Q 01/05

Which English colony vanished by 1590, leaving only the word CROATOAN carved into its palisade?

A) Plymouth

B) Popham

C) Roanoke

D) Avalon

Answer · why

C) Roanoke

Roanoke's governor John White sailed home for supplies in 1587 and could not return for three years, partly because England held its ships back to fac...

Q 02/05

Which Norse explorer is thought to have reached North America about 500 years before Columbus?

A) Leif Erikson

B) Cnut the Great

C) Harald Hardrada

D) Ragnar Lothbrok

Answer · why

A) Leif Erikson

Leif Erikson, the sagas say, named the land Vinland, or Wineland, after the wild grapes his crew found, and sailed away with a cargo of grapes and tim...

Q 03/05

Which island did Peter Minuit acquire for the Dutch in 1626 for goods valued at 60 guilders?

A) Long Island

B) Manhattan

C) Staten Island

D) Nantucket

Answer · why

B) Manhattan

Manhattan's famous price rests on a single letter: Dutch official Pieter Schagen reported the 60-guilder purchase to his government in November 1626.

Q 04/05

Which staple of Italian cooking reached Europe only after Spanish ships brought it from the Americas?

A) Garlic

B) Eggplant

C) Basil

D) Tomato

Answer · why

D) Tomato

Tomato first appears in European writing in 1544, in a herbal by the Italian Pietro Andrea Mattioli, who later named the fruits pomi d'oro, or golden ...

Q 05/05

Which animal, brought by the Spanish, transformed hunting for Plains nations like the Comanche?

A) Horses

B) Cattle

C) Sheep

D) Pigs

Answer · why

A) Horses

Horses were coming home: the animal first evolved in North America and died out there thousands of years before Spanish ships carried it back.