Telling Phrase 21: "The War of 1812"

This phrase has become a telling phrase to me. It doesn't just indicate part of America's history to me anymore. Instead, it says one or more of three things. 1) I wasn't listening. 2) I am really ignorant. 3) I hate obvious answers.
My reason for including this goes back to an experience that C.T. and I had at Cherokee the other day. During C.T.'s story, he asked the kids a few questions to get them involved. One of the questions that he asked was, "Do you know what war the Settlers were fighting in 1780?" One of the boys raised his hand very fast as if he had been waiting all day to give the answer. The boy quickly blurted out, "The War of 1812?!" It may not have been so funny if it weren't for the fact that these were fourth graders who had nailed every question that we asked them. For instance, I asked them if they knew where Germany is. One little girl raised her hand and said, "Eastern Europe?" Of course what really made it humorous was that the only real clue that they had about what war C.T. was talking about was that it took place in 1780.