So You Think You Know Ohio?

By: Hannah Brevoort

Ohio’s Statehood Day is March 1! To celebrate, why not quiz your students with some fun Ohio trivia this month? Use the questions below, or check the resources at the bottom of this post for information you can turn into your own trivia!

Q. How many counties are there in Ohio?

A. 88, meaning Ohio ranks 13^th-highest in counties in the country! Texas ranks first with 254 counties and Delaware ranks last with 3.

Q. What is the state bird of Ohio?

A. The cardinal! Cardinals only began appearing in Ohio after most of the state’s forests had been removed by the late 1800s. Now they can be found in all 88 counties and their enduring popularity led the Ohio General Assembly to adopt the cardinal as Ohio’s state bird in 1933.

Q. Which city was the first capital of Ohio? For a bonus point: name all three cities that have served as the capital.

A. Chillicothe was Ohio’s capital from 1803 to 1810 and 1812 to 1816! The capital moved to Zanesville from 1810 to 1812 as part of a legislative deal. Columbus was chosen as the permanent capital in 1816 because of its central geographic location.

Q. Mastodon and mammoth bones have been found all over Ohio. Were these Ice Age giants mammals or reptiles?

A. Mammals! Mastodons and mammoths are somewhat similar to modern-day elephants. Since they were mammals, they were not dinosaurs!

Q. Which pair of Dayton, Ohio brothers were the first to fly a powered aircraft?

A. Wilbur and Orville Wright, who made their famous flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina in 1903.

See more photos of Ritty’s cash register and the NCRC: http://www.ohiomemory.org/cdm/search/searchterm/cash%20register/field/all/mode/all/conn/and

Q. The cash register was invented in which Ohio city?

A. Dayton, patented in 1883 by local businessman James Ritty. Ritty later sold his interests to what would become the National Cash Register Company, also in Dayton. A fun bonus fact: Navy WAVES (women enlisted in the Navy) built codebreaking machines on NCRC grounds during WWII as part of a top-secret project!