Guessing Quiz Answers: Architectural History
Co-produced with Sister Column, The Bridgehunter’s Chronicles
A few months ago, the Flensburg Files and sister column the Bridgehunter’s Chronicles produced a two-article series on architectural and infrastructural history and their place in the educational curriculum, which included a Guessing Quiz for people to try out. While you can still try the quiz (click here), here are the answers you should have:
1. In the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, structures made of iron melted like lava, which contributed to the destruction of hundreds of buildings made of iron and wood. True or False? False. Most of the houses and buildings that had existed prior to the fire were made of wood and iron. Iron had a low melting temperature which contributed to thousands of buildings to collapse in the heat of the blazing inferno that killed over 300 residents. Ironically, the city’s water tower survived the Great Fire, but the 100-foot tall structure was made of stone. It still remains today as the lone structure that had survived the fire
2. The Chicago School of Architecture was developed shortly after the Great Fire featuring which architects? Name three and how they contributed to architecture. There were over a dozen well-known architects from this school, including William LeBaron Jenney (who invented the skyscraper), Louis Sullivan (who spearheaded the modernist architecture) and Frank Lloyd Wright (who invented the prairie home). A link with more architects and their contributions can be found here.
3. Who created the first automobile in the world: Ransom Olds, Carl Benz or Henry Ford?
Carl Benz was the first person who created the first automobile in 1885; Ransom Olds created the first automobile dependent on gasoline in 1896; Henry Ford was the first to create the assembly line plant to create their automobile in masses in 1908.
4. The Diesel Motor was created in ______ and is named after this German inventor?
The diesel motor was invented by Rudolf Diesel in 1893
5. List the following canals that were built between 1871 and 1915 in chronological order.
Panama Canal Dortmund-Ems Canal Danube Canal Erie Canal Elbe-Lübeck Canal Baltic-North Sea Canal Berlin-Havelland Canal
Baltic-North Sea Canal (1887-95); Elbe-Lübeck Canal (1895- 1921); Dortmund-Ems Canal (1899); Panama Canal (1914); Erie Canal- new (1908-18); The Danube and Berlin Canals were built in the 1950s
6. Prairie Homes consisted of 1-2 story homes made of geometric shapes resembling circles and triangles. True or False? Who invented the Prairie Homes (Hint: he was part of the Chicago School of Architecture).
False, rectangular and cube-shaped architecture were the features of the Prairie Homes invented by Frank Lloyd Wright.
7. Thomas Edison invented the light bulb in 1878, yet Berlin received its first set of electrical lighting in this year?
Berlin received its first electrical lighting in 1884
8. Which of the following bridge engineers did NOT immigrate to the US?
Seth Hewett, Lawrence Johnson, Gustav Lindenthal, John Roebling, Friedrich Voss, Wendel Bollmann
Seth Hewett and the rest of the Hewett family were born in Minnesota. William Hewett originated from Maine.
9. The Minneapolis School of Bridge Builders emerged in the 1890s and later became a counterpart to the American Bridge Company conglomerate after the consolidation of _____ bridge builders in 1901. This School featured which family of bridge builders?
Hewett, Johnson, Bayne, Jones The Hewett Clan, Alexander Bayne, Commodore Jones and Lawrence Johnson made up the Minneapolis School of Bridge Building, where over a dozen bridge building firms were located in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Hewett, Fink, King, Bayne
Voss, King, Jones, Humboldt
Hewett, Maillard, Lindenthal, Steinmann
10. The Rendsburg High Bridge was the first bridge in the world that used the loop trestly approach. True or False? If false, when and where was the first loop trestle approach used? (See video here)
False. The Hastings Spiral Bridge in Hastings, Minnesota, built in 1895 by the Wisconsin Bridge and Iron Works Company was the first structure that introduced the pigtail approach, located on the Hastings side. The bridge was replaced by Big Blue in 1951, which in turn was dismantled after Big Red opened last year.
It is hoped that an extended version of the Guessing Quiz would be available for use in the classroom. That plan is still in the works and will be made available through an external source in the near future. Once it’s finished and posted, you will be informed here in the Files as well as in the Chronicles. Stay tuned.
Tags: Alexander Bayne, architecture, Berlin, Carl Benz, Chicago, Chicago School of Architecture, Commodore Jones, electricity, Frank Lloyd Wright, Great Chicago Fire of 1871, Hastings High Bridge, Hastings Spiral Bridge, Henry Ford, iron, Lawrence Johnson, lights, Ransom Olds, Rendsburg High Bridge, Rudolf Diesel, Seth Hewett, steel, Thomas Edison, William S. Hewett