Tennessee, located in the Southeastern United States, is known for its rich history, diverse culture, and contributions to American music. The state's capital is Nashville and the largest city is also Nashville. Tennessee was admitted to the Union as the 16th state in 1796. The state has a rich history, from the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement and beyond.
Tennessee is home to many notable landmarks and historical sites, such as the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the Andrew Johnson National Historic Site, and the Ryman Auditorium. The state is also known for its contributions to American music, particularly in the field of country music and rock and roll, and is home to many famous music venues like the Grand Ole Opry and the Country Music Hall of Fame. The state is also known for its contributions to American literature, particularly in the field of southern literature, with famous authors such as Cormac McCarthy and Alex Haley hailing from the state.
Trivia questions about Tennessee can include questions about its history, geography, culture, and famous residents. This article will test your knowledge of the state's past and present, from its role in the American Civil War to its contributions to American culture. Get ready to learn more about Tennessee and see how well you fare against these challenging trivia questions. Whether you're a resident of the state or just a curious trivia buff, this article is sure to be an engaging and informative read.
85 Tennessee Trivia Questions Ranked From Easiest to Hardest (Updated for 2024)
- Which famous actor and singer was born January 31, 1981 in Nashville, Tennessee? You might need to cry me a river if you can’t get this one!
Answer: Justin Timberlake
- Begun in 1840 as "Breeder's Day," the town of Columbia, Tennessee holds an annual festival celebrating what hybrid animal and beast of burden?
Answer: Mule
- In Lynchburg, you can visit the distillery for which famous brand of Tennessee whiskey?
Answer: Jack Daniel's
- On its Eastern side, Tennessee shares a border with what U.S. state that's unofficially nicknamed "The Tar Heel State"?
Answer: North Carolina
- According to the lyrics of his classic country song, all George Strait's exes live in Texas, so he chooses to hang his hat in what other "T" state?
Answer: Tennessee
- Which private university in Nashville is home to the black and gold Commodores and is consistently ranked one of the best colleges in the United States?
Answer: Vanderbilt University
- In 1992, Trisha Yearwood sang about being on “the wrong side” of what Tennessee city?
Answer: Memphis
- The MCU show “Loki” introduced the world to the world authority on the time stream, known by what three-letter acronym? The acronym shares its name with a federal project to provide electricity, aid, and jobs to Tennessee, created in 1933 by FDR and still under operation.
Answer: TVA
- What wispy circus sugar treat on a stick has roots in Nashville, where a dentist (no, really) invented “fairy floss?
Answer: Cotton Candy
- Tennessee was first called "The Volunteer State" because of its participation in what war? The state's reputation was enhanced during the Mexican-American War, when James K. Polk requested 2,600 men and 30,000 volunteered.
Answer: War of 1812
- Which village in Bedford County, TN has a mysterious and unusual name that sounds a little like a fixture you’d see on the hip-hugger that keeps your pants up?
Answer: Bell Buckle
- One story holds that the recipe for Nashville Hot Chicken can be traced back to what "regal" restaurant, whose namesake founder was once served extra-hot chicken by his girlfriend as revenge for his infidelity?
Answer: Prince's Hot Chicken Shack
- Knoxville's Sunsphere, built for the 1982 World's Fair, made a memorable appearance in a 1996 episode of what animated TV show, where it was revealed to be filled with surplus wigs?
Answer: The Simpsons
- And you thought they were just annoying little birds that pooped in public parks! But no, one of Queen Elizabeth’s favorite hobbies was racing what type of bird that lends its name to a famous forge in East Tennessee?
Answer: Pigeons
- In what U.S. state would you find Fall Creek Falls, a state park with 200 campsites and 16 backcountry sites, named after the biggest waterfall in the Eastern U.S.?
Answer: Tennessee
- The Red Clay Council Grounds in southeastern Tennessee is known as the last capital of what tribal nation before being subjected to policies of forced removal?
Answer: Cherokee Nation
- What Walmart CEO, getting the job in 2014, is from Memphis, Tennessee, and shares a last name with a fictional TV San Francisco police commissioner played by Rock Hudson from 1971-1977?
Answer: Doug McMillon
- Where in southern Tennessee is the University of the South located? (Hint: The school also goes by the same name as the census-designated place it’s in)
Answer: Sewanee
- The Imagination Library is a free children's book gifting program started by what famous singer in 1995? The program started by offering a monthly book to each child in Sevier County, Tennessee regardless of family income.
Answer: Dolly Parton
- While the name will remind you of Pennsylvania, which city that's home to the National Cornbread Festival is actually located in Marion County, Tennessee?
Answer: South Pittsburg
- The Norris Dam on the Clinch River, near the town of Rocky Top, was the first major project built by what newly created federal agency in 1933?
Answer: Tennessee Valley Authority
- What is the name of the former NFL player born and raised in Memphis who featured prominently in Michael Lewis's book "The Blind Side"?
Answer: Michael Oher
- Which small town in middle Tennessee is called “The Walking Horse Capital of the World?”
Answer: Shelbyville
- What Civil War-era camp near Nicholasville, Kentucky became a recruiting ground for new Union soldiers from East Tennessee, including many formerly enslaved Black Americans?
Answer: Camp Nelson
- Believe it or not, Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies has a live "penguin cam" on their website that allows anyone to watch their penguin enclosure 24/7. In what city would you find this aquarium?
Answer: Gatlinburg
- A green shag carpet, ferns, a tiki bar, and a built-in waterfall can all be found in what famous, tropical-themed room at Graceland in Memphis?
Answer: Jungle Room
- What legendary lawyer, who defended teenage killers Leopold & Loeb and Tennessee schoolteacher John Scopes, among others, attended Michigan Law?
Answer: Clarence Darrow
- Which out-of-this-world sounding marshmallow and graham snack cake was actually invented very much here on Earth—specifically, by Tennessee’s Chattanooga Bakery?
Answer: Moon Pie
- What Nashville institution, formerly broadcast from Ryman Auditorium, is the longest-running radio broadcast in U.S. history, still going strong after nearly 100 years?
Answer: Grand Ole Opry
- What brand of Tennessee whiskey is produced in a dry county, and therefore, cannot be sold where it is made?
Answer: Jack Daniel's
- Although he was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, what future U.S. president grew up in poverty in Greeneville, Tennessee before growing up to become a U.S. senator from the state?
Answer: Andrew Johnson
- In 1969, Dan W. Evins opened the first Cracker Barrel Old Country Store on Highway 109, just outside of what Tennessee city?
Answer: Lebanon
- As its full name implies, the TVA, a federally owned corporation that provides flood control and electric power, is headquartered in what U.S. state?
Answer: Tennessee
- What author wrote the 1979 novel Suttree, about a man who forsakes a privileged life to live on a ramshackle houseboat on the Tennessee River? He would be better known later for books about the American Southwest, including No Country for Old Men.
Answer: Cormac McCarthy
- The Peabody College of Education and Human Development is a highly regarded graduate school at what Tennessee university?
Answer: Vanderbilt
- "Willie the Hillbilly" was once the mascot for what soft drink brand, invented by Tennessee beverage bottlers Barney and Ally Hartman in 1940?
Answer: Mountain Dew
- The Memphis Pyramid, the 10-tallest pyramid in the world, formerly housed an arena for the Memphis Grizzlies, but is now a popular mega-location for what outdoorsy retail chain?
Answer: Bass Pro Shops
Answer: Illinois
- What Memphis motel, where civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and killed in 1968, became the National Civil Right Museum in 1991?
Answer: Lorraine Motel
- What writer and educator, born into slavery in Mississippi, famously exposed the horrors of lynching to American readers during her groundbreaking career in Memphis journalism?
Answer: Ida B. Wells
- During her collegiate career at Tennessee State University, track and field star Wilma Rudolph took her talents to compete and win gold medals in the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash, and 4x100-meter relay at the 1960 Summer Olympics, held in what “Eternal” European city where you definitely won’t find the Illuminati?
Answer: Rome
- A series of 1927 recording sessions, featuring the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers, led to what northeastern Tennessee town being dubbed "The Birthplace of Country Music?"
Answer: Bristol
- Grocer Joel Owsley Cheek started a coffee brand in 1892 and soon named the brand after a hotel in Nashville, Tennessee (the brand's largest customer). The brand was the highest-selling coffee in the United States for nearly 100 years and frequently incorporates its "good to the last drop" slogan into its logo. What brand is this?
Answer: Maxwell House
- Considering that protagonist Chuck Noland is a systems analyst working for FedEx, it is not too surprising that the 2000 drama directed by Robert Zemeckis was set partly in Memphis. What is this film with impressively few lines of inter-character dialogue?
Answer: Cast Away
- In the early 1990s, what pioneer in the manufacturing of wrought and cast iron moved from its Minneapolis headquarters to Tennessee? The company's name brings to mind the kitchen more so than a blacksmith shop.
Answer: Flour City
- What U.S. state has a flag featuring three white stars within a blue circle? The stars represent the three "Grand Divisions" of the state, and the symbol is embedded within the logo of the state's NFL team.
Answer: Tennessee
- On March 1, 1803, Ohio became the 17th state in the U.S.. Name either the 16th or 18th state, both of which border the Mississippi River.
Answer: Tennessee (16th) or Louisiana (18th)
- Although "the Purchase Region" typically refers to the southwestern part of Kentucky, the titular purchase itself also contained a large part of what other state?
Answer: Tennessee
- Although Memphis and Nashville are in the same state, the Tennessee capital is not in fact the closest U.S. state capital to Memphis. What other city is? We're using "as the crow flies" or haversine distance, rather than driving distance. And we're looking for the city, not the state.
Answer: Little Rock
- In June 1981, Walmart acquired a regional retailer named Kuhn's-Big K which had been founded by the Kuhn brothers in 1913 in what U.S. state?
Answer: Tennessee
- The FDA’s ability to test drug safety was strengthened by amendments in 1962 sponsored by representative Oren Harris and what senator from Tennessee? Known for his fight against organized crime, he was the also the Democratic Vice-Presidential candidate in 1956.
Answer: Estes Kefauver
- Paducah, Kentucky sits at the confluence of the Ohio River and what other river named for a state that borders Kentucky?
Answer: Tennessee River
- Amy Grant had a 1983 hit off her “A Christmas Album” with a Christmas based in what U.S. state? Residents of Knoxville or Gatlinburg were sure to enjoy the tune.
Answer: Tennessee Christmas
- What Pulitzer-winning Art Spiegelman comic book about animals living through the Holocaust got a boost in popularity in 2022 after being banned by a Tennessee school board? Its name comes from the German word for “mouse.”
Answer: Maus
- By what three-word name is “The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes”, an American legal case of 1925 in which teacher John Scopes was accused of violating Tennessee's Butler Act, commonly known? The Butler Act prohibited teaching of evolution of humans.
Answer: Scopes Monkey Trial
- The Tennessee Valley Authority, a public utility corporation, was created in 1933 as part of the New Deal during the Administration of what President?
Answer: Franklin Delano Roosevelt
- What "Atomic City" in Tennessee was established in 1942 as a production site for the Manhattan Project?
Answer: Oak Ridge
- Condiment lovers can thank the 103rd General Assembly for officially naming what red vegetable (although it's a fruit, botanically speaking) as the state food of Tennessee in 2003?
Answer: Tomato
- What architect of the Tennessee Capitol is, at his request, buried in the walls of the building?
Answer: William Strickland
- Which private Baptist university in Jackson is over 200 years old, has the Bulldogs as its mascot, and has some notable alums like MLB player Luis Ortiz?
Answer: Union University
- Al Gore sought the Democratic nomination for U.S. President in 1988 as the junior senator from which state?
Answer: Tennessee
- A museum dedicated to soul music now sits at the Memphis site of what former record company, which launched the careers of Otis Redding and the Staple Singers, among others?
Answer: Stax Records
- What Tennessee locale known as the home of Mountain Dew spans Washington, Carter, and Sullivan counties?
Answer: Johnson City
- Frontiersman John Sevier gave what name to a proposed new U.S. state in what is now East Tennessee, hoping to curry favor for the state's admission from a particular founding father?
Answer: Franklin
- What groundbreaking Black American poet wrote, "I always like summer / best / you can eat fresh corn / from daddy's garden" in "Knoxville, Tennessee," a poem about her hometown?
Answer: Nikki Giovanni
- In 2019, the open-to-all Minister’s Tree House sadly burned down. What city in Tennessee was the 10-story woodland church just outside of?
Answer: Crossville
- What Tennessee native was the first presidential candidate and nominated as a member of the Democratic party? Although he served in both houses of congress, as well as governor of Florida, he was probably best known for his heroics in the Battle Of New Orleans.
Answer: Andrew Jackson
- Which lake in Elizabethton is a little hard to get to, but the views of the Appalachian Mountains and Cherokee National Forest make it well worth the trek? (Hint: It was made by the construction of a dam in the late ‘40s and actually covers the old town of Butler, which was relocated to a higher elevation)
Answer: Watauga
- What former Ohio State running back won the Heisman Trophy in 1995, before playing in the NFL for the Tennessee Titans? He is currently the head coach of football at Tennessee State.
Answer: Eddie George
Answer: Stella
- Maybe she sang about a “Tennessee Rose,” but which country music star with a first name that will make you think she hails from Whoville was actually born in Alabama?
Answer: Emmylou Harris
- In 1829, what former major general and governor of Tennessee left his wife of 11 weeks, resigned from the governorship, and ran away to the Arkansas territory to live with the Cherokees?
Answer: Sam Houston
- Fought in Tennessee and also known as Pittsburg Landing, what Civil War battle of April 6th and 7th, 1862, allowed Union troops to penetrate the Confederate interior?
Answer: Shiloh
- Which lake in Panther Creek State Park gives you beautiful views of the Clinch Mountain Range as you’re swimming, fishing, or camping?
Answer: Cherokee
- Delaware, Kentucky and Minnesota are three examples of U.S. states which are named after rivers, but they are not the only ones. How many total U.S. states take their name from an eponymous river?
Answer: 15
- What is the chemical symbol for tennessine, the element that was discovered in 2010 and named after the state of Tennessee? It has the atomic number of 117.
Answer: Ts
- You’ll find one of the oldest streets in Tennessee in Nashville. At first, it was simply “Main Street,” then changed to “Market Street” as it became a hub for buying stuff. Today, what does the length of road (which is home to the Silver Dollar Saloon) go by?
Answer: 2nd Avenue
- Which legendary Colorado Rockies first baseman, who spent his entire 17-year career with the team between 1997-2013, played college football at the University of Tennessee and actually started over Peyton Manning in 1994?
Answer: Todd Helton
- Aqui Hines named her Nashville restaurant 400 Degrees in honor of the hottest level of what ingredient that you can get on your chicken?
Answer: Spice
- Although it is set in Harlem, New York City, what 1974 novel by James Baldwin has a title that refers to a thoroughfare in Memphis, Tennessee?
Answer: If Beale Street Could Talk
- Boasting a rich history of politicians aspiring for higher offices, how many U.S. presidents were born in Tennessee?
Answer: Zero
- U.S. Secretary of Commerce Harry Hopkins helped conceive what New Deal public works program that produced the Tennessee Valley Authority and Federal Theatre Project?
Answer: Works Progress Administration / WPA
- What is the airport code for the Davidson County airport, a former American hub, which is the busiest airport in Tennessee and home to the Tennessee Air National Guard?
Answer: BNA
- Which Nashville restaurant got a chance to live up to its larger-than-life name when the owner (Alfonso) made an appearance in an episode of Food Network’s Heat Seekers?
Answer: Big Al's
- Founded in 2017 by Craig Fuller and based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, what is the name of the company that offers both a SONAR product which offers real-time data points on the logistics industry and also publishes a media platform with dozens of full-time journalists covering the logistics (and specifically trucking) industry?
Answer: FreightWaves
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About the Author
Eli Robinson is the Chief Trivia Officer at Water Cooler Trivia. He was once in a Bruce Springsteen cover band called F Street Band.
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