Chicago, the Windy City Trivia Quiz

Answer: Potowatomi

The Potowatomi lived along the shores of Lake Michigan in northern Illinois and Indiana. The Iroquois lived further east, the Cherokee were in the southeast, and the Shawnee were in southern Ohio and Kentucky.

Answer: Wild leek, or skunk cabbage

Shikaakwa is translated as "wild leek" or "skunk cabbage" from the abundance of such plants which grew in the area. Initially, the term applied to the river, but the city acquired the name.

Answer: It flows out of Lake Michigan

The Chicago River flows out of Lake Michigan, which is a definite reversal since most rivers flow into larger bodies of water. After the Chicago fire in 1871, by a tremendous engineering feat, the river was dredged and its current was actually reversed.

It connects by canal to the Illinois River, which flows into the Mississippi River, allowing for water commerce from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico.

Answer: Fort Dearborn

Fort Dearborn was built on the site of Chicago very early. It stood on the Chicago River in the heart of what is now downtown Chicago.

Answer: Steel frame skyscraper

Chicago saw the creation of the first steel frame skyscraper, the Home Insurance Building, completed in 1885, towering an astounding nine stories tall. Chicago did open subways in the 1940s, but they had existed in New York City much longer.

Answer: Sears Tower

The Sears Tower overshadows any other skyscraper in the city. Hancock Center and the Aon Center are very tall, taller than most of the other buildings in the downtown "Loop" area, but Sears Tower is taller. Before these towering buildings were built, the Chicago Board of Trade was the tallest building in the city.

Answer: Lincoln Park

Chicago has a terrific system of city parks, and much greenery is to be had. Lincoln Park is the largest, extending through several neighborhoods along Lake Michigan. The park is 1200 acres and contains facilities for all types of recreation, including the Lincoln Park Zoo, one of the few zoos in the United States which charges no admission.

The Zoo was known for having the largest gorilla in captivity, Bushman, some years ago.

Answer: Michigan Avenue

A section of Michigan Avenue, from the Chicago River bridge to where Michigan Avenue joins Lake Shore Drive, is known as the "magnificent mile." The avenue is lined with swank hotels and exclusive shops. One landmark in the area is the old Chicago Water Tower, a survivor of the Chicago Fire of 1871 since it was built of stone and not of wood.

Some have called this the "Fifth Avenue" of Chicago.

Answer: Railroad center of the world

A city like Chicago has many firsts and many names and nicknames have been applied to it. "Railroad center of the world" still applies, because railroad lines from all over the United States lead into Chicago. It was the development of railroads which led to the initial explosive growth of Chicago. The population of Chicago doubled three times in the decades between 1870 and 1900.

Answer: Field Museum of Natural History

The museum can be favorably compared to the American Museum of Natural History, the Smithsonian, and the British Museum for the richness of its collections in zoology, anthropology, geology, and botany. There was a variety of names for the museum, and it dates back to the final decade of the nineteenth century.

In the 50s and 60s, it was was called the Chicago Museum of Natural History, but its name was permanently changed to the Field Museum of Natural History. Both Mr. Field and Mr. Burnham contributed to the funding for the museum.