Find the answers to these trivia questions and more by visiting any of our 12 historic sites and museums.

With over 40 special events and new daily activities, the Wisconsin Historical Society's historic sites and museums offer exciting ways for your whole family to get to know Wisconsin.

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• Has "batter-up" always
  been used to signal the
  start of a baseball game?
  

  No! "Striker to the Line"
  was commonly used in
  the 1800s when the game
  was still spelled as
  "base ball". Attend a game
  at Old World Wisconsin or Wade House.

• Where can you find
  the only War of 1812
  battlefield within the
  present boundaries of
  Wisconsin?

  The grounds of Villa Louis.
  Learn more when you
  attend the special event the
  "War of 1812 in Wisconsin" at Villa Louis

• Did railroad hobos really
  create their own language?
  

  Yes. Hobos often etched
  pictures and numbers into
  the sides of boxcars to
  communicate the news
  of the day. Learn more
  during Railroad Days at Stonefield

• Why is Wisconsin called
  the Badger State?
  

  Early miners dug ore from
  shallow holes, which looked
  similar to badger dens. Dig
  into more Wisconsin mining
  history at Pendarvis

• Why are all those metal
  silos blue?

  The color of the silos* is
  caused by the cobalt in the
  glass mixture fused to the
  steel walls of the silo at a
  high temperature. Learn
  more when you visit the "Wisconsin
  Innovations" exhibit at the Wisconsin
  Historical Museum.

• *Harveststore silos on a Green County farm, Dean Lane and Highway 60 near New Glarus,
  ca. 2009. Photo by Steve Apps. From the book "Barns of Wisconsin" by Jerry Apps.