free.
62. Where the Monterey Bay located?
Show Answer
On the Coast of the United State of California
63. When the contact between Europeans and California started?
Show Answer
In the mid-1530s
64. What was the time period of the seven years war during Spain’s colonization?
Show Answer
1756-1763
65. What was created at San Jose in 1777?
Show Answer
An independent civil pueblo.
66. What is the unofficial name of Alta California?
Show Answer
Nueva California
67. When did Alta California become a territory of Mexico?
Show Answer
After the War of Mexican Independence in April 1822
68. Who was the first Spanish governor?
Show Answer
Jose Joaquin de Arrillaga
69. What was the time period of the First Mexican governor?
Show Answer
1822-1825
70. Who established the first Alta California mission?
Show Answer
The Franciscan friar Junipero Serra and Gaspar de Portola.
Spanish California
71. What are Ranchos?
Show Answer
Spanish government rewarded large land grants for raising cattle and sheep.
72. What were the primary exports of California?
Show Answer
Hides and tallow until the mid-19th century.
73. Who was John Wilson Marshall?
Show Answer
A carpenter from New Jersey.
74. When did Mexico gain independence from Spain?
Show Answer
In 1821
75. When was the first legislature of California created?
Show Answer
9 November 1822
76. Which Constitution refers to Alta California as ‘territory’?
Show Answer
The 1824 Constitution of Mexico
77. About how many people moved to California from 1848 to 1855?
Show Answer
Over 300,000 people
78. Who wrote the book ‘California History for Kids: Missions, Miners, and Moviemakers in the Golden State’?
Show Answer
Katy S. Duffield
79. From where the name California comes from?
Show Answer
From a 16th-century Spanish novel.
80. Which state is in the north of California?
Show Answer
Oregon
81. What the center of the state is called?
Show Answer
Central Valley
82. How many types of plants blossom in California?
Show Answer
About 6500
83. What was the Spanish Colonial period?
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1769-1821
84. When was the first permanent mission in Baja California was founded?
Show Answer
On October 15, 1697.
85. What Spain gained from the seven-year war between Britain and France?
Show Answer
The French Louisiana Territory
California History for Kids
86. Which fruits are largely produced in the state of California?
Show Answer
Lemons, apricots, avocados, dates, figs, grapes, kiwi, peaches and many other.
87. Which people were discriminated against in the constitution developed in 1879?
Show Answer
Chinese
88. What was the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882?
Show Answer
This act suspended Chinese immigration for 10 years.
89. What is the EPIC reform movement?
Show Answer
End Poverty in California reform movement.
90. Which political party gained strength in California during the Great Depression era?
Show Answer
The Democratic party.
91. Why the Republican governor Earl Warren resigned in 1953?
Show Answer
To become chief justice of the United States.
92. Who became the new governor in 1958?
Show Answer
Edmund Brown
93. At which place California was ranked in 2012 based on its economy?
Show Answer
At ninth place in the world.
94. What percent of the United State’s wine grapes are produced in California?
Show Answer
90 percent
95. On average, how many wine grapes are produced each year?
Show Answer
3.3 million tons
96. What is the highest temperature that often reaches Death Valley?
Show Answer
120 Fahrenheit
97. The national parks of the state are devoted to what?
Show Answer
For preservation of nature and natural resources.
98. What was the time period of the U.S. Civil War?
Show Answer
1861-1865
99. How many cities are there in the state?
Show Answer
Fifteen
100. Which Californian Constitution outlawed any form of slavery?
Show Answer
The California Constitution of 1849.
101. What was the average number of ships traveling to California from 1825 to 1848?
Show Answer
About 25 ships per year.
102. What was the shortcut route for getting from the East Coast to California?
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