Today is Memorial Day here in the United States. It’s a federal holiday, so the GoCertify home office is closed until Tuesday. Memorial Day honors the American citizens, both men and women, who died while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. It is spiritually akin to Veteran’s Day (Nov. 11), which honors all Armed Forces members, including those who did not die while serving.

We’ll return to our regular schedule of operations tomorrow. Until then, why not enjoy this Memorial Day-themed quiz? This year's quiz celebrates Ironton, Ohio, site of the longest continuously operating Memorial Day parade in the United States. This year marks the 154th consecutive Ironton-Lawrence County Memorial Day Parade. That precisely matches the total number of years that Memorial Day has been formally observed in the United States.

Ironton is located on the Ohio River across from Russell, Kentucky. The photo at the top of this page is of the Oakley C. Collins Memorial Bridge, which carries traffic across the river between Ironton and Russell.

1) Which Ohio county is home to Ironton?

2) Who is the namesake of the Ohio County that is home to Ironton?

3) What part of Ironton is listed on the National Register of Historic Places?

4) Ironton had a pioneering impact of what professional sport?

5) Ironton became a hub for which famous railroad in the 1860?

6) Who founded Ironton?

7) Which prominent European nations all bought high-quality iron from Ironton to build warships during the Ironton iron boom from 1850 to 1890?

8) Which large public research university has a satellite campus in Ironton?

9) Which Ironton native son is known for being the greatest checkers player who ever lived?

10) Who was designated Honorary Grand Marshall of the Ironton-Lawrence County Memorial Day Parade for 2022?

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ANSWERS

1) Duh, it's called Ironton-Lawrence County parade. Just checking to see who's paying attention (by which we mean reading the introductory copy). Ironton is the county seat of Lawrence County in Ohio.

2) John Lawrence. Fittingly, Lawrence County is named for a famous U.S. naval commander who died of wounds suffered in battle during the War of 1812. John Lawrence commanded the USS Chesapeake in a two-vessel engagement against the HMS Shannon near Boston on June 1, 1813. After being wounded by small arms fire, Lawrence was taken below. Before being removed from the deck of the Chesapeake, Lawrence famously ordered his men, "Don't give up the ship!" He died three days later.

3) The Downtown Ironton Historic District. Notable buildings in the district include the Lawrence County Courthouse, the Marting Hotel, the Ironton Norfolk and Western Depot, the Brumberg Building, and the Marlow Theatre.

4) Football. One of the first professional football teams in United States was the Ironton Tanks. The Tanks played from 1919 to 1930, and initiated the tradition of Thanksgiving Day football games that is now carried on by Detroit Lions of the National Football League.

5) The Underground Railroad. Because of its location on the Ohio River, Ironton was an important destination for runaway slaves fleeing north during the Civil War.

6) John Campbell. Campbell, a regional iron magnate, founded Ironton in 1849. During the Civil War, Campbell was among the city leaders who sheltered black Americans fleeing slavery via the Underground Railroad.

7) England, France, and Russia. Ironton also supplied the iron used to equip the USS Monitor, the first ironclad U.S. warship.

8) Ohio University. Ohio University Southern Campus in Ironton is the largest branch unit of Ohio University.

9) Marion Tinsley. A mathematician and professor, Tinsley was world checkers champion from 1955 to 1958 and from 1975 to 1991. He never lost a world championship match (he withdrew from championship play from 1958 to 1975) and lost a total of seven games between 1950 and 1995.

10) Lloyd Richmond. A 102-year-old veteran of World War II, Richmond served in the United States Army Air Corps.

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