1. Coney Island
a resort district of Brooklyn, NY on the Atlantic Ocean, famous for its boardwalk
Where does the word 'Coney' come from? (choose the one best answer)
A. Derives from the Middle English word cony, a rabbit (via Latin, Lepus Cuniculus).
B. Named after Guglielmo Marconi, who invested his radio fortune in the real estate.
C. Commemorates the world's first Sno-Cone, which debuted here on July 4th 1920.
D. Local slang for a popular sideshow shell-game, played with a pea and three cones.
Coney Island answer
2. Utah
"Beehive State," ceded from Mexico in 1848, admitted as 45th U.S. state in 1896
Where does the word 'Utah' come from? (choose the one best answer)
A. Comes from the native Western Apache word yudah, meaning 'high (dwellings).'
B. U. Tah was the mark of the area's first settler Mormon pioneer Ulysses Tahlmadge
C. Corruption of "You too," the standard reply to 'May God's grace keep you safe.'
D. Mapmaker's shorthand, stands for Uncharted Territories of America's Homeland.
Utah answer
3. Delaware
"First State" (to ratify the constitution), 1 of 13 original colonies admitted in 1787
Where does the word 'Delaware' come from? (choose the one best answer)
A. Derives from the Algonquian Indian word tulewaru, meaning 'swampy marshland.'
B. Coined from the Roman motto del aver, meaning '(born) from the truth' in Latin.
C. Named after colonial Virginia Governor Sir Thomas West, 12th Baron de la Warr.
D. Refers to where the dalles (rapids) flowed mightily into nearby Chesapeake Bay.
Delaware answer
4. Chicago
Third largest city in America, located in Northeast Illinois on Lake Michigan
Where does the word 'Chicago' come from? (choose the one best answer)
A. Contraction of the French words char + cargais, meaning literally cart + cargo.
B. Named after Polish immigrant shipbuilder Tadeusz Shkago, who arrived in 1673.
C. From the Potawatomi Indian words she-kag-ong, (place where the onions grow).
D. Song lyric about how the French used chicanery long ago (to defeat the Indians).
Chicago answer
5. Paris
Capital and largest city of France, straddling the Seine River in Western Europe
Where does the word 'Paris' come from? (choose the one best answer)
A. A tribute to Paris of Troy, who abducted Helen, thereby causing the Trojan War.
B. Infamous mapmaker's misspelling of Pairs, referring to the camps on either bank.
C. Named after the Parisii, Celts who inhabited the ile de la cite since circa 300 BC.
D. Memorializes the first French parish, what's now called Basilique du Sacre Coeur.
Paris answer
6. Cairo
Largest city in Africa, capital of Eqypt, located on the Nile River since 3100 BC
Where does the word 'Cairo' come from? (choose the one best answer)
A. From the Arabic words al qahira which means either 'the victorius' or 'the strong.'
B. After the indiginous cairo root, which when pounded and boiled makes a syrup.
C. Named after Kyro, a mythical Greek island, located between Kythiro and Kymos.
D. Deconstructed from the Middle English word cairn, meaning a 'mound of stones.'
Cairo answer
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