Q 01/05

What did the Taíno call the island before Europeans arrived?

A) Borikén

B) Quisqueya

C) Cubanacán

D) Xaymaca

Answer · why

A) Borikén

The name lives on in 'Boricua', the everyday word Puerto Ricans use for themselves.

Q 02/05

Christopher Columbus reached the island on 19 November 1493 during which of his voyages?

A) His first voyage

B) His second voyage

C) His third voyage

D) His fourth voyage

Answer · why

B) His second voyage

That expedition left Cádiz with 17 ships and well over a thousand men, a colonizing fleet rather than an exploring one.

Q 03/05

What name did Columbus give the whole island in 1493?

A) Santa María

B) Isla Española

C) San Juan Bautista

D) San Salvador

Answer · why

C) San Juan Bautista

The island and its main settlement later swapped names, so the saint ended up on the capital and the 'rich port' on the whole island.

Q 04/05

Which conquistador founded the settlement of Caparra in 1508 and became the island's first governor?

A) Hernán Cortés

B) Diego Velázquez

C) Nicolás de Ovando

D) Juan Ponce de León

Answer · why

D) Juan Ponce de León

He was greeted by the Taíno cacique Agüeybaná, and five years later led the first European expedition to Florida.

Q 05/05

San Juan, founded in 1521, is the oldest European-established capital in the Americas after which city?

A) Mexico City

B) Santo Domingo

C) Panama City

D) Cartagena

Answer · why

B) Santo Domingo

It is also the oldest European-founded city anywhere under United States sovereignty, beating St. Augustine by decades.

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