Chicago and Illinois Trivia Trivia Quiz

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.

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.

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.

Answer: All of these

All of these are correct. Chicago is windy and has windy politicians. They competed with Cincinnati in the 1800s over both meat packing and baseball, with New York over the World's Fair, and various authors have used the term. Chicagoans, politicians and citizens alike, use the use the term "Windy City" as their city's nickname.

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.

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.

Answer: John Daley

Eugene Sawyer was elected by the Chicago City Council after the death of Harold Washington, the city's first black mayor. When a snowstorm clogged the city in the winter of 1988/1989, Jane Byrne, the only woman mayor of Chicago was elected. There has never been a John Daley as mayor of Chicago.

Answer: French version of the Miami-Illinois Indian word meaning "skunk weed" which grew along the Chicago River

The name Chicago is from the skunk weed that grew along the Chicago River as well as other areas in the Chicago area. It is a wild leek or onion and it is still found in Forest Preserve areas of northern Illinois.

Answer: 300

On October 8, 1871, the same day as the Chicago Fire, another devastating fire occurred in Peshtigo, Wisconsin and caused between 1,200 and 2,500 people to lose their lives. Even though an exact number of fatalities cannot be determined, this fire caused the most deaths by fire in United States history.

The Chicago Fire caused a great deal of devastation to buildings and caused many people to become homeless, but the death rate in Peshtigo was far greater.

Answer: Began as a derogatory term designating Chicago as second to New York

In the United States, the term has long been a nickname for Chicago. A. J. Liebling coined the "Second City" phrase and applied it to Chicago to highlight his opinion of the city as being culturally second to New York. The nickname is used to indicate Chicago's second ranking in many areas as well as Chicago's ongoing intention to be number one. Chicago had been the second largest urban area in the US after New York City, before being overtaken by Los Angeles. Due to Chicago's population having been second to New York for many years, the Second City nickname is also associated with the population status of Chicago.