107 Fun Facts About Buffalo, New York

Buffalo sits on the eastern shore of which body of water?

Lake Erie: Buffalo sits at the lake's eastern end, where its water drains into the Niagara River and flows north toward Niagara Falls and Lake Ontario.

Buffalo is the seat of government for which New York county?

Erie County: Buffalo has been its county seat since the county was carved out of Niagara County in 1821; the county courthouse and Erie County Hall stand downtown.

Which NFL team plays its home games just outside the city in Orchard Park?

The Buffalo Bills moved to Orchard Park in 1973, leaving War Memorial Stadium in the city for the roughly 80,000-seat Rich Stadium on Abbott Road.

Buffalo wings are traditionally served with celery and which dressing?

Blue cheese dressing is the traditional Buffalo accompaniment, served alongside celery sticks; the wing sauce itself is cayenne-pepper hot sauce blended with melted butter.

Which Buffalo bar is usually credited with inventing Buffalo wings in 1964?

The Anchor Bar on Main Street is the usual claimant: co-owner Teressa Bellissimo is said to have first fried and sauced the wings there in 1964 for her son's friends.

Buffalo became the western terminus of which canal, completed in 1825?

The Erie Canal, completed in 1825, ended at Buffalo, making the village the transfer point between Great Lakes ships and Hudson-bound barges; the boom led to city incorporation in 1832.

Which U.S. president was shot at Buffalo's Pan-American Exposition in 1901?

William McKinley was shot in the Temple of Music on September 6, 1901; one bullet lodged in his abdomen, and he died of gangrene eight days later.

Buffalo's NHL team, founded in 1970, is known by what name?

The Buffalo Sabres joined the NHL in 1970 alongside the Vancouver Canucks, expanding the league to 14 teams; owner Seymour Knox picked the name from a fan contest.

Where does Buffalo rank among New York State's most populous cities?

Second-largest: Buffalo's 2020 census count of 278,349 trailed only New York City among the state's cities, ahead of Yonkers and Rochester, each near 211,000.

The Peace Bridge links Buffalo with which Canadian town?

Fort Erie, Ontario faces Buffalo across the head of the Niagara River; the Peace Bridge, opened in 1927, crosses just below the point where the river leaves Lake Erie.

Roughly how much snow does Buffalo receive in an average year?

About 95 inches: Buffalo's 1991-2020 climate normal is roughly 95 inches of snow a year, much of it from lake-effect bands off Lake Erie, among the highest of any large U.S. city.

Which sport do the Buffalo Bandits play?

Box lacrosse: the Buffalo Bandits have played in the National Lacrosse League since 1992, winning the title in their first season and sharing the Sabres' downtown arena.

How many consecutive Super Bowls did the Buffalo Bills lose, starting with the 1990 season?

The Bills won four straight AFC Championships and lost every Super Bowl that followed, an NFL record.

Which alternative rock band from Buffalo had the 1998 hit "Iris"?

The Goo Goo Dolls, formed in Buffalo in 1986 by John Rzeznik and Robby Takac, recorded "Iris" for the film City of Angels; it spent 18 weeks atop Billboard's airplay chart.

A beef on weck sandwich uses a roll topped with caraway seeds and what else?

The kummelweck roll is topped with kosher salt and caraway seeds; the rare roast beef gets horseradish and a dip in jus.

Which Buffalo firm, founded in 1875, grew from a soap factory into a mail-order conglomerate?

The Larkin Company, founded by John D. Larkin in 1875, sold soap and household goods by mail with premiums; Frank Lloyd Wright designed its 1906 Administration Building, demolished in 1950.

Which Prairie-style residence in Buffalo's Parkside neighborhood did Frank Lloyd Wright design?

The Darwin D. Martin House complex, built 1903-1905 for Larkin Company executive Darwin Martin, is the Prairie-style estate Wright called his 'opus'; its restoration finished in 2019.

Which president took the oath of office at Buffalo's Wilcox Mansion on September 14, 1901?

Theodore Roosevelt took the oath there hours after McKinley died of his wounds; the Delaware Avenue house became the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site in 1966.

Which 13th US president was a Buffalo attorney and first chancellor of its university?

Millard Fillmore, the last Whig president, practiced law in Buffalo and served as the University of Buffalo's first chancellor from its 1846 founding until his death in 1874.

Which president served as mayor of Buffalo in 1882?

Grover Cleveland was Buffalo's mayor from January to November 1882, resigning after winning the New York governorship; he went on to serve as the 22nd and 24th president.

Who shot President McKinley at the Temple of Music?

Leon Czolgosz, a self-described anarchist, fired two shots from a .32 Iver Johnson revolver hidden under a handkerchief as McKinley shook hands; he was electrocuted at Auburn Prison in October 1901.

What was the centerpiece structure of the 1901 Pan-American Exposition?

The Electric Tower anchored the fairgrounds' main axis and was outlined in thousands of light bulbs powered by alternating current transmitted from Niagara Falls, the exposition's showpiece.

Buffalo inventor Joseph Dart and engineer Robert Dunbar created which device in 1843?

Dart's Elevator initially processed a thousand bushels an hour, making Buffalo the world's largest grain port.

What was Buffalo's original name when Joseph Ellicott laid out the village?

New Amsterdam: Joseph Ellicott of the Holland Land Company laid out the village in 1804 under that Dutch name, but settlers kept calling it Buffalo, after Buffalo Creek.

During which war did British forces burn most of Buffalo?

The War of 1812: British troops under Phineas Riall crossed the Niagara River and burned Buffalo and Black Rock on December 30, 1813, in reprisal for the American burning of Newark, Upper Canada.

The 1993 playoff game in which the Bills erased a 35-3 deficit to beat Houston is known as what?

"The Comeback": backup Frank Reich rallied Buffalo from 35-3 down to a 41-38 overtime win over the Houston Oilers on January 3, 1993, a 32-point playoff record.

Which Bills kicker missed wide right at the end of Super Bowl XXV?

Scott Norwood's 47-yard attempt sailed wide right with eight seconds left, and the Giants won Super Bowl XXV 20-19 on January 27, 1991.

Buffalo's 1970s hockey line of Perreault, Martin and Robert was nicknamed after which movie?

The French Connection line, named for the 1971 film, paired Gilbert Perreault with Rick Martin and Rene Robert; Martin's 44 rookie goals in 1971-72 broke Perreault's NHL record.

Whose triple-overtime goal, disputed as "No Goal" in Buffalo, ended the 1999 Stanley Cup Final?

Brett Hull scored for Dallas 14:51 into the third overtime of Game 6; his skate was in the crease before the puck, which the NHL said was allowed because he had possession.

Which Buffalo-born funk star recorded "Super Freak", later sampled by MC Hammer?

Rick James, born James Ambrose Johnson Jr. in Buffalo in 1948, released "Super Freak" in 1981; MC Hammer built "U Can't Touch This" on its bass line in 1990.

Ani DiFranco releases her albums on which Buffalo-based label she founded?

Righteous Babe Records, founded by DiFranco in 1990, is headquartered in Babeville, the restored Delaware Avenue church she and manager Scot Fisher reopened as a venue in 2006.

Which longtime Meet the Press moderator was born in Buffalo in 1950?

Tim Russert, born in South Buffalo in 1950, moderated Meet the Press from 1991 until his death in 2008; his "Florida, Florida, Florida" whiteboard from election night 2000 is in the Smithsonian.

Kleinhans Music Hall, home of the Buffalo Philharmonic, was designed by which father-and-son team?

Eliel and Eero Saarinen designed Kleinhans Music Hall with local architects F. J. and W. A. Kidd; it opened October 12, 1940 and became a National Historic Landmark in 1989.

Which luxury automaker, based in Buffalo from 1901 to 1938, supplied the White House's first official cars?

Pierce-Arrow: President Taft ordered two Pierce-Arrow cars for state occasions in 1909, among the first official White House automobiles; the Buffalo firm had begun by making gilded birdcages and iceboxes.

Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux designed Buffalo's park system beginning in which year?

1868: Olmsted first visited Buffalo in August 1868 and, with Vaux, laid out an interconnected parks-and-parkways plan, often called America's first coordinated park system, completed through 1876.

Buffalo's 17-story Art Deco train station, opened in 1929, was built for which company?

New York Central Railroad: the Central Terminal on Paderewski Drive opened in June 1929, designed by Fellheimer & Wagner; Amtrak's last train left in October 1979.

In 2013 the Buffalo Bisons became the Triple-A affiliate of which MLB club?

Toronto Blue Jays: the Bisons switched from the Mets to Toronto in 2013, and the Blue Jays played their 2020 home games and part of 2021 in Buffalo during pandemic border closures.

Buffalo's NBA team of the 1970s, the Braves, became which franchise?

The Los Angeles Clippers: after a 1978 franchise swap between owners John Y. Brown and Irv Levin, the Braves moved to San Diego as the Clippers, then to Los Angeles in 1984.

The Blizzard of 1977 was the first snowstorm ever declared what by the U.S. government?

Federal disaster area: President Carter's major-disaster declaration for the Blizzard of 1977 was the first ever for a snowstorm; gusts reached 69 mph and 23 people died in Western New York.

What insect-themed name did the NWS give the October 2006 snowfall that shredded Buffalo's trees?

Lake Storm Aphid: the NWS Buffalo office's 2006-07 insect naming scheme ran alphabetically, so the October 12-13 storm got the first name; locals call it the October Surprise.

The grammatical sentence made only of 'buffalo' repeated eight times appears in which 1994 book?

The Language Instinct (1994): Steven Pinker used the sentence as an example of grammatical recursion, crediting his student Annie Senghas; William J. Rapaport had devised similar versions in 1972.

Which Buffalo center killed a bat with his stick in a foggy 1975 Stanley Cup Final game?

Jim Lorentz swatted a bat out of the air with his stick during Game 3 at Memorial Auditorium on May 20, 1975; fog from the heat halted play repeatedly, and Rene Robert won it in overtime.

Who threw the lateral to Kevin Dyson in the Music City Miracle that eliminated the Bills in January 2000?

Frank Wycheck took Lorenzo Neal's handoff and threw the cross-field lateral to Kevin Dyson, who ran 75 yards; Tennessee won 22-16 after Buffalo had led 16-15 with 16 seconds left.

The University at Buffalo, founded in 1846, began as what kind of institution?

Private medical college: the University of Buffalo opened in 1846 as a private medical school with Millard Fillmore as chancellor; it joined the SUNY system in 1962.

Shea's Buffalo, the 1926 movie palace, had its interior designed by which famous decorative artist?

Louis Comfort Tiffany's studio handled the interior decoration of the Rapp and Rapp-designed theater, which opened in January 1926 with 3,019 seats and retains its original Wurlitzer organ.

Which British royal attended the Peace Bridge dedication in August 1927?

Edward, Prince of Wales, the future Edward VIII, attended the August 7, 1927 dedication with his brother Prince George, Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin and U.S. Vice President Charles Dawes.

Which hot dog chain, founded in Buffalo in 1927, grills its franks over charcoal?

Ted's Hot Dogs: Greek immigrant Theodore Liaros began selling hot dogs from a shack near the Peace Bridge in 1927; the chain's stands grill them over charcoal.

Buffalo's new NHL club won the first pick in the 1970 draft, and thus Gilbert Perreault, by what method?

Spin of a wheel of fortune: Vancouver held numbers 1-10 and Buffalo 11-20; the wheel stopped on 11, though president Clarence Campbell first misread it as 1, and Buffalo took Perreault.

Which Buffalo-born death metal band is described as the most commercially successful in its genre?

Cannibal Corpse formed in Buffalo in December 1988 and later relocated to Tampa; the band appeared as itself in the 1994 film Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.

Which Buffalo hip-hop label launched Westside Gunn, Conway the Machine and Benny the Butcher?

Griselda Records, founded in Buffalo by Westside Gunn, signed a deal with Eminem's Shady Records in 2017; Conway the Machine is his brother and Benny the Butcher their cousin.

Which financial institution was Buffalo's only Fortune 500 company on the 2025 list?

M&T Bank, founded in Buffalo in 1856 as Manufacturers and Traders Bank, was the city's lone Fortune 500 entry in 2025; Rich Products and Delaware North are privately held.

Buffalo's earliest recorded name appears in whose 1764 journal referring to "Buffalo Creek"?

John Montresor, a British military engineer, wrote of 'Buffalo Creek' in his 1764 journal, the earliest known record of the name; Hennepin and La Salle had passed through decades earlier.

Buffalo's Japanese Garden in Delaware Park was created in 1970 with which sister city?

Kanazawa, Buffalo's sister city since 1962, helped create the Japanese Garden beside Delaware Park's Hoyt Lake in 1970; its cherry trees bloom there each spring.

Which architect designed Buffalo's Guaranty Building, an early skyscraper?

Louis Sullivan, with partner Dankmar Adler, designed the 13-story Guaranty Building, completed in 1896 with terra-cotta cladding; it became a National Historic Landmark in 1975.

What was the Richardson Olmsted Complex, built in 1881, until it closed in the 1970s?

An insane asylum: H. H. Richardson designed the Buffalo State Asylum for the Insane, opened in 1880 on grounds planned by Olmsted; its twin-towered Medina sandstone main building was vacated in the 1970s.

How long is Buffalo's Metro Rail light-rail line?

6.4 miles: Metro Rail opened in stages in 1984-86 and runs 6.4 miles (10.3 km) from Erie Canal Harbor downtown to University Station at UB's South Campus, partly on the surface along Main Street.

In which suburb is Buffalo Niagara International Airport located?

Cheektowaga: the airport's Genesee Street campus lies just east of the Buffalo city line; its Kohn Pedersen Fox-designed terminal opened in 1997 with the Buffalo Niagara name.

Which modern comfort did engineer Willis Carrier design in 1902 while working for the Buffalo Forge Company?

Air conditioning began as a cure for humidity: a Brooklyn printer's paper kept swelling and shrinking in summer, so Carrier's Buffalo drawings set out to control the moisture in the air.

Which financial giant, known for charge cards, began in Buffalo in 1850 as a freight forwarding company?

American Express merged three delivery firms run by Henry Wells, William Fargo and John Butterfield. Wells and Fargo started Wells Fargo two years later to serve California.

Which breakfast cereal does General Mills make at its Buffalo plant using oat flour shipped from Minneapolis?

Cheerios went gluten-free after General Mills announced in 2015 that it would remove the stray wheat, rye and barley that mix with its oats on the way to Buffalo.

Which famous novelist lived in Buffalo from 1869 to 1871 as part-owner and editor of a daily newspaper?

Mark Twain later donated the original manuscript of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to Buffalo's main public library, which keeps it in its collection.

Buffalo wing sauce is classically made from melted butter, vinegar and which cayenne pepper hot sauce brand?

Frank's RedHot went on sale in 1920, blended from cayenne peppers grown on a Louisiana farm, more than four decades before Buffalo wings existed.

Which implantable heart device did Buffalo-born inventor Wilson Greatbatch build, first used in patients in 1960?

Pacemaker batteries were his next fix: the lithium-iodide cell Greatbatch developed in 1971 replaced the mercury batteries of his first design and became the standard.

John Oishei founded Buffalo's Trico in 1917 to sell which car part after he hit a cyclist in heavy rain?

Windshield wipers took off for Trico when Cadillac, Packard and Lincoln ordered its hand-operated blades in 1920, and the firm moved into a brewery ice house left empty by Prohibition.

Which sharp condiment is traditionally spread on the top bun of Buffalo's rare roast beef on weck sandwich?

Horseradish goes on after the top bun is dipped in the meat's juices, and the sandwich is thought to be about a century older than Buffalo wings.

Which billionaire's company owned The Buffalo News from 1977 until selling it to Lee Enterprises in 2020?

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway bought the paper from a blind trust after its last family owner died without heirs, and for decades it was the only newspaper the firm fully owned.

Which Buffalo-headquartered company became the exclusive supplier of Major League Baseball's on-field caps in 1993?

New Era began in 1920 when Ehrhardt Koch borrowed $5,000 from his aunt and opened a cap workshop in Buffalo with 14 employees.

Which Chief Justice of the United States was born in Buffalo before his family moved to Indiana when he was ten?

John Roberts spent his early childhood in nearby Hamburg while his father worked as an engineer at the Lackawanna steel plant, then left when his father went to manage a new mill.

Which Jim Carrey comedy is set in Buffalo, where his character works as a field reporter for Eyewitness News?

Bruce Almighty has its hero use divine powers to win the Stanley Cup for Buffalo's hockey team, though the city's streets were filmed on a Universal Studios backlot.

Which Polish Easter Monday festival, held in Buffalo since 1961, features polka bands and red-and-white outfits?

Dyngus Day reached Buffalo through the Chopin Singing Society, whose members wanted a new focus for Polish-American identity; the parade was only added in 2006.

Which upstate New York city won the Golden Snowball Award over Buffalo every winter from 2002–03 to 2010–11?

Syracuse usually wins the award, and the replacement Golden Snowball trophy, donated by a local trophy shop after the original was lost, sits in its city hall.

Buffalo has staged the oldest documented example of which holiday footrace as an annual event dating back to 1896?

Turkey trot history starts in Buffalo, whose Thanksgiving race dates to 1896. Most such races are 5 km fun runs, often with runners dressed as turkeys.

At Easter, shoppers flock to Buffalo's Broadway Market to buy butter moulded into the shape of which animal?

Lamb butter sculptures are a Polish Catholic Easter tradition, and each Holy Week the local county executive jokingly grants one an official pardon.

The National Buffalo Wing Festival, begun in 2002, was modelled on a made-up festival in which Bill Murray film?

Osmosis Jones, a 2001 comedy, gave founder Drew Cerza the idea, and his real festival ends with a sanctioned wing-eating contest.

Which toy brand was launched in 1930 with money the mayor of East Aurora, a village near Buffalo, helped raise?

Fisher-Price took 16 wooden toys to the New York toy fair a year later and found quick success, with early designs built from heavy steel parts and ponderosa pine.

Which Buffalo manufacturer built the X-1, the rocket plane that became the first to break the sound barrier?

Bell Aircraft was born in 1935 when a rival moved to San Diego and its general manager stayed behind in the empty Elmwood Avenue plant; the firm later became famous for helicopters.

Which berry flavours a soft drink popular around Buffalo that was first sold at Crystal Beach amusement park in Canada?

Loganberry drinks outlived the park that launched them: Crystal Beach closed long ago, but the flavour is sold in local supermarkets and fast-food restaurants.

Which Jazz Age novelist spent much of his childhood in Buffalo, where his father sold for Procter & Gamble?

F. Scott Fitzgerald arrived as a baby after his father's wicker-furniture business failed, and he attended two Catholic schools on Buffalo's West Side.

Which Buffalo-born composer, the son of a cantor, wrote the music for the songs in the film The Wizard of Oz?

Harold Arlen won an Oscar for the film's best-known ballad, years after starting out as a singer and pianist with a dance band called The Buffalodians.

Radio host Bob Smith kept his hometown of Buffalo in his stage name to present which children's television show?

Howdy Doody made him famous as Buffalo Bob, a host in cowboy buckskins, after NBC noticed him topping the late-morning radio ratings back home on WBEN.

Which Buffalo-born actress won an Emmy for the sitcom Cybill before playing Diane Lockhart in The Good Wife?

Christine Baranski is the daughter of a man who edited a newspaper for Polish readers, and she left western New York to train at the Juilliard School.

Which star of Angel and Bones was born in Buffalo, where his father hosted the children's show Rocketship 7?

David Boreanaz was born while his father was also the weather presenter at WKBW-TV, Buffalo's ABC affiliate; his mother worked as a travel agent.

Which CNN presenter was raised in the suburb of Kenmore and earned a history degree from the University at Buffalo?

Wolf Blitzer was born in Augsburg, Germany, to Polish Jewish refugees who had survived Nazi concentration camps, and the family emigrated under the 1948 Displaced Persons Act.

Which model raised in Buffalo became the first Black woman to appear on the cover of American Vogue, in 1974?

Beverly Johnson went on to appear on more than 500 magazine covers. Donyale Luna had been the first Black model on the cover of British Vogue eight years earlier.

Which Buffalo-born choreographer left high school to tour in West Side Story and later created A Chorus Line?

Michael Bennett shaped A Chorus Line from taped sessions in which Broadway dancers talked about their lives, and eight of them ended up in the original cast.

Which jazz fusion band, formed on Buffalo's bar and club circuit in 1974, had a hit with Morning Dance?

Spyro Gyra got its name when saxophonist Jay Beckenstein told a bar owner the band was called spirogyra, a type of algae, and the owner wrote it down wrong.

Which Buffalo-born actor wrote, directed and starred in a 1998 indie film named for his hometown and the year 1966?

Vincent Gallo also wrote songs for the soundtrack of Buffalo '66, his directorial debut, which Empire magazine later ranked among the greatest independent films ever made.

Which baseball film shot most of its game scenes in 1983 at Buffalo's War Memorial Stadium, a venue demolished in 1989?

The Natural used the stadium even though it was a rectangular ground built mainly for football, and another Buffalo field stood in for Chicago's Wrigley Field.

The song Shuffle Off to Buffalo, later the title of a Merrie Melodies cartoon, was written for which 1933 movie musical?

42nd Street has Ruby Keeler sing and dance the number in a show staged by Busby Berkeley, and the film went on to earn a Best Picture nomination.

Which Buffalo running back became the first NFL player to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season, in 1973?

O. J. Simpson finished with 2,003 yards and remains the only player to top 2,000 in a 14-game season, after struggling through his first three years in Buffalo.

Which star NFL tight end grew up in the Buffalo suburb of Williamsville?

Rob Gronkowski also played basketball and baseball at Williamsville North High School, where he was reportedly made a kickoff specialist for having the team's biggest feet.

Which crunchy confection ranks with wings and beef on weck as one of Buffalo's three best-known food specialties?

Sponge candy is a light, airy toffee puffed up by baking soda and typically covered in chocolate; Britain calls a similar sweet cinder toffee.

Which watercolour painter moved to Buffalo in 1921 to design wallpaper for the Birge company?

Charles Burchfield quit the wallpaper job in 1928 once his paintings could support him, and a Buffalo art centre named for him holds the largest collection of his work.

Which priest, known as the Padre of the Poor, built Our Lady of Victory Basilica in Lackawanna, just south of Buffalo?

Nelson Baker once had a well drilled on church land to cut heating costs and struck natural gas after weeks of failure. Pope Benedict XVI declared him venerable in 2011.

Buffalo surgeon Roswell Park founded America's first research centre devoted to which single disease in 1898?

Cancer research got its first dedicated American home here, and the centre has since grown to fill 15 buildings on a 28-acre campus in downtown Buffalo.

The Thomas Flyer, a car built in Buffalo, won which 1908 around-the-world automobile race?

New York to Paris was finished by only three cars, and the German Protos that reached the line first was penalised for taking shortcuts, handing victory to the Flyer's crew.

Which hotel chain founder got his start in Buffalo with a temporary 2,084-room wooden hotel at the 1901 world's fair?

Ellsworth Statler was one of the few vendors to turn a profit at the fair, and his later hotels for travelling businessmen grew into one of the country's early chains.

Which carmaker took over the Riverbend solar factory in Buffalo when it bought SolarCity in 2016?

Tesla set the state-owned plant to making solar roof tiles and Supercharger equipment rather than cars, on the cleaned-up site of a former steel mill.

Which Buffalo food company paid $1.5 million in 1973 to name the NFL stadium in Orchard Park for 25 years?

Rich Products made its name with a soybean-based whipped topping invented 21 years before Cool Whip, and the family reportedly floated calling the stadium Coffee Rich Park.

The Buffalo Zoo, founded in 1875, grew out of which gift that a local furrier presented to the city?

A pair of deer needed room to graze, so a newspaper publisher housed them on his estate until Frederick Law Olmsted worked a zoo into his park design.

Which Buffalo cemetery, founded in 1849, holds Shirley Chisholm's grave and a statue of Seneca chief Red Jacket?

Forest Lawn covers more than 269 acres and doubles as a park and arboretum; its statue of the orator shows the silver peace medal a president once gave him.

Which Buffalo waterfront district was built on land once covered by parking lots and the old Memorial Auditorium?

Canalside stands where a dense Italian neighbourhood known as The Hooks was razed for urban renewal, on a riverbank that was historically home to the Seneca people.

Buffalo's Edward M. Cotter, built in 1900 and a National Historic Landmark, is the world's oldest active what?

Fireboat work is only half its job: a thick belt of Swedish steel lets the vessel break ice on Buffalo's rivers each winter.

On the last full weekend of July, more than 400 Buffalo households open what to the public for a free self-guided tour?

Gardens from Delaware Park to the urban core take part in Garden Walk Buffalo, a volunteer-run event that deliberately has no judging.

Which nickname stuck to the 2014 storm, code-named Knife by local governments, that stranded thousands around Buffalo?

Snowvember buried cars and stranded thousands of people in their homes, and remnants of its snow were still found in Buffalo eight months later.

Which animal is the University at Buffalo's sports mascot, played since 1997 by a costumed character called Victor E.?

Bull mascot Victor E. got his name from a student write-in contest in the campus newspaper, and the teams joined the Mid-American Conference a year later.

Joseph Ellicott's 1804 plan for Buffalo, radiating like bicycle spokes, echoed which city he had helped survey?

Washington was surveyed by Ellicott and his brother Andrew, and he gave Buffalo the same kind of radial streets, which fan out from Niagara Square.