"B"eautiful USA Cities Trivia Quiz

Answer: Boston MA

The photograph shows the spectacular Faneuil Hall, built in 1742 and sometimes called "The Cradle of Liberty". Located near the waterfront, it is part of Boston National Historical Park.

The original Shawmut Peninsula, on which the city of Boston, Massachusetts was built, covered just 789 acres (around 1.2 square miles), but land reclamation programs during the 19th century more than doubled that area. One of Boston's most iconic locations, Fenway Park, home of MLB's Red Sox, which opened in 1912, is built on reclaimed former marsh land.

With an estimated population of 667,000 in 2015, Boston has grown by 50,000 (around 8%) from the time of the 2010 Census, taking it past Baltimore MD as the most populous of all the "B" cities in the USA.

Famous Bostonites include U.S. Founding Father Samuel Adams, patriot Paul Revere, Oscar-winner Ben Affleck, painters Winslow Homer and John Singleton Copley, novelist Edgar Allen Poe, poets Sylvia Plath and Ralph Waldo Emerson, Senator Teddy Kennedy, actor Leonard Nimoy (Mr Spock) and TV journalist Barbara Walters. Bands founded in the city include Aerosmith, Boston and The Cars.

Answer: Boulder CO

Founded in 1858 as Boulder City, Boulder, Colorado was incorporated in 1871 when the population was just 373. BY the time of the 2010 Census, that had risen to 97,000 and a 10% increase in the five years after than carried the city above the 100,000 mark for the first time. The University of Colorado opened here in 1877 and with more than 30,000 students has become the largest higher education facility in the state.

Located 25 miles northwest of the state's largest city, Denver, Boulder was a popular destination for hippies in the late 1960s. It has become a popular launching point for climbers heading into the "Flatirons", spectacular formations in the foothills of the high mountains. The city is also the home of USA Rugby, the governing body for rugby union in the U.S.

Built in 1924, Folsom Field is the home of the Colorado Buffaloes, formerly of the Big Eight and now member of the Pac-12 conference. 5,360 feet above sea level, only Air Force (at Colorado Springs CO) and the University of Wyoming (Laramie WY) have higher stadiums amongst the major college football teams. The tradition of a live buffalo (currently it is called Ralphie V) charging onto the field in front of the home team dates back to Thanksgiving Day in 1934.

Famous Boulderites include the Mercury Project astronaut Scott Carpenter, the second American (after John Glenn) to orbit the Earth, actress Kristin Davis (Charlotte York Goldenblatt in "Sex and the City"), singer Jello Biafra (frontman for the "Dead Kennedys") and Chuck Pagano (who became head coach of the Indianapolis Colts in 2012).

Answer: Bakersfield CA

Although ranked as the 52nd-largest city in the USA in 2015, Bakersfield was only the ninth-largest in California. Situated about 100 miles north of Los Angeles, Bakersfield is on the border of Southern and Central California. Not only surrounded by the most productive agricultural land, it is also at the heart of America's prime natural gas and oil-producing region.

Northeast of the city, the Greenhorn Mountains are part of the southern Sierra Nevada range and rise to more than 8,000 feet. They are enclosed with Sequoia National Forest.

Famous Bakersfieldians include Oakland Raiders QB Derek Carr, NASCAR Sprint Cup winner Kevin Harvick and boxer Jerry Quarry.

Answer: Baton Rouge LA

Located mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River, Baton Rouge is the state capital and the second largest city in Louisiana (after New Orleans). Although there has been human habitation here dating back at least 8,500 years, the Frenchman Sieur d'Iberville originally explored this area in 1699 and the first settlement was founded two decades later. Since then, it has been ruled by the French, the British and the Spanish, it then became part of West Florida before the formation of the state of Louisiana. The state them became part of the Confederacy before again rejoining the USA after the Civil War.

Baton Rouge became the state capital in 1846, replacing "sinful" New Orleans. Whereas many states mimicked the Capitol Building in Washington DC when designing their capitol, Louisiana opted for turrets, crenellations and stained glass in a Neo-Gothic design. Like its southern neighbour, Baton Rouge also stages a large annual Mardi Gras parade. Other annual events include the Red Stick International Animation Festival, first staged in 2005.

Baton Rouge is the home of Louisiana State University and their NCAA football team, the LSU Tigers. Although officially named Tiger Stadium, their home ground is known as Death Valley because of its reputation as a notoriously difficult place for away teams to win.

Famous Baton Rougeans include the New York Giants' superstar Odell Beckham Jr., "American Idol" judge Randy Jackson and actress Donna Douglas (Elly May Clampett in "The Beverly Hillbillies").

Answer: Burbank CA

Home to The Walt Disney Company, Warner Bros. Entertainment, Nickelodeon and the Cartoon Network, Burbank, California is also the home to both ABC and NBC studios. Johnny Carson frequently informed his "Tonight Show" viewers that he was "in Beautiful Downtown Burbank". The easternmost city in the San Fernando Valley, downtown Burbank is in the foothills of the Verdugo Mountains. It was named for dentist and entrepreneur David Burbank, who established his sheep farm just a dozen miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles in 1869. Twenty years later, Burbank itself was founded and it was incorporated as a city in 1911.

The city's most famous neighbourhood, Rancho Equestrian, has zoning that allows residents to keep horses on their property -- a good thing since many of the houses here and in next door Glendale come equipped with stables and stalls. Ronald Reagan and Ava Gardner feature on a list of former residents here.

The picture shows the "Disney Legends Statue", which can be seen in Legends Plaza at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank. The facility includes both the company headquarters and a 51-acre studio lot, although Disney is one of only two major California studios (the other is 20th Century Fox) that do not offer backlot tours to the general public.

Famous people born in Burbank include director Tim Burton, actor Mark Harmon (Leroy Jethro Gibbs in "NCIS"), actor/comedian John Ritter (Jack Tripper in "Three's Company") and actor Wil Wheaton (Wesley Crusher in "Star Trek: The Next Generation").

Answer: Buffalo NY

First settled as a village in 1789, Buffalo, New York stands at the head of the Niagara River on the eastern shore of Lake Erie. The lake provided easy access by ship to developing markets in the midwestern states, but it was the opening of the 524-mile long Erie Canal in the 1820s, connecting Buffalo first to Albany, NY and later to New York City, that opened the most important trade routes to the city.

When the Buffalo Bills joined the AFL in 1960, they played their home games at the 1930s War Memorial Stadium in the East Side district. They moved into the new Rich Stadium, located in the suburb of Orchard Park to the south of the city, in 1973. It was renamed Ralph Wilson Stadium in 1999, and in 2016 became New Era Field. Curiously, Buffalo are the only NFL franchise that plays their home games in the state of New York: the New York Giants and the New York Jets share a stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Famous Buffalonians include crime novelist Lawrence Block, "Lone Ranger" creator Fran Striker, jazz-funk musician Grover Washington Jr., the host of "Howdy Doody" Buffalo Bob Smith (born Robert Emil Schmidt), electric chair inventor Alfred P. Southwick, former LA Dodger great Orel Hershiser and MLB Hall of Fame pitcher Warren Spahn.

Answer: Billings MT

Founded in 1877, Billings, Montana was incorporated just five years later. The Lewis and Clark Expedition had passed through here in 1806, as evidenced by a carving left by William Clark in a landmark named by him as Pompey's Pillar. Evidence of much earlier human activity here is evidenced by more than 100 rock paintings at least 2,000 years old in an area just south of the city now called the Pictograph Caves. With a population of 105,000 (up to 110,000 by 2015 estimates), Billings is home to around 10% of the entire population of the country's fourth-largest state.

Nicknamed "Magic City" because of its population explosion following the arrival of the railroad in 1882, the city is named for the former Northern Pacific Railroad president Frederick H. Billings. Most of the city is located in the Yellowstone Valley, with the Yellowstone River running through the southeast of town on its way to the famous park to the southwest. The city is surrounded by seven mountain ranges: the nearby Bighorn Mountains that straddle the Montana/Wyoming border to the south have two peaks over 13,000 feet.

Famous Billingsians include silent-film actress Helen Lynch and rock and roll pioneer Chan Romero ("Hippy Hippy Shake").

Answer: Beaumont TX

Located 90 miles east of Houston in southeastern Texas, Beaumont was only the 24th-largest city in the state at the time of the 2010 Census. The city's skyline is dominated by the 17-story, 254-foot Edison Plaza, built by Gulf States Utilities in 1982. Following the discovery of oil at nearby Spindletop, America's first major oil field and still one of the largest, Beaumont's population more than tripled in the two months from January to March 1901. The city became a major commercial port during the Texas Oil Boom, and subsequently an important shipbuilding centre during WWII.

The Lamar Cardinals were founding members in 1963 of the Southland Conference of the NCAA Division 1, which now includes 13 schools from Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana. Their football team play their home matches at the 16,000-capacity Provost Umphrey Stadium which opened in 1964.

Famous Beaumontians include astronaut Robert Crippen, blues and rock musicians Edgar and Johnny Winter, musician Larry Graham (member of Sly and the Family Stone) and MLB Hall of Famer Frank Robinson.

Answer: Birmingham AL

Three farm towns merged in 1871 to form the city of Birmingham in central Alabama. The city stands amid the only region in the world where coal, iron ore and limestone can all be found in the same place, and was named for Britain's second city to reflect its industrial nature. (Curiously, though, it is twinned not with its namesake in the UK, but with Liverpool.) Nicknamed "the Pittsburgh of the South", the city itself is home to 212,000 (2010 Census), making it the most populous in the state, its metropolitan area houses some 1.13 million, around 25% of the entire population of Alabama.

The 56-foot Statue of Vulcan is the world's tallest caste iron statue. the 120,000-pound statue was forged by the city of Birmingham as its entry to the St Louis World's Fair in 1904, representing the city's manufacturing industries. In 1936, it was hoisted onto the 126-foot sandstone pedestal at the top of Red Mountain in the city's southern suburbs, where it remains today.

Famous Birminghamians include athletics legend Carl Lewis, "Friends" actress Courteney Cox, Oscar-winner Louise Fletcher ("One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"), actress Kate Jackson (the original "Charlie's Angels"), country singer Emmylou Harris, former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, NBA legend Charles Barkley and former Florida State football coach Bobby Bowden.

Answer: Boise ID

Known as the Treasure Valley, the five counties that form the Boise-Nampa metropolitan area are home to around 40% of the entire population of Idaho. The city of Boise began as a US Army establishment, Fort Boise, in 1863, and a year later it was designated as the capital of Idaho Territory. Idaho became the 43rd state in 1890, with Boise as its capital, and the first phase of the Idaho State Capitol building opened here in 1912. Boise State College was established here in 1969 and a year later the new Bronco Stadium opened to host their football matches.

The Idaho Shakespeare Festival has been held annually in the state capital since 1977, and in 1984 the "World Center for Birds of Prey", a 580-acre hilltop site overlooking the city, was established. The Special Olympics World Winter Games were held here in 2009.

Famous people from Boise include Pro Bowl quarterback Jake Plummer, singer/songwriter Morgan James and NASCAR driver Brian Scott.