Show:
History of Ithaca
Famous Ithacans
Ithaca Attractions
Weird Facts about Ithaca
Misc. Trivia
100
When was Ithaca founded?
The official record of European Americans settling in Ithaca goes as far back as 1789. Previously, the lands were occupied by Saponi and Tutelo Native American tribes.
100
This world-renowned ornithologist and artist has an observatory named after him on Cornell's campus
Who is Louis Agassiz Fuertes?
100
This outdoor market is famous for hosting vendors from within a thirty-mile radius of the city of Ithaca
What is the Ithaca Farmer's Market!
100
In 1875, Ithaca became the first place in America to have this form of illumination outdoors. (Hint: Thanks, Thomas Edison!)
Electric lights! Ithaca was the first place in America to have electric streetlights! There were only two, but that still had to be better than gaslights!
100
How many Finger Lakes are there?
Eleven!
200
The government began to grant land in the Ithaca area to soldiers as payment for their service after which American war?
The Revolutionary War! In 1790, the government passed the Central New York Military Tract to officially grant land to soldiers as payment, since they were pretty much broke (for further research please refer to the second act of Hamilton: An American Musical). Many titles of land ownership that still exist can be traced back to these grants!
200
This author, famous for the scandalous novel "Lolita", lived in eleven different houses in Ithaca from 1948 - 1959
Who is Vladimir Nabokov?
200
This attraction, founded in 1983, is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, the Association of Science-Technology Centers, and the Association of Childrens' Museums
What is the Sciencenter!
200
Ithaca has its own form of this necessary economic system, dubbed "Ithaca Hours." What is this system?
It's a currency system! Ithaca is home to the country's oldest and largest (still!) functioning local currency system. One HOUR is equivalent to $10, or about an hour's worth of work, and they were designed in 1991 to keep money circulating in the local economy!
200
What is the population of Ithaca (as measured by a 2010 census)?
What is 30,014!
300
Which popular dessert item does Ithaca claim to be the birthplace of?
The ice cream sundae! In 1892, fountain shop owner Chester Platt created the first historically recorded ice cream sundae, and served it to a local minister. He suggested that the dessert, which was vanilla ice cream with cherry syrup and candied cherries, be named "Sunday" after the day he served it on.
300
This rock-indie band has its roots in Ithaca, but is now internationally famous, and one of their songs was even featured in a Jeep commercial!
What is the X Ambassadors!
300
This Ithaca staple is famous for its cookbooks, as well as its vegetarian and vegan cuisine
What is Moosewood Restaurant!
300
Which global religious leader has his North American headquarters in Ithaca?
The Dalai Lama! Namgyal Monastery, in Ithaca, is the North American seat of Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama (who also has two characters in Avatar: The Last Airbender and Legend of Korra named after him!)
300
In 2004, Gayraud Townsend was sworn in as the city's alderman of the city council, becoming the youngest African American in history (he was 20 years old!) to be elected to a political office. What Cornell undergraduate college did he graduate from?
What is ILR! (Why is "one major, endless possibilities" not a thing anymore :( )
400
What was the city of Ithaca originally called?
In the 1790's Simeon DeWitt moved here and dubbed the area "the Town of Ulysses." Previously, the area had been referred to as "The Flats", "The City", and "Sodom". The city was called Sodom after the Biblical city, as this frontier town was a hotbed of ~inappropriate~ activity!
400
This author, famous for penning volumes like "The Autobiography of X", conducted the longest interview ever recorded with Martin Luther King Jr. - for Playboy Magazine!
Who is Alex Haley?
400
The smokestack of this company, established in 1880, is still an iconic landmark in Ithaca. The company served such famous patrons as John Sousa and Annie Oakley. What is the company?
What is the Ithaca Gun Company, whose shotguns used to be standard issue for the NYPD!
400
In the 1800s, Ithacans attempted to raise this kind of insect, which is needed to create a luxury textile
What is silkworms! In the 1840's, there were silk mills in Ithaca, and people tried to raise silkworms in this climate (silkworms usually like warmer places)! Mulberry trees were planted in the 1840s, and cocoons and silkworms were available for purchase at the Cascadilla Cocoonery!
400
What is the average yearly snowfall of Tompkins County?
67.3 inches - which is 5 feet and 6 inches! That's only 3 inches shorter than me, if you stack it all up at once.
500
An epidemic of this disease decimated Ithaca's population in 1903, killing 1 out of every 10 Ithacans.
What is typhoid!
500
This screenwriter and actor, famous for hosting the psychological-supernatural horror show "The Twilight Zone", hails from the Ithaca area.
Who is Rod Serling! (Look him up he had a crazy awesome life)
500
This attraction is a "rocking" time, a sculpture show in and around the Ithaca Commons every summer. What is the name of the show?
What is Art in the Heart of the City!
500
Ithaca is the "sister" of a city in which African country?
What is Kenya! Ithaca is the "sister city" of Eldoret, Kenya. Sister cities are a form of legal or social agreement between towns, cities, or counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties!
500
How many waterfalls are there within ten miles of downtown Ithaca?
Over 100. If you put them all together and stacked them on top of each other, it would work out to 1.39 miles of falling water!