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Keys to cities that were actually given

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Keys to Cities That Were Actually Given — Daily trivia Saturday, August 8, 2026: questions and answers

All 10 questions with answers and explanations. Play this daily

  1. Q 01Which pop star was handed a key to the city of Chicago by Mayor Eugene Sawyer in April 1988?

    • APrince
    • BMadonna
    • CMichael Jackson
    • DWhitney Houston
    Show answer

    Michael Jackson

    The brine

    Jackson collected Chicago's key in 1988 and, fifteen years later, keys to his Indiana hometown of Gary from Mayor Scott King.

  2. Q 02Which rapper did Memphis and Shelby County officials honour with a key for his music and generous spirit?

    • AKendrick Lamar
    • BDrake
    • CTravis Scott
    • DJ. Cole
    Show answer

    Drake

    The brine

    Drake. His father, drummer Dennis Graham, is from Memphis, and Drake spent childhood summers there.

  3. Q 03Which pilot got the key to New York City after ditching an airliner in the Hudson?

    • AAl Haynes
    • BRichard de Crespigny
    • CRobert Piché
    • DChesley Sullenberger
    Show answer

    Chesley Sullenberger

    The brine

    Chesley Sullenberger. Mayor Michael Bloomberg called him 'Captain Cool' and handed keys to all five crew members of US Airways Flight 1549.

  4. Q 04Which Olympic swimmer's key to the city of Baltimore, given after London 2012, was revoked in 2014?

    • AMichael Phelps
    • BRyan Lochte
    • CNathan Adrian
    • DMatt Grevers
    Show answer

    Michael Phelps

    The brine

    Baltimore handed keys to eight local Olympians in September 2012, then took Phelps's back in 2014 after his second drunk-driving arrest.

  5. Q 05The Beatles were handed a key to which American city in August 1965 after a fan petitioned its mayor?

    • ALos Angeles
    • BSan Francisco
    • CSan Diego
    • DSeattle
    Show answer

    San Diego

    The brine

    Fan Susan Clark took the idea to Mayor Frank Curran, and four teenage girls made the presentation on 28 August 1965.

  6. Q 06Chicago's mayor flew abroad in May 2026 to present a key to the city to which head of state?

    • AKing Charles III
    • BPope Leo XIV
    • CEmmanuel Macron
    • DVolodymyr Zelenskyy
    Show answer

    Pope Leo XIV

    The brine

    Pope Leo XIV. The Chicago-born pope met Mayor Brandon Johnson at the Vatican, where the mayor also invited him home to say Mass in Grant Park.

  7. Q 07Which South African leader rode in a New York ticker-tape parade in June 1990?

    • ADesmond Tutu
    • BSteve Biko
    • CF.W. de Klerk
    • DNelson Mandela
    Show answer

    Nelson Mandela

    The brine

    Nelson Mandela. Barely four months out of prison, he rode through lower Manhattan beside Mayor David Dinkins, yet New York's key to the city only came in 2005.

  8. Q 08In 1984 Seattle's mayor said the city does not award keys, and instead gave Bob Hope what?

    • AA smoked salmon
    • BA Boeing model plane
    • CA Space Needle quiche
    • DA Pike Place mug
    Show answer

    A Space Needle quiche

    The brine

    Seattle has a history of not following through: in 1968 officials planned to give Jimi Hendrix the keys to his hometown, then cancelled the event.

  9. Q 09To which group did Bernadette Devlin pass on her key to New York City in solidarity?

    • AThe Black Panthers
    • BThe Young Lords
    • CThe Weather Underground
    • DThe NAACP
    Show answer

    The Black Panthers

    The brine

    The Black Panthers. Devlin was dismayed that Irish Americans would not see Black Americans' struggle as a parallel to Northern Ireland's, so she sent the key up to Harlem.

  10. Q 10Which civil rights leader received a key to the city of Dayton, Ohio in 1964?

    • AMartin Luther King Jr.
    • BThurgood Marshall
    • CJohn Lewis
    • DMalcolm X
    Show answer

    Martin Luther King Jr.

    The brine

    Martin Luther King Jr. He received it the night he spoke at the University of Dayton Fieldhouse, the year he won the Nobel Peace Prize.

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