Mixed Massachusetts Trivia

1. What is the town at the tip of Cape Cod?

From Quiz Massachusetts Mania

Answer: Provincetown

Provincetown has a population of less than 3,000, but became one of the country's premiere LGBT destinations in the 1970s. Notable people who have lived in Provincetown include Norman Mailer, Tony Kushner, John Waters, and Kurt Vonnegut.

From Quiz A Conventioneer's Guide to Boston

Answer: The Boston molasses flood

The plaque in Puopolo Park commemorates the day in 1919 when a tank of molasses 50 feet (15 m) tall and 90 feet (27m) in diameter at the Purity Distilling Company collapsed, spreading as much as 2,300,000 U.S. gallons (8,700 cubic meters) of the brown syrup over several blocks. Rapidly rising temperatures that day may have caused too-rapid expansion of the tank. Molasses was as much as three feet deep on some streets and filled basements. Twenty-one people were killed and 150 injured. Molasses was the principal sweetener of the day and was used in the making of rum and munitions. Some local residents will tell you that on a hot summer day you can still smell the molasses, but then, they know you're a tourist!

From Quiz Cape Cod Daycation

Answer: Patti Page

In 1957, Dinah Shore (whose singing style was very similar to Patti Page's) was busy hosting a live weekly variety show on NBC, sponsored by Chevrolet. The Four Freshmen were recording for Capitol Records and were riding the high of their huge 1956 hit song "Graduation Day". Bette Midler recorded "Old Cape Cod" in 1976, but she was not the first to do so. It was Patti Page who beckoned us with: "If you're fond of sand dunes and salty air, quaint little villages here and there, you're sure to fall in love with Old Cape Cod."

From Quiz Massachusetts Mania

Answer: Adams

The highest location in Massachusetts is Mount Greylock, 3491 ft (1406 m) above sea level. Adams is in Berkshire County in the west of the state.

From Quiz A Conventioneer's Guide to Boston

Answer: USS Constitution

The USS Constitution, nicknamed "Old Ironsides" for her ability to repel cannonballs from British warships in the War of 1812, was still an active duty ship in the U.S. Navy 200 years later. She was built at Edmund Hartt's shipyard in Boston as part of the Naval Act of 1794, named by President George Washington and launched in 1797. Her ability to repel cannonballs is attributed to her hull planking, made of southern live oak. The ship is open for tours year round.

From Quiz Massachusetts Mania

Answer: Southwick

Southwick was established by a compromise from a border dispute with Connecticut that ended in 1803. The dip is known as the Southwick jog.

From Quiz A Conventioneer's Guide to Boston

Answer: Celtics

The Boston Celtics began playing in 1946. Between 1957 and 1969 they won 11 league championships, including eight in a row (1959-1966), the longest winning streak of any North American professional sports team. If you're from another country and are not familiar with the team, here's a tip: it's pronounced "Seltics" not "Keltics".

From Quiz Massachusetts Mania

Answer: Fall River

Lizzie Borden was accused of the 1892 murders of her mother and stepfather. Less infamous residents of Fall River include Emeril Lagasse, George Stephanopoulos, and Joe Raposo.

From Quiz A Conventioneer's Guide to Boston

Answer: Beantown

In colonial times, a favorite Boston food was beans baked in molasses for several hours, so popular that Boston acquired the nickname "Beantown". Beans were a crop that was plentiful in New England and would keep for long periods. There was plenty of molasses in Boston, too. It was part of the "triangular trade" in which slaves in the Caribbean grew sugar cane to be shipped to Boston to be made into rum, which was sent to West Africa, the proceeds from which bought more slaves to send to the Caribbean. This part of Boston's history isn't talked about much. Massachusetts became one of the first states to abolish slavery.

From Quiz Cape Cod Daycation

Answer: She wrote "America, the Beautiful".

Katherine Lee Bates was the daughter of a Congregational minister and a native of Falmouth. She penned the words to "America, the Beautiful" while hiking the summit of Pike's Peak in Colorado. Katherine Lee Bates Road is near downtown Falmouth. "Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses" was a hit song for Kathy Mattea, who has performed at the Cape Cod Melody tent in Hyannis. Kathy Bates won an Oscar for her role in the Film "Misery", co-starring James Caan. Catherine Parr was Henry VIII's sixth wife, and most likely never had lobster stew, much less actually visited the Cape.

From Quiz Massachusetts Mania

Answer: Salisbury

Salisbury was once home to amusement park, vacation resorts, and concert venues that hosted the likes of Glenn Miller and Frank Sinatra. Interest began to decline in the 1970s and the last amusement park closed in 2004. Salisbury uses an open town meeting rather than a committee of councilmen.

From Quiz A Conventioneer's Guide to Boston

Answer: The Great Broad Street Riot

It was the "Great Broad Street Riot". On June 11, 1837, an English-American fire company returning to its station came upon an Irish-American funeral procession. Neither group wanted to let the other through first. Insults were voiced, a fight ensued, at one point involving nearly a thousand people. The military had to be called in to quell the disturbance. No one was killed; several hundred people were indicted for fighting or looting. There was constant friction between the Irish and English in Boston; some said it never really ended until John F. Kennedy defeated Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. for a U.S. Senate seat in 1952.

From Quiz Massachusetts Mania

Answer: Amherst

The correct pronunciation is "Am-erst." Poet Emily Dickinson, author P.D. Eastman, and Olympic diver Michael Hixon were born in Amherst.

From Quiz Cape Cod Daycation

Answer: Thompson's Clam Bar

Thompson's Clam Bar closed as a public restaurant in 1993, but is remembered by Cape Codders and visitors alike, especially in the famous jingle that went: "Hey, where you goin'? I'm going to Thompson's Clam Bar 'cuz that's where the tastiest clams are. Is the seafood good? The best - by far! Let's go...to Thompson's Clam Bar!" Customers waited in a half mile traffic jam down Snow Inn Rd. to the mouth of Wychmere Harbor to partake in the famous repast.

From Quiz Massachusetts Mania

Answer: Lowell

The exploits of Ward and his half-brother Eklund were portrayed in the 2010 movie "The Fighter." Lowell is also the fourth-largest city in Massachusetts, a cradle of the Industrial Revolution, the founding location of the CVS drug store chain, and home to the second largest Cambodian population in America after Long Beach, California.

From Quiz Massachusetts Mania

Answer: Weymouth

Weymouth was settled in 1622 and had the oldest town meeting form of government before changing to a city form in 1999. First Lady Abigail Adams, actor Hal Holbrook, and chemist Gilbert Lewis were residents of Weymouth.

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Last Updated Apr 13 2024 5:50 AM

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