Lace up your walking shoes, because Washington, D.C. can turn one stroll into a tour of presidents, pandas, protest marches, and priceless treasures.
These Washington, D.C. trivia questions explore the capital's history, monuments, government buildings, museums, neighborhoods, culture, and sports.
Mapping the Nation's Capital
Q: What do the initials D.C. stand for?
A: District of Columbia.
Q: Which river forms much of Washington's southwestern boundary?
A: The Potomac River.
Q: Which smaller river meets the Potomac in Washington?
A: The Anacostia River.
Q: Which two states border the District of Columbia?
A: Maryland and Virginia.
Q: How many quadrants divide Washington's street grid?
A: Four.
Q: What are Washington's four quadrants?
A: Northwest, Northeast, Southwest, and Southeast.
Q: Which building marks the point from which the city's quadrants radiate?
A: The U.S. Capitol.
Q: Who designed the original plan for Washington?
A: Pierre Charles L'Enfant.
Q: Which surveyor helped lay out the District's boundaries and city plan?
A: Andrew Ellicott.
Q: Which self-educated astronomer assisted Andrew Ellicott's survey team?
A: Benjamin Banneker.
Q: What open park stretches from the Capitol toward the Lincoln Memorial?
A: The National Mall.
Q: Which area of Washington contains most federal offices and monuments?
A: The federal core.
Q: What is the District's official bird?
A: The wood thrush.
Q: What are the two colors on Washington, D.C.'s flag?
A: Red and white.
Q: Whose family coat of arms inspired the District's flag?
A: George Washington's.
Creating a Federal City
Q: Which 1790 law established a permanent national capital on the Potomac?
A: The Residence Act.
Q: Which compromise helped place the capital in the South in exchange for federal assumption of state debts?
A: The Compromise of 1790.
Q: Which president selected the site of the new federal district?
A: George Washington.
Q: Which two states originally ceded land for the District of Columbia?
A: Maryland and Virginia.
Q: In what year did the federal government move to Washington?
A: 1800.
Q: Which president was the first to live in the White House?
A: John Adams.
Q: Which 1801 law placed the District directly under congressional authority?
A: The District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801.
Q: What happened to the Virginia portion of the District in 1846?
A: It was returned to Virginia.
Q: What term describes the return of that land to Virginia?
A: Retrocession.
Q: Which British attack burned major government buildings in 1814?
A: The burning of Washington.
Q: During which war did the burning of Washington occur?
A: The War of 1812.
Q: Which first lady helped ensure a portrait of George Washington was removed before the White House burned?
A: Dolley Madison.
Q: In what year was slavery abolished in the District of Columbia?
A: 1862.
Q: Which constitutional amendment gave District residents votes in presidential elections?
A: The 23rd Amendment.
Q: In what year did Washington gain an elected mayor and council under home rule?
A: 1973.
The White House and Capitol Hill
Q: What is the street address of the White House?
A: 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW.
Q: Who designed the White House?
A: James Hoban.
Q: What was the White House commonly called before Theodore Roosevelt made its current name official?
A: The Executive Mansion.
Q: Which room serves as the president's formal office?
A: The Oval Office.
Q: Which wing contains the Oval Office?
A: The West Wing.
Q: What aircraft call sign is used when the president is aboard a U.S. Air Force plane?
A: Air Force One.
Q: Which neoclassical building houses the U.S. Congress?
A: The U.S. Capitol.
Q: Which chamber meets in the Capitol's north wing?
A: The Senate.
Q: Which chamber meets in the Capitol's south wing?
A: The House of Representatives.
Q: What statue stands atop the Capitol dome?
A: The Statue of Freedom.
Q: Which artist painted The Apotheosis of Washington inside the Capitol dome?
A: Constantino Brumidi.
Q: What circular room lies beneath the Capitol dome?
A: The Rotunda.
Q: Which building across First Street houses the Supreme Court?
A: The Supreme Court Building.
Q: What phrase appears above the Supreme Court's main entrance?
A: Equal Justice Under Law.
Q: Which library occupies three buildings on Capitol Hill and serves Congress?
A: The Library of Congress.
Monuments and Memorials
Q: Which obelisk honors the first U.S. president?
A: The Washington Monument.
Q: What stone forms the Washington Monument's light-colored exterior?
A: Marble.
Q: Why does the Washington Monument change color partway up?
A: Construction paused, and later builders used marble from a different source.
Q: Which president is honored by a seated statue inside a temple-like memorial?
A: Abraham Lincoln.
Q: How many exterior columns does the Lincoln Memorial have?
A: Thirty-six.
Q: What did those 36 columns represent when the memorial was dedicated?
A: The states in the Union at Lincoln's death.
Q: Which speech is inscribed on the south chamber wall of the Lincoln Memorial?
A: The Gettysburg Address.
Q: Which memorial features a statue of a standing president beside a waterfall-lined plaza?
A: The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial.
Q: Which president is honored by a domed memorial beside the Tidal Basin?
A: Thomas Jefferson.
Q: Which civil rights leader is depicted emerging from a Stone of Hope?
A: Martin Luther King Jr.
Q: Which war memorial consists of two black granite walls bearing more than 58,000 names?
A: The Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
Q: Who designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall?
A: Maya Lin.
Q: Which memorial includes a wall of 4,048 gold stars?
A: The World War II Memorial.
Q: Which memorial features 19 stainless-steel statues of soldiers on patrol?
A: The Korean War Veterans Memorial.
Q: Which small marble memorial on the Mall honors District residents who served in World War I?
A: The District of Columbia War Memorial.
Smithsonian Treasures and Famous Museums
Q: How many Smithsonian museums and galleries are located in Washington, D.C.?
A: Seventeen.
Q: Which English scientist's bequest helped establish the Smithsonian Institution?
A: James Smithson.
Q: What Smithsonian building is nicknamed the Castle?
A: The Smithsonian Institution Building.
Q: Which museum displays the original Star-Spangled Banner?
A: The National Museum of American History.
Q: Which pair of ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz is held by that museum?
A: Dorothy's ruby slippers.
Q: Which museum displays the Wright Flyer and the Spirit of St. Louis?
A: The National Air and Space Museum.
Q: What spacecraft carried astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins?
A: Apollo 11's command module Columbia.
Q: Which museum houses the Hope Diamond?
A: The National Museum of Natural History.
Q: Which museum on the Mall opened in 2016 and celebrates Black history and culture?
A: The National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Q: Which Smithsonian museum stands near the U.S. Capitol and focuses on Native peoples?
A: The National Museum of the American Indian.
Q: Which Smithsonian museum includes the Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery?
A: The National Museum of Asian Art.
Q: What gallery displays portraits of U.S. presidents and other notable Americans?
A: The National Portrait Gallery.
Q: Which art museum shares the Old Patent Office Building with the National Portrait Gallery?
A: The Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Q: Which private museum is dedicated to journalism and free expression and closed its Pennsylvania Avenue building in 2019?
A: The Newseum.
Q: Which museum documents the history of the Holocaust?
A: The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Neighborhoods and Local Life
Q: Which historic neighborhood is home to a university founded in 1789?
A: Georgetown.
Q: What canal runs through Georgetown?
A: The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.
Q: Which neighborhood is known for embassies and the Phillips Collection?
A: Dupont Circle.
Q: Which Northwest neighborhood is home to the Smithsonian's National Zoo?
A: Woodley Park.
Q: Which neighborhood became a center of Black arts and business around U Street?
A: The U Street Corridor.
Q: What music legend was born in Washington and grew up around U Street?
A: Duke Ellington.
Q: Which market has operated on Capitol Hill since 1873?
A: Eastern Market.
Q: What waterfront development occupies former wharves along the Washington Channel?
A: The Wharf.
Q: Which neighborhood beside the Anacostia River is home to Nationals Park?
A: Navy Yard.
Q: What spicy local sausage is the star of Washington's signature half-smoke?
A: A smoked sausage usually made with beef and pork.
Q: Which U Street restaurant is famous for half-smokes?
A: Ben's Chili Bowl.
Q: What is mumbo sauce?
A: A sweet, tangy red sauce associated with Washington carryout food.
Q: What annual spring festival celebrates trees given by Japan?
A: The National Cherry Blossom Festival.
Q: Around which body of water do many of Washington's cherry trees bloom?
A: The Tidal Basin.
Q: Which first lady planted the first two gifted cherry trees in 1912?
A: Helen Herron Taft.
Marches, Diplomacy, and Civic Life
Q: Which 1963 gathering brought hundreds of thousands to the National Mall?
A: The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
Q: Who delivered the “I Have a Dream” speech at that march?
A: Martin Luther King Jr.
Q: From which memorial did King deliver the speech?
A: The Lincoln Memorial.
Q: Which 1913 parade in Washington demanded voting rights for women?
A: The Woman Suffrage Procession.
Q: Who organized the 1913 Woman Suffrage Procession?
A: Alice Paul and Lucy Burns.
Q: What unofficial avenue is lined with many embassies northwest of Dupont Circle?
A: Embassy Row.
Q: Which international financial institution has its headquarters in Washington and lends to developing countries?
A: The World Bank.
Q: Which organization headquartered in Washington promotes cooperation among countries of the Americas?
A: The Organization of American States.
Q: Who represents District residents in the House of Representatives?
A: A nonvoting delegate.
Q: How many voting senators represent Washington, D.C.?
A: None.
Q: What phrase on District license plates protests its lack of full congressional representation?
A: Taxation Without Representation.
Q: Which local legislative body passes District laws?
A: The Council of the District of Columbia.
Q: What unique power does Congress have over District legislation?
A: It can review and overturn local laws.
Q: How many electoral votes does the District receive in presidential elections?
A: Three.
Q: Which court hears disputes involving the U.S. Constitution and federal law at the highest level?
A: The Supreme Court of the United States.
Stages, Arenas, and Washington Originals
Q: At which theater was Abraham Lincoln assassinated?
A: Ford's Theatre.
Q: Who assassinated President Lincoln?
A: John Wilkes Booth.
Q: What performing arts center overlooks the Potomac and honors a U.S. president?
A: The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Q: Which concert venue is home to the National Symphony Orchestra?
A: The Kennedy Center.
Q: Which theater company performs Shakespeare and other classics at Sidney Harman Hall?
A: Shakespeare Theatre Company.
Q: What style of funk music developed in Washington in the 1960s and 1970s?
A: Go-go.
Q: Which bandleader is known as the Godfather of Go-Go?
A: Chuck Brown.
Q: Which Major League Baseball team plays at Nationals Park?
A: The Washington Nationals.
Q: In what year did the Washington Nationals win their first World Series?
A: 2019.
Q: Which NBA team plays at Capital One Arena?
A: The Washington Wizards.
Q: Which NHL team won the Stanley Cup in 2018?
A: The Washington Capitals.
Q: Which WNBA team won the league championship in 2019?
A: The Washington Mystics.
Q: Which soccer club was one of Major League Soccer's original teams?
A: D.C. United.
Q: Which Georgetown basketball coach led the Hoyas to the 1984 NCAA title?
A: John Thompson Jr.
Q: What race route traditionally circles the Tidal Basin and passes major monuments each spring?
A: The Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run.
One More Turn Around the Mall
If you kept every monument, museum, and quadrant straight, your score deserves its own spot on the Mall. Keep exploring famous names with our famous people trivia or step back in time with decades trivia.
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