If Americans were asked...

[angus]

It probably comes as no surprise that most of us couldn't name the prime minister of India.  But what about the slightly more relevant points of history and culture that we learn in school or on television or from books?  How many could the average gringo answer?  How many can you answer?

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

All but the last two...

[angus]

All but the last two...

Excellent.  

Only the Wise Old Owl can answer the last one, but he was bought off by the military-sugar-industrial complex and now propagandizes for them.  Successfully, I might add, if the obesity rate trend of the last 40 years is any indication.  I'm just not buying into the three-lick theory.

And, we're almost due for another world series so don't sweat last year's games.  

[dead0man]

I think the only one of these that more than 50% of Americans would answer correctly would be the Grant's Tomb one (unless you wanted "and his wife" in the answer).  Make it multiple choice and we could probably get the planets and the Grapes of Wrath author....maybe the R&RHoF too.  Very few people under, say, 45 are going to know where Elvis was born, if anything, we're all guessing Memphis.  Very few people are going to know Monroe's dorky husband, though some of us will whack ourselves in the forehead when we hear the name (Arthur Miller, I looked it up).

[angus]

I think the only one of these that more than 50% of Americans would answer correctly would be the Grant's Tomb one (unless you wanted "and his wife" in the answer).  Make it multiple choice and we could probably get the planets and the Grapes of Wrath author....maybe the R&RHoF too.  Very few people under, say, 45 are going to know where Elvis was born, if anything, we're all guessing Memphis.  Very few people are going to know Monroe's dorky husband, though some of us will whack ourselves in the forehead when we hear the name (Arthur Miller, I looked it up).

You're damn right I wanted "and his wife."  Actually, the correct answer is usually quoted as "The President and Mrs. Grant."  At least that's what I'd always heard, then one day when we were living in Manhattan, I figured out that Grant's Tomb was located not far from our 119th Street apartment, so I walked over to the Hudson and checked it out.  Sure enough, The President and Mrs. Grant are buried there.  (And my guess is that outside Manhattan the number of Americans who get that right is probably very low.  Simply saying U. S. Grant is not a complete answer, and therefore incorrect.)

Now that we're giving away answers, Arthur Miller may not be America's most famous playright--that honor usually goes to Tennessee Williams, who was born in Columbus, MS, which is about an hour south of The King's birthplace, Tupelo, MS--but Miller's plays are well-known.  Death of a Salesman is probably the most famous, and I've seen at least two productions of that one.  Just about half of all the reviews of Miller's plays mention his tumultuous marriage to Monroe.  Not to know the answer to that one suggests a certain, and relevant, degree of illiteracy.  Probably far more than not being able to name India's prime minister. 

Sadly, you're probably right about the planets and the Grapes of Wrath. 

[dead0man]

Dude, nobody goes to plays.

(yes, of course, people go to plays, but certainly not 50% of us.)

[angus]

Ah, but you're a smart guy, dead0man.  I imagine that you take the point of the thread.  Obviously I'm harassing Hashemite.  I'm picking a set of questions, some of which are important things to know and some of which are not, most of which have fairly objective answers but a couple of which have answers that we could quibble about, and all of which I know the answer to, and putting them up there as some sort of rational measure of something other than how well versed in specific, arcane matters the reader is.  I'm implying that it's a measure of sophistication, but not exactly claiming so explicitly, in order to have immunity lest the charge arise that I've unscientifically and subjectively chosen a set of questions that measure nothing but one's penchant for studying arbitrarily-chosen trivia.

In short, I'm employing the technique of critical parody.  Imitation, however, is the sincerest form of flattery, lest Hashemite become offended.

And, yes, some of them are generation-dependent bits of wisdom.  Anyone my age could sing the Big Fig Newton song or tell you who was the host of Family Feud.  But I though that a reference to the famous 70s Tootsie Roll Tootsie Pop commercial made for a more intriguing question.

I suppose I should find something more useful to do.  

[TJ in Oregon]

Can you name eight planets?- I think most people will get this right. This is by far the easiest question.
What is the name of the playright who married Marilyn Monroe?- I had no idea and I suspect most people won't either. I did have to memorize that Arthur Miller wrote the Death of a Salesman at some point in high school, but I had no idea who his wife was.
Where was Elvis Presley Born?- No idea.
Who wrote The Grapes of Wrath?- This is one most people will have a chance at because we at least learned it in high school history.
What is the most commonly occurring element in the Earth's atmosphere?- I think most people would say oxygen or maybe carbon dioxide (lol), but some will get it right.
Who is buried in Grant's tomb?- This was one of those joke questions I always got asked as a kid, so I knew it but requiring the wife may be too much for most people.
Is the guy on a ten-dollar bill a former US President?- I didn't know who was on the ten dollar bill, but this question led me to guess--correctly--that it's Hamilton, so I managed to get it right.
In what US city is the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame located?- I know this one!
Who won last year's MLB World Series? - If you actually polled the public, this would be one of the questions more people would get right than some of these because there are a lot of sports fans out there.
How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Roll Tootsie Pop?- haha

[The Mikado]

Honestly, the list of planets is drilled into people's brains so well in Kindergarten etc. that it'd be surprised if Americans did too poorly on that.

Also Arthur Miller rocks.  F**k you, deadoman.

[angus]

Honestly, the list of planets is drilled into people's brains so well in Kindergarten etc. that it'd be surprised if Americans did too poorly on that.

Yes, but the drill has changed.  The names of nine planets were drilled into my head.  Now, my son learns eleven.  (eight planets and three "dwarf" planets.  Pluto, Eris, and Ceres being those.)   

And yes, Arthur Miller rocks.  And, to be honest, knowledge of his works is probably far more useful to most Americans than being able to recite the names of the planets.  (Or, while we're at it, the name of the Indian prime minister or the governor general of Canada, whatever that is.)

[© tweed]

I knew 1, 2, 4, 7, and 9

[Хahar 🤔]

I think most everyone I know would get the second-to-last question at least.

[Bacon King]

A majority of Americans would get the planets and the MLB question, I'd assume.

[Psychic Octopus]

Got every one except for Elvis's birthplace. I knew it was in Mississippi, but I just couldn't remember the name of the town.

[angus]

In what US city is the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame located?- I know this one!

That one was tailor-made for you.  I spent three weeks there in the summer of '90-something, when the Hall was new, and we toured it.  Fun town.  Hate to be stuck there in the winter, though.  (Not that it's any better here.)  

[Wonkish1]

I'm assuming you want us to answer what we think most Americans would know not what we would know. I hope so because that is how I'm answering it.

[Wonkish1]

I would be willing to bet that most Americans don't know:

4. Who wrote the Grapes of Wrath(for sure)
5. What the most common occurring element in the Earth's atmosphere(most likely)
8. The city of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame(most likely)

[angus]

I would be willing to bet that most Americans don't know:

4. Who wrote the Grapes of Wrath(for sure)
5. What the most common occurring element in the Earth's atmosphere(most likely)
8. The city of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame(most likely)

Yeah, I'm never sure about these things.   I always get surprised when I read things like, "Even as 57 percent of the US public supports the invasion of Iraq, only 13% of the US public can even point to Iraq on a globe."  

I was reading a poll of British schoolchildren recently where something like 15% of them could say correctly whether the USSR or Germany were their country's enemy in World War II.  It's astonishing.

I'd guess that truly objective polling is a hard thing.  I suppose you could walk into some restaurants wherein every patron could name the author of the Grapes of Wrath.  But then you could walk into others where not even one person could even name the author of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, or the author of Hamlet, or the author of The Ingenious gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha.