Q 01/05

What was Albert Gunter driving when Tower Bridge began to open beneath him, forcing him to jump the gap?

A) A brewery delivery lorry

B) A double-decker bus

C) A black taxi cab

D) A Royal Mail van

Answer · why

B) A double-decker bus

A double-decker bus, the number 78, dropped onto the far leaf, which had not yet started to rise. Gunter was given £10 for his quick thinking.

Q 02/05

Robert McCulloch, wrongly said to have thought he was buying Tower Bridge, shipped London Bridge to which US state?

A) Texas

B) Florida

C) Nevada

D) Arizona

Answer · why

D) Arizona

Arizona's Lake Havasu City got the 1830s crossing to help sell building plots, and both McCulloch and the official who arranged the sale denied any mi...

Q 03/05

One of the lampposts on Tower Bridge is a disguise for what, connected to an old guardroom below?

A) A chimney

B) A periscope

C) A flagpole

D) A drainpipe

Answer · why

A) A chimney

A chimney, painted to match the real lamps, carried smoke up from a fireplace in a guardroom inside one of the piers.

Q 04/05

Which colour was Tower Bridge originally painted, a shade rumoured to be Queen Victoria's favourite?

A) Racing green

B) Battleship grey

C) Chocolate brown

D) Royal blue

Answer · why

C) Chocolate brown

Chocolate brown lasted until the bridge was camouflaged in battleship grey before the Second World War. The original paint can still be seen inside.

Q 05/05

Which US president's motorcade was split in two when Tower Bridge opened for a sailing barge?

A) Ronald Reagan

B) Bill Clinton

C) George W. Bush

D) Barack Obama

Answer · why

B) Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton was returning from lunch with Tony Blair in 1997 when the barge Gladys arrived on schedule and the roadway rose, to the alarm of his secu...