Q 01/05

In 2021, astronomers named a crater after Matthew Henson near the south pole of which world?

A) Mars

B) Moon

C) Mercury

D) Venus

Answer · why

B) Moon

The Moon now has a Henson crater at its south pole, the opposite end of the sky map from the pole he chased. A student intern proposed the name.

Q 02/05

Which cartoon characters fronted a 1978 educational filmstrip series featuring Matthew Henson, Black explorer?

A) The Flintstones

B) The Jetsons

C) Yogi Bear

D) Scooby-Doo

Answer · why

D) Scooby-Doo

Scooby-Doo and the gang lent their name to Hanna-Barbera's 1978 educational filmstrips on Black explorers, one of them devoted to Henson.

Q 03/05

In the 1890s, Matthew Henson helped Robert Peary haul which giant objects from the Arctic to a New York museum?

A) Meteorites

B) Totem poles

C) Mammoth tusks

D) Viking runestones

Answer · why

A) Meteorites

Meteorites, three of them, came south with Peary and Henson. The largest is so heavy that the supports of its display stand reach the bedrock under th...

Q 04/05

Which Motown star names Matthew Henson in his 1976 song Black Man?

A) Marvin Gaye

B) Smokey Robinson

C) Stevie Wonder

D) Lionel Richie

Answer · why

C) Stevie Wonder

Stevie Wonder wrote Black Man with Gary Byrd while the US Bicentennial was under way, listing achievers of many races, Henson among them.

Q 05/05

In 1988, Matthew Henson was reburied with military honors near Robert Peary's grave in which burial ground?

A) Gettysburg National Cemetery

B) Green-Wood Cemetery

C) Mount Auburn Cemetery

D) Arlington National Cemetery

Answer · why

D) Arlington National Cemetery

Arlington National Cemetery received Henson and his wife Lucy on April 6, 1988, the 79th anniversary of the day his party claimed the Pole.