To be fair...school's main objective is to teach you HOW to learn and allow you to feel capable of learning whatever you want.
All the trivial facts regarding which number of president is blah blah and what mitochondria is... They didn't really expect you to remember it; the expectation was to see what would peak your interest so you can start thinking about what you want to do with your life.
Of course, the biggest travesty is many administrations and teachers - especially in urban communities - don't have high expectations for the students they teach.
Sad.