Q 01/05

FedEx was founded in 1971 in which city, before moving its operations two years later?

A) Little Rock, Arkansas

B) Nashville, Tennessee

C) Atlanta, Georgia

D) Louisville, Kentucky

Answer · why

A) Little Rock, Arkansas

Little Rock, Arkansas: the first packages flew only after Smith moved the company to an airport that offered spare hangars and promised improvements.

Q 02/05

Which city is home to FedEx's headquarters and its main air hub?

A) Louisville, Kentucky

B) Memphis, Tennessee

C) Indianapolis, Indiana

D) Dallas, Texas

Answer · why

B) Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis, Tennessee: after founder Fred Smith died in 2025, the city renamed its airport Frederick W. Smith International in his honour.

Q 03/05

Fred Smith first sketched the idea for a next-day delivery network in what?

A) A Yale Daily News column

B) A letter to the Postmaster General

C) A term paper at Yale

D) A magazine article for Fortune

Answer · why

C) A term paper at Yale

A term paper at Yale: his economics professor was unimpressed, and Smith later could not recall the grade, guessing it was his usual C.

Q 04/05

Fred Smith founded FedEx hoping to land which institution as its first customer?

A) The US Postal Service

B) The Federal Reserve

C) The Pentagon

D) The Library of Congress

Answer · why

B) The Federal Reserve

The Federal Reserve: Smith pitched flying its cheques between cities by next morning, and though that deal fell through, the 'Federal' in Federal Expr...

Q 05/05

On its first night of operations in April 1973, how many packages did FedEx carry?

A) 18

B) 186

C) 1,860

D) 18,600

Answer · why

B) 186

186 packages flew on 14 small jets to 25 cities that night; in 1976 the nightly average reached 19,000 and the company moved into profit.