Q 01/05

Chicago's 1893 World's Fair marked the 400th anniversary of which event?

A) Magellan's voyage around the world

B) Columbus's landing in the Americas

C) The Pilgrims' landing at Plymouth

D) Vasco da Gama's arrival in India

Answer · why

B) Columbus's landing in the Americas

Columbus's landing in the Americas came in October 1492, so the fair missed its own anniversary: it was dedicated in October 1892 but did not open to ...

Q 02/05

Which national relic left Philadelphia by train to go on show at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair?

A) The Declaration of Independence

B) George Washington's sword

C) The Liberty Bell

D) The US Constitution

Answer · why

C) The Liberty Bell

The Liberty Bell went by rail, pausing at extra stops so crowds in towns along the way could see it; after the Civil War such trips helped turn a Phil...

Q 03/05

What nickname did the fairgrounds earn from their gleaming façades?

A) Silver City

B) White City

C) Emerald City

D) Crystal City

Answer · why

B) White City

White City was a stage set: its marble-looking palaces were plaster on temporary frames, and fire destroyed most of them within a year of the fair clo...

Q 04/05

The fair's Ferris wheel was designed to rival which structure from the 1889 Paris fair?

A) Arc de Triomphe

B) Crystal Palace

C) Eiffel Tower

D) Galerie des Machines

Answer · why

C) Eiffel Tower

Eiffel Tower. Chicago wanted an answer to the star of the 1889 fair, and George Ferris's wheel, though it opened seven weeks late, still sold about 1....

Q 05/05

Where in Chicago was the fair held?

A) Jackson Park

B) Lincoln Park

C) Garfield Park

D) Washington Park

Answer · why

A) Jackson Park

Jackson Park was a marshy stretch of lakefront seven miles south of downtown; dredged into lagoons for the fair, it was handed back afterwards as a fa...