A Conventioneer's Guide to Boston Quiz

Answer: The Boston molasses flood

The plaque in Puopolo Park commemorates the day in 1919 when a tank of molasses 50 feet (15 m) tall and 90 feet (27m) in diameter at the Purity Distilling Company collapsed, spreading as much as 2,300,000 U.S. gallons (8,700 cubic meters) of the brown syrup over several blocks. Rapidly rising temperatures that day may have caused too-rapid expansion of the tank. Molasses was as much as three feet deep on some streets and filled basements. Twenty-one people were killed and 150 injured. Molasses was the principal sweetener of the day and was used in the making of rum and munitions.

Some local residents will tell you that on a hot summer day you can still smell the molasses, but then, they know you're a tourist!

Answer: USS Constitution

The USS Constitution, nicknamed "Old Ironsides" for her ability to repel cannonballs from British warships in the War of 1812, was still an active duty ship in the U.S. Navy 200 years later. She was built at Edmund Hartt's shipyard in Boston as part of the Naval Act of 1794, named by President George Washington and launched in 1797.

Her ability to repel cannonballs is attributed to her hull planking, made of southern live oak. The ship is open for tours year round.

Answer: Celtics

The Boston Celtics began playing in 1946. Between 1957 and 1969 they won 11 league championships, including eight in a row (1959-1966), the longest winning streak of any North American professional sports team. If you're from another country and are not familiar with the team, here's a tip: it's pronounced "Seltics" not "Keltics".

Answer: The Bull and Finch

Located at 84 Beacon St., the Bull and Finch was established in the basement of The Hampshire House restaurant in 1969. In 2002 it was officially renamed as "Cheers Beacon Hill". The TV show featured some shots of the exterior of the building but not the bar itself. If you go there, you will see a plaque on the bar indicating that that space is for Norm Peterson (George Wendt), the barfly character in the show.

Answer: Beantown

In colonial times, a favorite Boston food was beans baked in molasses for several hours, so popular that Boston acquired the nickname "Beantown". Beans were a crop that was plentiful in New England and would keep for long periods. There was plenty of molasses in Boston, too.

It was part of the "triangular trade" in which slaves in the Caribbean grew sugar cane to be shipped to Boston to be made into rum, which was sent to West Africa, the proceeds from which bought more slaves to send to the Caribbean.

This part of Boston's history isn't talked about much. Massachusetts became one of the first states to abolish slavery.

Answer: Paul Revere

Paul Revere, dentist, silversmith, patriot, owned the house from 1780 to 1800. It was originally built in 1680 for Robert Howard, an affluent merchant. Revere was one of several men who rode to the countryside to warn of the British invasion on April 18, 1775. The house is now operated as a nonprofit museum by the Paul Revere Memorial Association.

Answer: The Great Broad Street Riot

It was the "Great Broad Street Riot". On June 11, 1837, an English-American fire company returning to its station came upon an Irish-American funeral procession. Neither group wanted to let the other through first. Insults were voiced, a fight ensued, at one point involving nearly a thousand people.

The military had to be called in to quell the disturbance. No one was killed; several hundred people were indicted for fighting or looting. There was constant friction between the Irish and English in Boston; some said it never really ended until John F. Kennedy defeated Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. for a U.S. Senate seat in 1952.

Answer: ice hockey

The Beanpot is a trophy given to the winner of each year's ice hockey tournament played by four Boston colleges: Boston University, Boston College, Harvard University and Northeastern University. Except for 1953, it has been played in Boston Garden, and its replacement, TD Garden, every year since 1952, usually in February.

In 1978, several hundred fans were stranded in Boston Garden for several days because of the Blizzard of 1978, which dumped more than two feet (61 cm.) of snow on the city.

Answer: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

The robbery at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum took place on March 18, 1990. Two thieves, disguised as Boston police officers, entered the building and stole 13 works of art, including paintings by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Degas, and Monet, as well as a Chinese goblet and an eagle finial. Estimates of the theft range as high as $500 million (U.S.), making it the biggest single property theft in history. None of the items have been found; the investigation is ongoing and the museum has offered a reward of up to $5 million (U.S.) for information leading to the recovery of the artworks.

The frames have been left there awaiting the return of the paintings.

Answer: part of the Boston Marathon

"Heartbreak Hill" is part of the course of the Boston Marathon, the world's oldest yearly marathon, started in 1897. The race starts in Hopkinton and ends at Copley Square in Boston's Back Bay. Heartbreak Hill is the last of the four "Newton Hills". Though only having a vertical rise of 88 feet (27 meters) it is located near the 20-mile (32 km) mark, where runners often lose energy, what marathoners call "hitting the wall".