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Great Chicago Fire - Quiz
Contributed by: Stewart
  • 1. Which church in Old Town survived the Great Chicago Fire?
A) St. Patrick's Church
B) St. James Cathedral
C) Holy Name Cathedral
D) St. Michael's Church
  • 2. Which of these survived the blaze but had its inhabitable portions destroyed?
A) Chicago Avenue Pumping Station
B) Police Constable Bellinger's cottage
C) Chicago Water Tower
D) St. James Cathedral bell tower
  • 3. Who was the reporter who retracted the cow-and-lantern story in 1893?
A) Louis M. Cohn
B) Michael Ahern
C) Ignatius L. Donnelly
D) Richard Bales
  • 4. When did the Chicago City Council officially exonerate Mrs. O'Leary and her cow?
A) 1997
B) 1942
C) 1871
D) 1893
  • 5. Who suggested the theory that Daniel 'Pegleg' Sullivan started the fire while stealing milk?
A) Ignatius L. Donnelly
B) Richard Bales
C) Louis M. Cohn
D) Robert Wood
  • 6. What theory did Louis M. Cohn claim was the cause of the fire?
A) A meteor shower impact
B) A lantern knocked over during a craps game
C) An arsonist from a rival city
D) A lightning strike during a storm
  • 7. Who proposed the 'fringe theory' that a meteor shower caused the fire?
A) Robert Wood
B) Louis M. Cohn
C) Richard Bales
D) Ignatius L. Donnelly
  • 8. According to the text, why is the comet theory scientifically unlikely regarding methane?
A) Methane does not exist in space
B) Methane is lighter than air and dissipates
C) Methane only burns at extremely high pressures
D) Methane is too cold to cause a fire
  • 9. Where is the surviving Police Constable Bellinger's cottage located today?
A) 2343 North Cleveland Avenue
B) Old Town Square
C) 2121 North Hudson
D) 2339 North Cleveland Avenue
  • 10. What was the official reason provided for the dry conditions that made the Midwest susceptible to fires in 1871?
A) A dry summer
B) Excessive logging of trees
C) Global climate change
D) A major drought lasting five years
  • 11. Why did the scientific community reject the theory involving Biela's Comet?
A) There were no eyewitness reports of lights
B) Meteorites are cool to the touch and don't start fires
C) The comet had never been observed by scientists
D) The comet was still millions of miles away
  • 12. Which of the following structures had its exterior survive the fire and was rebuilt using the surviving walls?
A) Police Constable Bellinger's cottage
B) 2339 North Cleveland Avenue
C) Chicago Avenue Pumping Station
D) 2343 North Cleveland Avenue
  • 13. Why was Mrs. O'Leary considered an easy scapegoat for the fire?
A) She publicly admitted to the crime
B) She was known to have been an arsonist
C) She was a poor, Irish Catholic immigrant
D) She was a wealthy landowner in Chicago
  • 14. When did the 6-year orbit of Biela's Comet actually intersect with Earth?
A) 1845
B) 1997
C) 1872
D) 1871
  • 15. What was the amount bequeathed by Louis M. Cohn to Northwestern University?
A) $10,000
B) $100,000
C) $50,000
D) $35,000
  • 16. What were the dates of the Great Chicago Fire?
A) October 8–10, 1872
B) September 8–10, 1871
C) October 8–10, 1871
D) November 8–10, 1871
  • 17. Approximately how many people were killed by the Great Chicago Fire?
A) 1,000
B) 100
C) 300
D) 500
  • 18. Roughly how many square miles did the fire destroy?
A) 10 square miles
B) 5.3 square miles
C) 3.3 square miles
D) 1.3 square miles
  • 19. Who was exonerated by the Chicago City Council in 1997 regarding the fire?
A) Mrs. O'Leary
B) Roswell B. Mason
C) Daniel Sullivan
D) Mathias Schaffer
  • 20. What building style was a major factor in the fire's rapid spread?
A) Brick masonry
B) Steel skeletal frame
C) Balloon frame
D) Log cabin construction
  • 21. How much rain did Chicago receive between July 4 and October 9, 1871?
A) 10 inches
B) 1 inch
C) 5 inches
D) 0 inches
  • 22. How many horse-drawn steam pumpers did the fire department have in 1871?
A) 17
B) 50
C) 185
D) 7
  • 23. Who was the mayor of Chicago during the fire?
A) Potter Palmer
B) Philip H. Sheridan
C) Roswell B. Mason
D) William Bross
  • 24. What meteorological phenomenon helped spread the fire by creating a tornado-like effect?
A) Fire whirl
B) Hurricane
C) Cold front
D) Thunderstorm
  • 25. Which U.S. Army official was placed in charge of Chicago under martial law after the fire?
A) William Bross
B) Philip H. Sheridan
C) Roswell B. Mason
D) Ulysses S. Grant
  • 26. What was the price set for a 12-ounce loaf of bread by city ordinance after the fire?
A) 25¢
B) 5¢
C) 8¢
D) 10¢
  • 27. What monument was erected on the point of origin in 1961?
A) The O'Leary Statue
B) The Chicago Fire Memorial
C) Pillar of Fire
D) The Phoenix Monument
  • 28. How many days after its grand opening did the original Palmer House hotel burn down?
A) 13 days
B) 3 days
C) 1 year
D) 30 days
  • 29. Which city, located 140 miles south of Chicago, experienced a fire on October 9, 1871?
A) Port Huron, Michigan
B) Green Bay, Wisconsin
C) Windsor, Ontario
D) Urbana, Illinois
  • 30. What is the nickname of the University of Illinois at Chicago athletic teams?
A) Lanterns
B) Cows
C) Phoenix
D) Flames
  • 31. Why was the Dudley Do-Right segment featuring a bear named Stokey banned for over four decades?
A) It contained historical inaccuracies
B) It was too violent for children
C) Protests from the U.S. Forest Service
D) The animation quality was poor
  • 32. Which band created the instrumental track 'Mrs. O'Leary's Cow'?
A) The Rolling Stones
B) The Beatles
C) The Beach Boys
D) Chicago
  • 33. In the 1987 film Near Dark, who is implied to have started the Chicago Fire?
A) A bear named Stokey
B) The O'Leary family
C) Immortal vampires
D) A time traveler
  • 34. What is the primary theme of the 1976 movie Time Travelers?
A) A documentary about firefighting equipment
B) Doctors finding a cure for a lost disease
C) The history of the O'Leary cow
D) The rebuild of Chicago
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