Illinois History Trivia

1. Who were the earliest Europeans to explore the area that is now Chicago?

From Quiz Chicago, That Toddlin' Town

Answer: French

The first mention of Chicago was by the French explorer, Robert de LaSalle, in 1679, who called it "Checagou." This is supposedly derived from an Indian word meaning wild garlic or skunk cabbage. What is now Chicago was a low-lying swampy area. The French built a few trading posts in the area, but they were abandoned around the year 1720. It would be over 50 years before the next attempt at settlement began.

From Quiz Chicago and Illinois Trivia

Answer: Ronald Reagan

In 1860 Ulysses S. Grant, who was born in Ohio, was made an assistant in the leather shop owned by his father in Galena, Illinois. He rented a home there and in 1861 joined the Union Army. After the Civil War, the people of Galena presented him with a home. On February 6, 1911, Ronald Wilson Reagan was born in Tampico, Illinois. He attended high school in nearby Dixon and then worked his way through Eureka College. Abraham Lincoln was born in Hardin County, Kentucky in 1809. His family moved to Indiana when he was eight and then, as a young man, he moved to New Salem and then Springfield, Illinois. Barack Obama was born in Hawaii on August 4, 1961. After working his way through college with the help of scholarships and student loans, President Obama moved to Chicago, where he lived until he was elected president.

From Quiz Illinois History

Answer: They are the names of Indian tribes that formed the Illini Confederation

These were the main tribes that constituted the Illini Confederation. There were also smaller groups, but were not of the significance of the five major tribes. These tribes had common cultures that spoke similar dialects of the Algonquin language.

From Quiz Chicago

Answer: onion field

The name comes from an Algonquian phrase.

From Quiz Random Chicago History

Answer: A. A. Michelson

67 Nobel Prize winners have been either students or faculty at the University of Chicago, more than any other university.

From Quiz Chicago, That Toddlin' Town

Answer: Jean Baptiste Point du Sable

Very little is known about Jean Baptiste Point du Sable. It is known that he was black, and by the 1780s had established a farm and trading post at the mouth of the Chicago river. He lived here for about 20 years, and is given credit for being Chicago's first settler. In 1800, he sold his property to a man named John Kinzie, and moved to St. Charles, Missouri, where he operated a ferry. Point du Sable died on August 28, 1818. He was honored on a U.S. postage stamp issued in 1987.

From Quiz Chicago and Illinois Trivia

Answer: They reversed the flow of the Chicago River

Though not especially long, the Chicago River is notable for the 19th century engineering feats that directed its flow southwards, away from Lake Michigan, into which it previously emptied, and towards the Mississippi River basin. By building the Sanitary and Ship Canal connecting it to the Illinois River, the flow was reversed. The river is also noted for the local custom of "dyeing it green" on St. Patrick's Day. The dye that is used is not green, but orange.

From Quiz Illinois History

Answer: James B. Eads

James Buchannan Eads designed ironclad gunboats at the Mounds City Shipyards. Eads is also famous for the arch bridge over the Mississippi that connects St. Louis and East St. Louis. To his credit is the diving bell and the a system of jetties at New Orleans to provide for a navigation channel.

From Quiz Chicago

Answer: Fort Dearborn

This fort eventually burned down after the massacre. Today, it would be located at the south end of the Michigan Avenue Bridge, but instead there is only a plaque to commemorate it.

From Quiz Random Chicago History

Answer: William 'Big Bill' Thompson

The Volstead Act (establishing prohibition) went into effect January 17th, 1920.

From Quiz Sweet Home Chicago - Some Lesser-Known Facts

Answer: Museum of Science and Industry

The Museum of Science and Industry (MSI) is housed in the Palace of Fine Arts, originally built for the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893. The Field Museum of Natural History was opened as the Columbian Museum of Chicago, also at the 1893 Expo, and was later renamed after the museum's first major benefactor, Marshall Field. The Adler Planetarium was the Western Hemisphere's first planetarium, founded by Chicago businessman Max Adler, and opened in 1930.

From Quiz Chicago and Illinois Trivia

Answer: Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable

The first non-native permanent settler in Chicago was Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable, a Haitian of African and French descent, who settled on the Chicago River in the 1770s and married a local Potawatomi woman.

From Quiz Illinois History

Answer: Cahokia Mound State Historic Site

The Cahokia Mound State Historic Site is located in the American Bottom Lands, an area that is supported by the Mississippi River, The Illinois River and the Missouri River, making this area an ideal location for the Mississippian culture to thrive. The mounds were name Cahokia after a local Indian tribe.

From Quiz Random Chicago History

Answer: Bushman the Gorilla

Ziggy lived at Brookfield Zoo, Samson: Milwaukee. Dr. Lester Fisher was Lincoln Park Zoo's most famous human celebrity.

From Quiz Illinois History

Answer: The fort was taken without firing a shot

Clark had the element of surprise when he arrived at Fort Kaskaskia. The Commander was still in bed and he was able to take the fort without use of force.

From Quiz Chicago

Answer: World's Columbian Exposition

Daniel Burnham is credited as being the mind behind the fair. he designed the whole event and created it in under 2 years. The fair had a variety of buildings including one to celebrate the many benefits of electricity. There was also man made island. It still exists today, even though many of the other buildings have been demolished.

From Quiz Random Chicago History

Answer: Lane Tech

York was in Elmhurst, Maine East: Park Ridge, I made up St Mary's.

From Quiz Chicago and Illinois Trivia

Answer: The Exposition Universelle in Paris, France after the construction of the Eiffel Tower

The Exposition Universelle of 1889 was a World's Fair held in Paris, France from May 6 to October 31, 1889. It was held during the year of the 100th anniversary of the storming of the Bastille, an event traditionally considered as the beginning of the French Revolution. It was highly successful, which prompted the United States to vie for a World's Fair to show that they were indeed a major country.

From Quiz Historic Sites of Southern Illinois

Answer: The Old Slave House

The Crenshaw home originally known as Hickory Hill is more commonly known as the Old Slave House. Crenshaw was involved using slave labor in the production of salt. Although Illinois was not a slave state, the government made provision that for labor to work the Salines, slaves could be leased and brought into Illinois. Crenshaw is also associated with the illegal slave trade.

From Quiz Chicago

Answer: 1871

The myth behind the fire is that there was a lady named Mrs. O'Leary and her cow knocked over a lamp in their barn. This caused the fire that eventually obliterated most of the city.

From Quiz Random Chicago History

Answer: 2nd

New York was number one.

From Quiz Chicago, That Toddlin' Town

Answer: Fire

The Great Chicago Fire started on October 8, 1871, in a barn on DeKoven Street, just a little southwest of the downtown area. By 1871, Chicago had grown to a city of 300,000 - the fifth largest in the United States. The rapid population growth meant that many buildings were made of wood, and topped with tar-paper shingles, which burned readily. The fire spread so rapidly that there was little to do except allow it burn itself out, which it did two days later, after having destroyed the entire business district and leaving over 100,000 people homeless. Chicago started rebuilding within days. No one knows how the fire started. The urban legend that a cow belonging to a Mrs. O'Leary kicked over a lantern in her barn has been thoroughly discredited. Whatever the cause, the fire did little to halt Chicago's meteoric growth. The city was quickly rebuilt, and by 1880 the population had grown to 503,184.

From Quiz Sweet Home Chicago - Some Lesser-Known Facts

Answer: Jibarito

Patacones, also known as tostones, are simply twice-fried plantain chips. A Cubano is a Cuban version of ham and cheese. A pionono is a sweet pastry, though in Puerto Rico it is a plantain sandwich with a savory filling, which is then deep-fried like a Monte Cristo. Jibaritos made their first appearance at Juan "Peter" Figueroa's Borinquen Restaurant in Chicago's Humboldt Park neighborhood.

From Quiz Chicago and Illinois Trivia

Answer: Yes, the Columbian Exposition in 1893 and the Century of Progress in 1933

The World's Columbian Exposition, a World's Fair, was held in Chicago in 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World. Chicago beat New York City, Washington, D.C. and St. Louis, Missouri, for the honor of hosting the fair. The fair had a profound effect on architecture, the arts, Chicago's self-image, and American industrial optimism. This fair was considered the most influential fair in history. The Century of Progress, was held in Chicago between 1933 and 1934. Originally, the fair was scheduled only to run until November 12, 1933, but it was so successful that it was opened again to run from May 26 to October 31, 1934. The first Major League Baseball All-Star Game was held at Comiskey Park (home of the Chicago White Sox) in conjunction with the fair.

From Quiz Illinois History

Answer: The National Road

The National Road was the first federal funded road project. Today U.S. Rt. 40 basically follows the route of the National Road from Vandalia, Illinois East.

From Quiz Chicago

Answer: The Iroquois

Chicago is infamous for fires. Another is the 'Our Lady of Angels' fire. In this fire, a Catholic school was incinerated and 95 people who were trapped inside lost their lives.

From Quiz Random Chicago History

Answer: Nelson Algren

All wrote about Chicago, but only Algren spoke so (romantically?) about the elevated trains.

From Quiz Sweet Home Chicago - Some Lesser-Known Facts

Answer: Decatur

The team started in 1919 as the Decatur Staleys, and is one of only two teams remaining from the National Football League's founding, the other being the Arizona Cardinals (originally from Chicago itself). After moving from Decatur, the Staleys changed names, becoming the Bears, or as we Chicagoans like to say, "Da Bears!"

From Quiz Illinois History

Answer: John Lloyd Wright

The J. L. Wright Manufacturing Company was the first to produce Lincoln Logs. It is also interesting the John Lloyd Wright is the son of Frank Lloyd Wright.

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