Buffalo, New York
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8correct to beat the crowd
This Buffalo trivia quiz has 107 free questions with answers and covers the whole city: the Erie Canal terminus that made it the world's largest grain port, the 1901 Pan-American Exposition where President McKinley was shot and Theodore Roosevelt was sworn in, two presidents who called it home, and the Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis Sullivan landmarks that survived urban renewal. There is plenty of sports pain and glory too: four straight Super Bowls, The Comeback, Wide Right, the French Connection line and No Goal. And of course the food, from the Anchor Bar's first wings to beef on weck and sponge candy, plus the blizzards that give the city its reputation. The early questions are easy for anyone who has driven the 190; the later ones will test lifelong Western New Yorkers. Every question is multiple choice with a short explanation, and every answer links to the source that confirms it.
30 of 107 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Buffalo sits on the eastern shore of which body of water?
Lake Erie
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.
Q 02Buffalo is the seat of government for which New York county?
Erie
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.
Q 03Which NFL team plays its home games just outside the city in Orchard Park?
Buffalo Bills
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.
Q 04Buffalo wings are traditionally served with celery and which dressing?
Blue cheese
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.
Q 05Which Buffalo bar is usually credited with inventing Buffalo wings in 1964?
The Anchor Bar
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.
Q 06Buffalo became the western terminus of which canal, completed in 1825?
Erie Canal
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.
Q 07Which U.S. president was shot at Buffalo's Pan-American Exposition in 1901?
William McKinley
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.
Q 08Buffalo's NHL team, founded in 1970, is known by what name?
Sabres
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.
Q 09Where does Buffalo rank among New York State's most populous cities?
Second-largest
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.
Q 10The Peace Bridge links Buffalo with which Canadian town?
Fort Erie, Ontario
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.
Q 11Roughly how much snow does Buffalo receive in an average year?
95 inches
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.
Q 12Which sport do the Buffalo Bandits play?
Box lacrosse
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.
Q 13How many consecutive Super Bowls did the Buffalo Bills lose, starting with the 1990 season?
Four
The Bills won four straight AFC Championships and lost every Super Bowl that followed, an NFL record.
Q 21Who shot President McKinley at the Temple of Music?
Leon Czolgosz
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.
Q 22What was the centerpiece structure of the 1901 Pan-American Exposition?
Electric Tower
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.
Q 23Buffalo inventor Joseph Dart and engineer Robert Dunbar created which device in 1843?
Grain elevator
Q 14Which alternative rock band from Buffalo had the 1998 hit "Iris"?
Goo Goo Dolls
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.
Q 15A beef on weck sandwich uses a roll topped with caraway seeds and what else?
Kosher salt
The kummelweck roll is topped with kosher salt and caraway seeds; the rare roast beef gets horseradish and a dip in jus.
Q 16Which Buffalo firm, founded in 1875, grew from a soap factory into a mail-order conglomerate?
Larkin Company
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.
Q 17Which Prairie-style residence in Buffalo's Parkside neighborhood did Frank Lloyd Wright design?
Darwin D. Martin House
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.
Q 18Which president took the oath of office at Buffalo's Wilcox Mansion on September 14, 1901?
Theodore Roosevelt
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.
Q 19Which 13th US president was a Buffalo attorney and first chancellor of its university?
Millard Fillmore
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.
Q 20Which president served as mayor of Buffalo in 1882?
Grover Cleveland
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.
Dart's Elevator initially processed a thousand bushels an hour, making Buffalo the world's largest grain port.
Q 24What was Buffalo's original name when Joseph Ellicott laid out the village?
New Amsterdam
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.
Q 25During which war did British forces burn most of Buffalo?
War of 1812
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.
Q 26The 1993 playoff game in which the Bills erased a 35-3 deficit to beat Houston is known as what?
The Comeback
"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.
Q 27Which Bills kicker missed wide right at the end of Super Bowl XXV?
Scott Norwood
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.
Q 28Buffalo's 1970s hockey line of Perreault, Martin and Robert was nicknamed after which movie?
The French Connection
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.
Q 29Whose triple-overtime goal, disputed as "No Goal" in Buffalo, ended the 1999 Stanley Cup Final?
Brett Hull
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.
Q 30Which Buffalo-born funk star recorded "Super Freak", later sampled by MC Hammer?
Rick James
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.