Q 01/05

In which city was Louis Armstrong born and raised?

A) Chicago

B) St. Louis

C) Memphis

D) New Orleans

Answer · why

D) New Orleans

He grew up in a rough neighbourhood called the Battlefield on Rampart Street.

Q 02/05

What birthday did Armstrong himself often claim, though records suggest August 4, 1901?

A) December 25, 1901

B) July 4, 1900

C) August 4, 1899

D) January 1, 1900

Answer · why

B) July 4, 1900

His mother was about 16 when she gave birth at home; his father soon abandoned the family.

Q 03/05

Which family of Lithuanian Jews employed the young Armstrong and advanced him money for his first cornet?

A) The Streckfuses

B) The Karnoffskys

C) The Glasers

D) The Marables

Answer · why

B) The Karnoffskys

He wore a Star of David all his life partly in their memory, and wrote a memoir about them in 1969.

Q 04/05

What did Armstrong do on New Year's Eve 1912 that got him sent to the Colored Waif's Home?

A) Stole a cornet from a pawn shop

B) Set off fireworks inside a church

C) Fired his stepfather's gun into the air

D) Broke into a Storyville dance hall

Answer · why

C) Fired his stepfather's gun into the air

He fired a blank; the home was run like a military camp, but its band gave him his first real teacher, Peter Davis.

Q 05/05

Whose steamboat orchestra did Armstrong call 'going to the University' for making him sight-read?

A) Kid Ory's

B) Fletcher Henderson's

C) King Oliver's

D) Fate Marable's

Answer · why

D) Fate Marable's

They toured the Mississippi on the steamer Sidney for the Streckfus line.