Q 01/05

The name Toronto comes from the Mohawk word tkaronto, meaning what?

A) The meeting place of many nations

B) The great harbour on the northern shore

C) Where there are trees standing in the water

D) The land of plenty beyond the lake

Answer · why

C) Where there are trees standing in the water

It described fish weirs of saplings at the narrows of Lake Simcoe, recorded by Champlain in 1615, and spread via a portage trail.

Q 02/05

What was Toronto called when the British founded it in 1793?

A) Fort Rouille

B) York

C) Simcoe

D) Kingston

Answer · why

B) York

Governor Simcoe named it for the Duke of York and moved the Upper Canada capital there from Newark, judging it safer from American attack.

Q 03/05

On what date was York incorporated as the City of Toronto?

A) March 6, 1834

B) July 1, 1867

C) April 27, 1813

D) January 1, 1998

Answer · why

A) March 6, 1834

It adopted the Indigenous name and had about 9,000 people; slavery was banned across the British Empire the same year.

Q 04/05

US forces captured and burned York in 1813 during which war?

A) The American Revolutionary War

B) The War of 1812

C) The Fenian Raids

D) The Seven Years' War

Answer · why

B) The War of 1812

British troops retaliated later in the war by burning Washington, DC.

Q 05/05

Which American general died at the Battle of York when the retreating British blew up the magazine?

A) Winfield Scott

B) Henry Dearborn

C) William Hull

D) Zebulon Pike

Answer · why

D) Zebulon Pike

Pikes Peak in Colorado is named after him; the Americans occupied the town for five days.