Alabama: The Heart of Dixie Trivia Quiz

Answer:

Montgomery became Alabama's fifth capital in 1846. It was chosen because of its central location in the state and its thriving river trade on the Alabama River. It served as the first capital of the Confederacy from February 4, 1861, to May 1861. One hundred years later it was a central stage for the Civil Rights movement. As of 2023, there were almost 200,000 people living there.

Huntsville, Alabama is called "Rocket City" and is the home of the Marshall Space Flight Center. This is where Dr. Wernher von Braun's team designed and managed the development of the Saturn V during most of the 1960s. The U.S. Space & Rocket Center displays one of only three authentic Saturn V rockets in existence.

Many people think of New Orleans, Louisiana when they think of Mardi Gras. But the actual home of the celebration is in Mobile, Alabama where French settlers began it in 1703. After the colony became permanently settled, the massive party became the street celebration (with parades and balls) that is familiar today.

The Vulcan statue, depicting the Roman god of fire, is the world's largest cast iron statue and the largest metal statue ever made in the United States. It is located on a hill above Birmingham, Alabama. Made for the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, the 56-foot-tall (17 m) figure was cast from local pig iron to showcase Birmingham's booming industrial power.

Alabama boasts 204 different species of snails across the state's 132,000-mile network of rivers and streams. Approximately 43% of all North American freshwater snail species are native to Alabama, with at least 102 of these species found nowhere else on Earth. Interestingly, Alabama ranks Number One in the U.S. for freshwater richness in snails, fish, turtles, mussels, and crayfish, earning it the nickname "America's Amazon".

Helen Keller was born June 27, 1880 in Tuscumbia, Alabama. Her home there is the site of the famous outdoor water pump where, in 1887, she made her miraculous communication breakthrough with her teacher, Anne Sullivan. People can see the play "The Miracle Worker" performed there on the very "stage" where the activities occurred.

In 1886, Montgomery, Alabama, became the first city in the world to replace animal-drawn carriages with a city-wide system of electric streetcars, famously known as the "Lightning Route". It got its name because the sight of a carriage moving without a horse - accompanied by the blue sparks of electricity from the overhead wires - seemed like magic. Also, the cars could go up the hills of the city with ease, allowing for suburbia to grow.

As the first black aviators in the U.S. Army Air Corps, the Tuskegee Airmen overcame prejudice to become one of the most decorated combat units of World War II. They were trained at Moton Field in Tuskegee, Alabama where the site still preserves the original hangars and training grounds, honoring these fliers as true pioneers.

Alabama's rivers meet the Gulf of Mexico on the southern coast of the state. Mobile, Alabama supports a multi-billion dollar shipping industry due to its key location there. Also, sixty miles of shoreline boasts "sugar-white" beaches in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach. The gorgeous sand is made of quartz grains washed down from the Appalachian Mountains over millions of years.

The Wetumpka Impact Crater, located near the center of the state, is called Alabama's "star-wound". It was formed 85 million years ago when a massive asteroid struck a shallow sea. This five-mile-wide (8 km) landmark is one of the few well-preserved marine impact craters on Earth.

The highest mountain in the southern US is not in Alabama, but is Mount Mitchell, located in North Carolina's Black Mountains.

Alabama's state bird is not the cardinal, but the yellowhammer.

MLK, Jr was born in Atlanta, Georgia.

The crawfish capital of the world is Breaux Bridge, Louisiana.