History of Miami Trivia Quiz

Answer: Pedro Menendez de Aviles

Pedro Menendez de Aviles landed in what is now Miami in 1566 while searching for his lost son who was shipwrecked in the area years prior. There, he met the the Tequesta tribe with whom he was friendly with. However, Menendez and his crew exposed the Tequesta people to smallpox which killed many of them and made them easy fodder to their rival tribes.

Prior to Menendez' arrival, Juan Ponce de Leon sailed by the area in 1513. Although it is not believed that de Leon landed in Miami, he named the area Chequescha.

Answer: Religious refugees

Pedro Fornells and his family were the first permanent residents of what is now Miami when they moved to the region in 1800. He only stayed for a few months but left his housekeeper in charge of his property. When he returned in 1803, he noted the presence of many so called "squatters" living on the land.

These people, who had been present in the area since before Fornells' arrival, mostly consisted of Bahamians and treasure hunters who looking for sunken ships off the Floridian coast. In the subsequent two decades, Seminole people slowly moved into the area.

They brought with them escaped slaves from the U.S. Spain controlled Florida at this time and considered the fugitive slaves as free. This caused tensions with the U.S. which did not recognize such freedom.

Answer: True

The founder of Miami is generally considered to be Julia Tuttle, who is nicknamed the Mother of Miami. In 1891, Tuttle moved to south Florida from Ohio after her husband died. She purchased large swaths of land in what is now the heart of Downtown Miami. During this time, there were very few people living in the area on a full-time basis so the land was cheap and there was plenty of it.

Answer: A frost killed the citrus crop in north Florida

Julia Tuttle wrote to Flagler in 1891 asking him to build a railway down the Florida coast. Flagler declined, even when offered land by Tuttle and the Brickell Family, because he did not believe such a project would be profitable. However in 1894 and 1895, a deep frost killed off much of Florida's citrus crops in the north. Tuttle wrote again to Flagler to inform him that south Florida saw no frost during that time. Flagler sent a surveyor and he agreed to build the railway so as long as Tuttle's offer of land stood, which it did.

Answer: Prinz Valdemar

At the beginning of the 20th century, Miami saw a huge influx of people with the population sometimes doubling from year to year. All of this came to a head in the mid 1920s when the supplies for new buildings and infrastructure could not keep up with the massive demand. Home prices skyrocketed and projects were delayed well beyond the deadlines. Prospective homebuyers withdrew, causing several companies to go bankrupt. Building material trickled in very slowly.

When the Prinz Valdemar, a Danish ship that was meant to be a floating hotel, sunk in Miami Harbor, it blocked the port for a month which further exacerbated the problems.

The booming Miami housing industry burst as a result. A hurricane in 1926 and later the Great Depression halted Miami's growth.

Answer: Bayfront Park

On February 15, 1933, President Roosevelt was visiting Miami's Bayfront Park and began to address the crowd when a disgruntled and anarchist bricklayer named Giuseppe Zangara attempted to shoot Roosevelt. A nearby woman hit Zangara with her purse which caused him to accidentally shoot Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak. Cermak died two weeks later. Rumors persisted at the time that Cermak was always the target of the assassination but this has been disproven.

Answer: LGBT nightclub

La Paloma was a nightclub that operated in Miami. It was known primarily for its LGBT content, including drag performances, but also catered to heterosexual men. The owner of La Paloma had been arrested several times but the charges never stuck and the club remained open. After complaints from those in the neighborhood, the KKK raided the club on November 15, 1937 and destroyed it.

In the aftermath, the Sheriff blamed the club owner, Al Youst, for the raid and shut La Paloma down. However, it reopened quickly and KKK drag performances became part of the show. La Paloma is considered one of the earliest places of historical significance in Miami's vibrant LGBT history.

Answer: Military presence

During World War II, Miami was the site of a number of German U-Boat attacks off of its coast. A number of ships were sunk and the U.S. Military, specifically the Navy, decided to fortify and build up Miami to prevent further attacks. This brought in sailors from around the country to Miami.

After the war, the military buildings were easily converted into hotels, bars, movie theaters and golf courses and the sailors who moved to the area during the war remained.

Answer: Cuba

Operation Peter Pan occurred in the early 1960s soon after Fidel Castro took over Cuba. Although Cubans had long immigrated to Miami, this increased dramatically during the early Castro years. Operation Peter Pan was a result of unfounded rumors that Castro would revoke parental rights over their children and give custody to the Communist Party.

In total, over 14,000 children were sent to Miami during those two years. This caused a housing strain in Miami and the city struggled to manage the influx of unaccompanied minors to the area.

Answer: Elian Gonzalez

The Elian Gonzalez incident caused an international uproar. In 1999, Elian's mother left Cuba with him but drowned on the sea journey to Miami. Elian washed ashore and was rescued. Elian was sent to live in Miami with his great uncle Lazaro and his family.

Initially, it was believed that Elian would be able to stay in the U.S. once a hardship waiver was granted. However, Elian's father Juan Miguel, who still lived in Cuba, demanded Elian be returned and Fidel Castro became involved. This sparked a fierce and widely publicized legal battle that eventually ended when it was ordered that Elian be returned to Cuba, despite earlier wins for Lazaro. Lazaro and his family refused to turn Elian over. Immigration agents raided the home and forcibly removed Elian.

The incident was fiercely debated in the United States with many prominent politicians and activists condemning the violence of the raid, the need for the raid and what some saw as appeasing Castro.