Fun with Flags, Episode 3

With apologies to Dr. Sheldon Cooper (and in celebration of the season-ending episode of The Big Bang Theory Thursday evening), we present a new edition of Fun with Flags. Let's see how you Civil War buffs do with today's Think Thursday challenge at the mentalfloss.com Brain Game. Here goes:

At the beginning of the U.S. Civil War (1861), how many stars appeared on the official flag of the United States? Here is the ANSWER.

THE QUESTION: At the beginning of the U.S. Civil War (1861), how many stars appeared on the official flag of the United States?

THE ANSWER:  33.

Kansas joined the union as the 34th state in January 1861, but its star was not added to the flag until July 4 of that year. The war started in April. (Thanks to the first commenter below for correcting our erroneous original answer of 34.)

Thanks for playing! Tomorrow, it's Free-for-All Friday.