Q 01/05

What nickname did Syracuse earn from its 19th-century brine-spring industry?

A) The Salt City

B) The Crystal City

C) The Brine City

D) The Canal City

Answer · why

A) The Salt City

Brine flowed north underground from halite beds near Tully, 15 miles south, and surfaced in springs around Onondaga Lake.

Q 02/05

The city was named in 1820 after a Greek-founded city on which Mediterranean island?

A) Sardinia

B) Cyprus

C) Sicily

D) Crete

Answer · why

C) Sicily

John Wilkinson had read a poem about Siracusa and saw the same mix of salt and fresh water; the first choice, Corinth, was already taken.

Q 03/05

Which famous mathematician was born in the original Syracuse and died during its Roman siege in 212 BC?

A) Archimedes

B) Eratosthenes

C) Euclid

D) Pythagoras

Answer · why

A) Archimedes

He led the city's defence; a Roman soldier killed him after the legions of Marcellus finally broke in.

Q 04/05

The Sicilian Syracuse was founded in 733 BC by colonists from which Greek city?

A) Corinth

B) Sparta

C) Athens

D) Thebes

Answer · why

A) Corinth

They landed on the island of Ortygia and expelled the native Sicels; the city later rivalled Athens itself.

Q 05/05

Which historic waterway, opened in 1825, runs through Syracuse's Clinton Square?

A) The Erie Canal

B) The Oswego Canal

C) The Champlain Canal

D) The Chenango Canal

Answer · why

A) The Erie Canal

At 363 miles it was the second-longest canal in the world when built, and its toll revenue repaid the state's construction debt in a year.