Q 01/05

Which dog breed became a firehouse mascot after running ahead of horse-drawn fire carriages to clear a path?

A) Dalmatian

B) Bloodhound

C) Greyhound

D) Border Collie

Answer · why

A) Dalmatian

The Dalmatian gets along so well with horses that crews trained it to run in front and guide the team to a fire. It was originally bred as a hunting d...

Q 02/05

Which Founding Father helped form Philadelphia's Union Fire Company, whose members each supplied six leather buckets?

A) Thomas Jefferson

B) Benjamin Franklin

C) Alexander Hamilton

D) John Hancock

Answer · why

B) Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin campaigned for it in the Pennsylvania Gazette, and the brigade formed in December 1736. Unlike the Boston clubs it copied, it protec...

Q 03/05

Which farm animal was blamed in legend for kicking over a lantern and starting the Great Chicago Fire of 1871?

A) Goat

B) Horse

C) Cow

D) Mule

Answer · why

C) Cow

A cow owned by Catherine O'Leary took the blame, but the reporter behind the story admitted in 1893 that he had invented it. Chicago's city council fo...

Q 04/05

Which Forest Service mascot fronts the longest-running public service campaign in US history, on wildfire prevention?

A) Woodsy Owl

B) Smokey Bear

C) Sparky the Fire Dog

D) Ranger Rick

Answer · why

B) Smokey Bear

Smokey Bear gained a living counterpart in 1950, when a three-month-old black bear cub was found after a wildfire in New Mexico's Capitan Mountains.

Q 05/05

Which three-digit number became the world's first emergency phone line when it launched in London in 1937?

A) 000

B) 112

C) 911

D) 999

Answer · why

D) 999

999 was introduced after a house fire on Wimpole Street killed five women in 1935. It takes longer to dial on a rotary phone, one reason AT&T later ch...