Q 01/05

Irving Berlin was born in 1888 in which country?

A) Russia

B) Austria

C) Poland

D) Germany

Answer · why

A) Russia

Russia. Official papers gave his birthplace as a city now in Belarus, but Berlin learned late in life that he was probably born in Tyumen, Siberia.

Q 02/05

What was Irving Berlin's birth name?

A) Isidore Berlinsky

B) Isaac Belinsky

C) Israel Beilin

D) Ira Bergman

Answer · why

C) Israel Beilin

Israel Beilin, also spelled Baline. The cover of his first published song in 1907 credited the words to "I. Berlin", and he kept the name for the rest...

Q 03/05

What drove Berlin's family from Europe to New York in 1893?

A) A cholera epidemic

B) Anti-Jewish pogroms

C) A failed harvest

D) Army conscription

Answer · why

B) Anti-Jewish pogroms

Anti-Jewish pogroms. The family landed at Ellis Island when he was five, and Berlin later said he never felt poor as a boy, because he had known no ot...

Q 04/05

What was Berlin's father's profession in the old country?

A) Tailor

B) Rabbi

C) Cantor

D) Fiddler

Answer · why

C) Cantor

Cantor. His father's chanting in synagogue was the only musical schooling Berlin ever had: he never took a formal lesson, and taught himself the piano...

Q 05/05

About how much did Berlin earn from his first published song, "Marie from Sunny Italy", in 1907?

A) 37 cents

B) 5 dollars

C) 50 dollars

D) 500 dollars

Answer · why

A) 37 cents

37 cents is the usual figure (one history says 33): Berlin wrote only the words, so a 75-cent royalty was split with the cafe pianist who composed the...