History of Havana Trivia Quiz

Answer: Sebastian de Ocampo

Ocampa became the first person to circumnavigate the island of Cuba in 1510. He also "discovered" the Gulf of Mexico. Little else is known about his life. The exact location of Havana's founding is a mystery. Early maps show it on the southern coast of Cuba but it's located on the northern shore.

The Spanish had notorious trouble keeping a city on the southern coast at the time. Panfilo de Narvaez named the city San Cristobal de la Habana, after Havana's patron saint.

Answer: Pirate attacks

Havana was used as a trading post and as a result was constantly bombarded by pirate attacks from Spain's European rivals. The French pirate Jacques de Sores burned Havana in 1555 and after that Spain demanded that all New World ships heading to Spain from South America were required to pass through Havana where the Spanish Armada ships would protect them across the Atlantic.

Cuba itself was never permanently settled at this time and was used primarily as a stopping point to the New World by many conquistadors, who would plot their strategy to defeat Native American tribes. Much of the Spanish conquest of Central and South America was planned in Havana.

Answer: Castillo de la Real Fuerza

The Castillo de la Real Fuerza is one of the most famous fortresses in Cuba. Today, it is a museum and the oldest stone fortress in the Americas. Although it is one of the most notorious, the Castillo de la Real Fuerza was mostly ineffective. Its location slightly away from the harbor still left Havana open to attacks by pirates.

Answer: Sir George Keppel

The Battle of Havana was part of the Seven Years' War, which was essentially a war among European powers over their foreign territories. It is called the French and Indian War in the United States and the War of Conquest in Canada, among other names.

The battle went poorly for the Spanish from the beginning as the British had nearly four times as many troops and ships as they did. This meant the Spanish were on the defensive and within two months lost control of Havana via surrender. Very few British soldiers died and those that did died from disease mostly. The Spanish knew their only hope was for a yellow fever outbreak that never occurred on a large scale.

Keppel then became governor of the British controlled western Cuba and Havana. He used the city's strategic location to facilitate trade with British colonies in the Caribbean and in North America.

Answer: Florida

This was crucial for the British as the same treaty gave them control of French lands east of the Mississippi River, so they (or their allies) virtually controlled all of North America's eastern half. In addition, the British were forced to recognize the rights of Catholics in their newly acquired territories. Immediately after regaining Havana, the Spanish improved its defenses immensely and started slowly gaining some autonomy.
The Treaty of Paris was signed by France, Great Britain and Spain, after Spain and France lost the Seven Years' War.

Answer: Alexander von Humboldt

Alexander von Humboldt was a German scientist who was an expert in many fields, one of which was botany. During his first visit to Cuba in 1800, he surveyed the areas in and around Havana and determined the most efficient way to increase sugarcane production.

He was assisted by John Fraser. Although Humbolt left Cuba before the production substantially increased, his prediction that Cuba would be a hub for the industry turned true.

Answer: Slavery was still legal in Cuba

The Civil War saw the defeat of the Confederate States and the end of slavery in the USA. Many southern plantation owners, not wanting give up their slaves, relocated their plantation to Havana during the war. In addition, those plantation owners who already lost their slaves by the war's end found new slaves in Havana.

Answer: U.S.S. Maine

The USA was increasingly worried about the effects the Cuban War of Independence against the Spanish was having on its economic interests. The Maine was sent to protect those interests when it blew up on February 15, 1898. Almost immediately, speculation in the press suggested the Spanish had either blown it up on purpose or the Maine ran into a mine laid by the Spanish. An official investigation confirmed the mine theory.

This explosion sparked the Spanish-American War which saw Spain lost much of its territory in the Caribbean, including Cuba, and Pacific territory like the Philippines and Guam. Cuba became a full independent nation in 1902.

Answer: Ernest Hemingway

Hemingway had lived in Havana for twenty-two years, wrote some of his masterpieces there and called it the third most beautiful city on Earth (after Venice and Paris). However, even before the revolution, Hemingway was growing bored with Havana as he didn't like the many tourists and purchased a home in Idaho.

After Castro took power, Hemingway was initially enthusiastic about it. Hemingway and his wife Mary left Havana in 1960 after learning Castro was seizing U.S. property. His Havana home was seized the following year after the Bay of Pigs invasion.

Answer: The fall of the Soviet Union

Cuba was supported financially in large part by subsidies provided by the Soviet Union. When the USSR folded, the subsidies ended and Cuba was forced to break away from its isolationism and open up to some foreign trade. Havana is home to many historic sites but lacked the infrastructure to sustain a large number of tourists the government had hoped for. Even after building up the city, the tourism industry did not start picking up in significant numbers until 2008.