Q 01/05

Boston was named after a market town in which English county?

A) Lincolnshire

B) Yorkshire

C) Somerset

D) Devonshire

Answer · why

A) Lincolnshire

Puritan settlers founded it on a near-empty peninsula in 1630.

Q 02/05

In what year was Boston founded?

A) 1630

B) 1636

C) 1642

D) 1650

Answer · why

A) 1630

Settlers led by John Winthrop crossed over from the failing colony at Charlestown.

Q 03/05

Boston Common, dating from 1634, holds what national distinction?

A) The first zoo in the U.S.

B) The first public park in the U.S.

C) The largest city park in the U.S.

D) The first golf course in the U.S.

Answer · why

B) The first public park in the U.S.

The city also claims the first public school (1635) and the first subway (1897).

Q 04/05

Founded in 1635, which institution is the oldest public high school in the United States?

A) Roxbury Latin

B) Boston English

C) Boston Latin

D) Phillips Academy

Answer · why

C) Boston Latin

Benjamin Franklin attended it but never graduated.

Q 05/05

The oldest subway tunnel in North America, opened in Boston in 1897, runs beneath which thoroughfare?

A) Boylston

B) Washington

C) Beacon

D) Tremont

Answer · why

D) Tremont

Only London's 1890 tube and Budapest's 1896 line are older among electric subways still in use.