Q 01/05

What did Columbus name the island its inhabitants called Guanahaní?

A) San Salvador

B) Santa María

C) La Isabela

D) Santo Domingo

Answer · why

A) San Salvador

The name means 'Holy Savior'; the island lies in the Bahamas.

Q 02/05

Since 1971, on which Monday of October has the US federal holiday fallen?

A) First

B) Second

C) Third

D) Fourth

Answer · why

B) Second

That puts it on the same day as Canadian Thanksgiving.

Q 03/05

Which New York group held the first Columbus Day celebration in 1792?

A) Knights of Columbus

B) Sons of Liberty

C) Tammany Society

D) Order of Cincinnati

Answer · why

C) Tammany Society

Also called the Columbian Order, it was the precursor to Tammany Hall; the event marked the landing's 300th anniversary.

Q 04/05

Which city's Columbus Obelisk was erected in 1792?

A) Boston

B) Philadelphia

C) Charleston

D) Baltimore

Answer · why

D) Baltimore

It went up the same year Tammany held the first celebration in New York.

Q 05/05

Which Denver lobbyist got Columbus Day enshrined as the first state legal holiday?

A) Angelo Noce

B) Generoso Pope

C) Mariano Lucca

D) Nicola Larco

Answer · why

A) Angelo Noce

Colorado's governor proclaimed the first statewide holiday in 1905, and it became statutory in 1907.