Sweet Home Chicago - Some Lesser-Known Facts Quiz

Answer: City by the Bay

"Hog Butcher for the World" and "The City of the Big Shoulders" are from Carl Sandburg's 1916 poem "Chicago". "The Big Onion" is in reference to the origin of Chicago's name, "shikaakwa", meaning "wild onion" in the Miami-Illinois language.

Other nicknames include "The Second City", "City in a Garden", "The City That Works", and "Heart of America".

Answer: Chicago Union Stock Yards Fire

The Iroquois Theatre Fire of 1903, Our Lady of the Angels Fire of 1958, and La Salle Hotel Fire of 1946 were all much deadlier in total fatalities than the Union Stock Yards Fire. The Iroquois Theatre Fire has the unfortunate distinction of being the deadliest theater and single-building fire in U.S. history.

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.

Answer: Deep Dish Pizza

Deep Dish Pizza was invented at Chicago's Pizzeria Uno in 1943. It is far superior to that doughy stuff New Yorkers eat. ;)

Answer: Post Office

The Old Chicago Main Post Office is located at 433 West Van Buren. Its initial design would have blocked the Congress Parkway extension, and as a compromise a hole was reserved for the parkway at the base of the building.

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.

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!"

Answer: Fort Dearborn

Fort Dearborn was constructed in 1803, destroyed in the War of 1812, and rebuilt in 1816. It was partially destroyed by fire in 1857, and completely destroyed during the Great Chicago Fire. Fort Du Page is located west of Chicago. Fort de Checagou's existence has never been proven, but is rumored to have been somewhere in Chicagoland around 1685. Fort Nonsense was built in 1832 at Joliet, and was named for lack of access to a water supply, no provisions, and no armaments.

Answer: Tribune Tower

Other sites of interest contributing to the building are the Trondheim Cathedral, Hagia Sophia, the Palace of Westminster, the Alamo, Notre-Dame, Abraham Lincoln's Tomb, Independence Hall, and Angkor Wat, along with petrified wood from the Redwood National and State Parks, and a piece of steel recovered from the World Trade Center.

Answer: Maxim

I don't read Maxim, but I do like the title. :)