Pittsburgh is a city located in western Pennsylvania, known for its rich history and culture. From its steel-making past to its current status as a hub for technology and innovation, Pittsburgh has a diverse array of trivia questions that can be asked. Whether you're a lifelong resident or just visiting, these questions will test your knowledge of the city.
Here are some examples of Pittsburgh trivia questions you might come across: What is the name of the famous incline that provides a view of the city? What is the name of the famous sandwich that originated in Pittsburgh? What is the name of the famous sports team based in Pittsburgh? How many bridges are in Pittsburgh? These questions cover a wide range of Pittsburgh-related topics, from its landmarks, food, sports and infrastructure.
In addition to the various landmarks and historical facts, there are also many fun and interesting facts to learn about Pittsburgh. For example, did you know that the famous incline that provides a view of the city is called the Duquesne Incline? Or that the famous sandwich that originated in Pittsburgh is called a Primanti's Sandwich? These trivia questions will not only test your knowledge but also give you a glimpse into the many fascinating aspects of Pittsburgh, the history of its development, the dif
166 Pittsburgh Trivia Questions Ranked From Easiest to Hardest (Updated for 2024)
- Founded in 1882, which Major League Baseball team in Pittsburgh named for swashbuckling treasure-seekers has won 5 World Series and had multiple hall-of-famers and MVPs, including Honus Wagner, Ralph Kiner, Roberto Clemente, and Jackie Robinson?
Answer: Pittsburgh Pirates
- Which neighborhood in Pittsburgh that shares part of its name with a nut-scavenging rodent is home to Chapel Hill University and Frick Park?
Answer: Squirrel Hill North
- Casino Drive is a sensible home for what “R” Casino in Pittsburgh? Its name is likely a reference to the multiple bodies of water that converge on the Pittsburgh area.
Answer: Rivers Casino
- Pittsburgh is typically considered the most commonly misspelled city in the United States. What letter is most commonly forgotten?
Answer: H
- The Steelers are known for their black and yellow color scheme, but their official logo also contains what two colors, represented by two of three "hypocycloid" stars?
Answer: Red and Blue
- A wooden roller coaster at Pittsburgh’s Kennywood Park, built in 1920 and one of the oldest coasters in the world that still operates, is named after what two-word, big eared wild hare, often found in deserts or arctic settings?
Answer: Jack Rabbit
- Pittsburgh was the location of the first commercial radio broadcast in the U.S. When KDKA hit the air on November 2, 1920, it was to share the results of which kind of election that had just taken place?
Answer: Presidential
- Pittsburgh has a museum devoted to the work of what famed American pop artist? The artist was born and raised in Pittsburgh and studied commercial art at Carnegie Mellon University.
Answer: Warhol
- "The big bird" might be a reasonable way to refer to what supermarket chain, with nearly 500 locations throughout Appalachia, and which was founded in Pittsburgh in 1931?
Answer: Giant Eagle
- What art museum, in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, collects contemporary art and video work, and was founded by industrialist Andrew in 1895?
Answer: Carnegie Museum of Art
- Montour Trail is a recreational trail located near Pittsburgh, used by bicyclists and cross-country skiers. The trail used to be used for what method of mass transportation?
Answer: Trains
- You’d think the name Pittsburgh Penguins was chosen because it’s an ice hockey team—but the story is a little more nuanced than that! The name was picked because the Civic Arena where the team played used to go by which Arctic abode nickname?
Answer: Igloo
- Horseradish was the first commercially packaged and sold foodstuff by what Pittsburgh-based company?
Answer: Heinz
- What “P museum and former British fort is located in Point State Park in Pittsburgh, at the confluence of the Monongahela and Allegheny Rivers, where the Ohio River is formed?
Answer: Fort Pitt Museum
- A sandwich of meat, provolone cheese, coleslaw, tomatoes, and the key ingredient of French fries, served on Italian bread, is the signature offering of what "fraternal" Pittsburgh restaurant?
Answer: Primanti Brothers
- The Monongahela Incline, which takes passengers from Station Square to high-up Grandview Avenue, is both the oldest and steepest funicular railway in the United States. In what city can you ride it?
Answer: Pittsburgh
- As measured by driving miles, what is the closest U.S. state capital to Pittsburgh? We're looking for the city, not the state.
Answer: Columbus
- Signed in May 1918, The Pittsburgh Agreement was a document created by expats in the U.S. that described the intent to create what Central European nation? The document was named because it was signed in Pittsburgh and its primary author later became the first president of this newly formed nation (which split into two different nations in the 1990s).
Answer: Czechoslovakia
- The arena in which the Pittsburgh Penguins play home games is named after what paint brand?
Answer: PPG
- "Black and Yellow" and "Pittsburgh Sound" are songs by rapper Cameron Jibril Thomaz, who is better known by what stage name?
Answer: Wiz Khalifa
- What steel magnate formed a steel company in Pittsburgh, then a library, and then a university?
Answer: Andrew Carnegie
- What waterpark, in the West Homestead neighborhood of Pittsburgh, is 67 acres along the Monongahela River and owned by Parques Reunidos? Its name is reminiscent of a fragile building you can build along the beach.
Answer: Sandcastle Water Park
- The Dukes are the Division I sports teams of what educational institution located in the Uptown neighborhood of Pittsburgh?
Answer: Duquesne University
- At 64 stories above Pittsburgh, what metallically named building is the tallest in the city?
Answer: U.S. Steel Tower
- With a height of 841 feet, the tallest building in Pittsburgh is named after, and is the corporate headquarters of, what company, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange with the ticker "X"?
Answer: U.S. Steel
- At 535 feet and 42 stories tall, what skyscraper is the focal point of the University of Pittsburgh's main Oakland campus, and the second-tallest educational building in the world?
Answer: Cathedral of Learning
- What aptly named Pittsburgh neighborhood was settled by large numbers of Polish immigrants in the mid-1800s and is home to the grand Immaculate Heart of Mary Church?
Answer: Polish Hill
- The home stadium for the Pittsburgh Steelers, as well as the collegiate Pittsburgh Panthers, located on Art Rooney Avenue, is named after what food processing conglomerate with regional origins? Named after founder Henry, they are known for their many varieties of food products.
Answer: Heinz Field
- From 1990 to 2001, Czech hockey star Jaromir Jagr played with what alliteratively named NHL team, winning consecutive Stanley Cups in 1991 and 1992 with the team?
Answer: Pittsburgh Penguins
- Which neighborhood is called “Pittsburgh’s Little Italy” and is home to Azorean Cafe, Lot 17, and White Whale Bookstore?
Answer: Bloomfield
- What “P” Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, built in 1893 in Schenley Park in Pittsburgh, is named after the wealthy donor who helped pay for it?
Answer: Phipps
- What is the largest company headquartered in Pittsburgh, as the parent company of brands such as Kool-Aid, Oscar Meyer, and Maxwell House among others.
Answer: Kraft Heinz
- While still playing for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Mario Lemieux led the national team of what country to Olympic gold in 2002?
Answer: Canada
- What “Y” beer company is the oldest operating brewing company in the US, originating in Pottsville, PA in 1829? Their products include an Original Black And Tan, as well as FLIGHT.
Answer: Yuengling
- The public library system that serves Pittsburgh is named for which American industrialist who gave away almost all of his money (billions by today’s standards) to charity?
Answer: Andrew Carnegie
- The Tartans, who play in NCAA Division III, are the sports teams of what Pittsburgh university?
Answer: Carnegie Mellon
- University of Pittsburgh virologist Jonas Salk began a program in the 1940s that developed a vaccine against what common and deadly disease?
Answer: Polio
- A "Pittsburgh Salad," often simply called a "steak salad" or "chicken salad" on Pittsburgh-area menus like Pamela's Diner's and Eat'n Park's, includes lettuce, meat, shredded cheese, ranch dressing, and what notable addition?
Answer: French Fries
- What is the name of the Pittsburgh amusem*nt park that is home to roller coasters such as the Phantom's Revenge, the Black Widow, and the Thunderbolt?
Answer: Kennywood
- What hall-of-fame NFL wide receiver and Dancing with the Stars champion spent his entire professional career playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers and became their all-time leader in receptions, receiving yards, and receiving yards?
Answer: Hines Ward
- “Rivers Of Steel” is used to describe what landmark located along the Monongahela River, known by the name of Carrie? It is an enclosed area that can reach high temperatures, such as for smelting metals.
Answer: Carrie Blast Furnace
- Known for its pancakes, omelets, and Lyonnaise potatoes, what local diner chain has been making what it says is the best breakfast in Pittsburgh for more than 50 years?
Answer: Pamela's
- What Pittsburgh restaurant chain, known for their "Smiley Cookies", is behind what, according to CBS-Pittsburgh, is believed to be the longest-running holiday-season commercial in America featuring an animated Christmas tree bending down to help a Christmas star reach the top of the tree?
Answer: Eat 'N Park
- Pittsburgh homes are known for a rather unique feature: the presence of what home furnishing in the basem*nt, said to be for steel workers and miners to use after work before coming upstairs into the home?
Answer: Toilet
- What's the best-known name for members of the costumed subculture who meet each year at Pittsburgh's David L. Lawrence Convention Center for Anthrocon?
Answer: Furries
- Ranked 25th in the 2022 U.S. News & World Report undergraduate rankings and 1st in Artificial Intelligence, Programming Language, and Information and Technology Management graduate programs, Pittsburgh’s most prestigious university is named what after two capitalist families who endowed the institution in the early 1900s?
Answer: Carnegie Mellon
- Which PBS station in Pittsburgh (channel 13) was the first community-sponsored TV station in the U.S. and brought you some of your PBS favorite programs like “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood” and “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?”
Answer: WQED
- What state park on Commonwealth Place in Pittsburgh is named for the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers forming the Ohio River?
Answer: Point State Park
- At the Pittsburgh Children’s Museum, you can visit King Friday XIII, Lady Elaine Fairchilde, Daniel Tiger, and other puppets from which beloved television show?
Answer: Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood
- In 2021, who became the first African American to be elected mayor of Pittsburgh?
Answer: Ed Gainey
- What organization, which currently has over 350,000 members in the United States and is abbreviated "FOP," was founded in 1915 by a pair of Pittsburgh patrol officers?
Answer: Fraternal Order of Police
- Name this Pittsburgh place with the set of the following clues. It was named for its anchor tenant. It opened with a dedication ceremony on April 11, 1984. Total cost of construction was more than $200 million. IT uses more than 19,000 pieces of matching glass.
Answer: PPG Place
- What is the name of the sedimentary rock formation that is the source of the fracking that has taken off in Pennsylvania, New York, and West Virginia?
Answer: Marcellus
- The Homestead Grays Bridge, which connects Homestead Borough and Pittsburgh's Squirrel Hill neighborhood, honors a long-gone athletic team that played what sport?
Answer: Baseball
- On October 1, 1903, The Pittsburgh Pirates won the first World Series game over a team from what northeastern city? Unfortunately, the Pirates lost the Series.
Answer: Boston
- Started as a song about growing up in Pittsburgh, ended up as the Steelers fight song. I'm talking about what colorful Wiz Khalifa anthem?
Answer: Black and Yellow
- What school on Pittsburgh's Woodland Road, originally founded as the Pennsylvania Female College in 1869, first began admitting male students in 2016?
Answer: Chatham University
- Viewers of Lifetime TV know that Abby Lee Miller’s studio is in Pittsburgh. Which reality show features the twirling tots she teaches (and their malcontent mamas)?
Answer: Dance Moms
- What former Pittsburgh mayor, the youngest in the city's history, ceremonially changed their name to support the Steelers in the 2009 AFC Championship?
Answer: Ravenstahl
- What Pittsburgh company created controversy in 2018 with a series of commercials that many viewed as mocking customers who did not want to transition to a digital model?
Answer: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
- Based on historical data on the average minimum temperature from the past 50 years, what is the coldest month of the year in Pittsburgh?
Answer: January
- Terrorists take over a Pittsburgh hockey arena and action goes into overtime in a 1995 Jean-Claude Van Damme flick that shares what apt name with an overtime period?
Answer: Sudden Death
- The late Pittsburgh rapper Mac Miller got namedropped by Ariana Grande in what break-up anthem that also gives gratitude to exes Pete Davidson and Big Sean?
Answer: thank u, next
- The 31-floor Pittsburgh skyscraper formerly known as the Alcoa Building was the first in the world to have a facade built from what appropriate material?
Answer: Aluminum
- What term, originally from Pittsburghese and once banned by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, means a person who a jerk, stupid, or inept, and is described by the Dictionary of American Regional English as "general term of disparagement?"
Answer: Jag-off
- What was the vehicular nickname for Jerome Bettis, a football running back who played the majority of his career with the Pittsburgh Steelers?
Answer: The Bus
- With an initial enrollment of 50 students and the name Business Training College, what is the name of the downtown Pittsburgh university that currently has over 3,000 undergraduate students and the Pioneers as their nickname?
Answer: Point Park University
- Pittsburgh's Mellon Arena was the first major sports arena in the world to feature a roof with what trait?
Answer: Retractable
- Bruno Sammartino, Kurt Angle, Corey Graves, and Dominic DeNucci all began their eventually successful careers in Pittsburgh. In what profession did all of these persons compete?
Answer: Professional wrestling
- What dialect, primarily spoken by Mennonites and Amish, is spoken by over 300,000 people and is named as a combination of where it was developed and the language it is a dialect of?
Answer: Pennsylvania German
- The Duquesne and Monongahela funiculars are popularly recognized transportation mechanisms located on what Pittsburgh landmark?
Answer: Mt. Washington
- The right field wall in Pittsburgh's PNC Park is 21 feet high, in honor of what legendary Puerto Rican-born former Pirate?
Answer: Roberto Clemente
- The city of Pittsburgh sits at the confluence of three rivers: the Ohio, the Monongahela, and what third one?
Answer: Allegheny River
- Although St. Louis is popularly associated with the beginning of the voyage, in 2019 the U.S. government officially acknowledged Pittsburgh as the start of what surveying journey?
Answer: Lewis & Clark expedition
- Ben Roethlisberger, also known as "Big Ben", starts at quarterback for what American football team?
Answer: Pittsburgh Steelers
- The Sixth Street Bridge, spanning the Allegheny River in downtown Pittsburgh, is officially named for what Hall of Fame Pittsburgh Pirates right fielder of the 60’s and 70’s, who died en route to a humanitarian aid mission in Nicaragua?
Answer: Roberto Clemente Bridge
- What hamburger joint, a Pittsburgh favorite in the 1960s and 1970s, was originally founded in Sewickley, PA in 1962? Its mascot was a hairy, pinkish puppet, and one of its signature burgers was the Ground Rounder.
Answer: Winky's
- A garden and demonstration space on the rooftop of the historic Pittsburgh Phipps Conservatory collects plants that all share what property?
Answer: They're edible
- Which brothers’ “almost famous” sandwich from Pittsburgh features fries, coleslaw, and meat?
Answer: Primanti
- What punk band behind the albums Die for the Government and Their System Doesn't Work for You, known for their vocal left-wing political activism, was founded by frontman Justin Sane in Pittsburgh in 1988?
Answer: Anti-Flag
- A word meaning "a construction or creation from a diverse range of available things" gives its name to what popular downtown Pittsburgh theater company behind the immersive theater piece STRATA?
Answer: Bricolage Production Company
- What wide-winged bird, more commonly found in California or the Andes, gave its name to Pittsburgh's short-lived American Basketball Association team, which folded in 1972?
Answer: Condor
- 412, 724, and 878 are what kind of code that you’ll want to know before you dial up someone in Pittsburgh?
Answer: Area
- What collective name is given to the Pittsburgh-area bridges named (misleadingly) after Andy Warhol and Roberto Clemente, as well as (more appropriately) Rachel Carson?
Answer: Three Sisters
- The David L. Lawrence Convention Center is the first convention center in the world to receive what four-letter environmental certification, making it possibly the largest "green" building in the world?
Answer: LEED
- The oldest building in Pittsburgh is a log cabin within Schenley Park named for its former occupants, a family with what surname? (Over its history, the house has used two different spellings of the family's name--we'll take either one.)
Answer: Neal/Neill
- What Pittsburgh-born dance legend, who choreographed works like Heretic and Appalachian Spring, founded a namesake dance studio that's the oldest in the U.S.?
Answer: Martha Graham
- Officially unveiled to the public on December 27, 1975, what alliterative and awful-sounding, single-colored cloth is often associated with the Steelers and the city of Pittsburgh?
Answer: Terrible Towel
- Denzel Washington and John David Washington are slated to appear in a film version of what August Wilson play, part of his "Pittsburgh Cycle," which depicts a family dispute over what to do with a particular musical heirloom?
Answer: The Piano Lesson
- The step pyramid crown of Pittsburgh's 44-story art deco Gulf Tower is designed to resemble what building at Halicarnassus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World?
Answer: Mausoleum
- What 2010 film based on James Reidy's memoir "Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman," stars Jake Gyllenhaal as a Pittsburgh drug rep who falls for a woman with early-onset Parkinson's disease?
Answer: Love & Other Drugs
- Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Alcoa and Arconia are the two largest U.S.-based producers of what elemental metal?
Answer: Aluminum
- Andy Warhol studied commercial art in his native Pittsburgh, at what university that's better known for its robotics program?
Answer: Carnegie Mellon
- What iconic food item, that is also used as a measure of a currency's purchasing power, was created in the Pittsburgh suburb Uniontown in 1967?
Answer: Big Mac
- Pittsburgh's Heinz Field met an untimely end when it was blown up for what 2012 superhero film? (It's still around in real life, obviously, though it was renamed Acrisure Stadium in 2022).
Answer: The Dark Knight Rises
- Held annually on the Saturday before Halloween, what bicycling event takes riders up and over 13 (not 12) of the steepest hills around Pittsburgh?
Answer: The Dirty Dozen
- Before the Wi-Fi branding originated, a university in Pittsburgh build the first campus-wide wireless Internet network and named it Wireless Andrew. What was this school?
Answer: Carnegie Mellon
- Among the collection of Pittsburgh's Bicycle Heaven, the world's largest bicycle museum, is the red and white bicycle from a 1985 Tim Burton classic starring what children's TV character?
Answer: Pee-Wee Herman
- One of the United States' most colorful public art landmarks, what is the name of Randy Gilson's folk art gallery in Pittsburgh?
Answer: Randyland
- In 1905, Pittsburgh became home to the first notable instance of a type of movie theater with what name, which came from the price of a ticket? (Today, it's probably best known as the name of a kid's television channel.)
Answer: Nickelodeon
- What Pittsburgh radio station, which broadcasts on 100.1 FM, is considered the first commercial radio station, and got its start by broadcasting the results of Harding's election to the presidency in 1920?
Answer: KDKA
- A bridge in downtown Pittsburgh, that spans the Allegheny River, is named after what pioneering Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder, a Puerto Rican legend and baseball hall of famer, who died in 1972 trying to bring humanitarian aid to his native land?
Answer: Roberto Clemente
- Since 1888, Pittsburgh's Teutonia Mannerchor Hall has been celebrating and promoting the cultural traditions of what European country?
Answer: Germany
- There is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh which was originally the village of Birmingham until annexed to the city in 1872. Birmingham had many streets named after people such as Jane and Sarah named after the friends and family of a doctor that planned much of Birmingham. This neighborhood goes by what name today?
Answer: South Side
- What Pittsburgh Pirates player hit a walk-off home run in game 7 to defeat the New York Yankees in the 1960 World Series?
Answer: Bill Mazeroski
- A specific war in U.S. history is largely credited as cutting off the supply of British goods and thus stimulating American industry in Pittsburgh. Only a few years later, the city was producing large amounts of iron, brass, tin, and glass. What is this war with inadvertent benefits for Pittsburgh's manufacturing?
Answer: War of 1812
- First appearing in print in a 1931 magazine, what is the name of the pseudo-legendary American folk hero steelworker whose tales were often told by steelworkers in Pittsburgh? This man's name means "donkey" in Croatian, and he has often been depicted as a patron saint for steelworkers.
Answer: Joe Magarac
- What Hall of Fame wide receiver, who wore number 88 for the Steelers from 1974 to 1982, was the MVP of Super Bowl X?
Answer: Lynn Swann
- What street in Pittsburgh's Beechview neighborhood is, at 37 degrees, the steepest street in the U.S. and one of the steepest in the world?
Answer: Canton Avenue
- What tap-dancing legend of "Singin' in the Rain," "Summer Stock," and "An American in Paris" was born in Pittsburgh in 1912?
Answer: Gene Kelly
- At 841 feet and 64 stories high, which skyscraper at 600 Grant Street is the tallest building in Pittsburgh?
Answer: U.S. Steel Tower
- Only one NFL team has their logo on one side of the helmet and NOT on the other side. What team is this?
Answer: Pittsburgh Steelers
- Some Pirates fans gather every year at the site of Bill Mazeroski's 1960 World Series-winning home run at the site of what former baseball stadium?
Answer: Forbes Field
- Although some scenes were shot in Virginia and the Bahamas, most of what 1991 "Big Five" Oscar winning thriller (i.e. it won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay) was filmed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania?
Answer: The Silence of the Lambs
- The Pittsburgh native Edith Spurlock Sampson was a lawyer and judge who served as the first Black U.S. delegate to what body in August 1950?
Answer: United Nations
- Pittsburgh etymology includes its namesake from William Pitt, the first Earl of what region in the British county of Kent? Hint: The start-of-the-alphabet answer is also the name of a University in Pittsburgh.
Answer: Chatham
- What Pittsburgh native is probably best known for playing politically involved college student Britta Perry on an NBC sitcom?
Answer: Gillian Jacobs
- What 1892 event saw fighting between Pinkertons, mercenaries hired by the Carnegie Steel Corporation, and striking steelworkers seeking to unionize at the namesake town's steel mill?
Answer: Homestead Strike
- What graduate of the Carnegie Institute of Technology filmed many of his iconic "Living Dead" movies in Pittsburgh and its surrounding environs?
Answer: George Romero
- What nickname, coined by Myron Cope as a play on the city name, is used to refer to Steelers defenses that use the 3-4 zone blitz scheme developed by defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau to attack opposing offenses, notably in the 1990s?
Answer: Blitzburgh
- The Asian Lantern Festival is being held this fall and features giant luminous handcrafted sculptures plus themed food and entertainment. What place hosts the festival?
Answer: Pittsburgh Zoo
- What fort, established by the French in 1754, lay at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers, the site of modern-day Pittsburgh?
Answer: Fort Duquesne
- The 1990 song "Send Me on My Way" is generally considered the only hit from what alliteratively named band from Pittsburgh?
Answer: Rusted Root
- What 1999 young adult classic by Stephen Chbosky follows introverted Charlie during his freshman year at a Pittsburgh-area high school?
Answer: The Perks of Being a Wallflower
- Roslyn Place, a neighborhood in Shadyside, is one of the only streets in the world that’s “paved” with more than 26,000 blocks of what material instead of tar?
Answer: Wood
- What portmanteau team was formed during World War II when the Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles briefly merged, thanks to a lack of available players?
Answer: Steagles
- Bruce Willis and Sarah Jessica Parker played Pittsburgh boat cops in "Striking Distance."The movie's original title shared what watery name with a bygone stadium?
Answer: Three Rivers
- What shop and local landmark is, at half a century of operation, Pittsburgh's oldest toy store?
Answer: S. W. Randall Toyes and Giftes
- Set in Pittsburgh, which 1983 movie stars Jennifer Beals as Alex Owens, a steel mill welder with aspirations of becoming a ballerina?
Answer: Flashdance
- What eastern Pittsburgh neighborhood borders Morningside to the north and east, East Liberty to the southeast, Garfield to the south-southeast, Central Lawrenceville from the south to southwest and Upper Lawrenceville from the west to the north? This neighborhood was previously a country club before residential developments were built in the mid 20th-century.
Answer: Stanton Heights
- What is the name of the Pittsburgh-based hospital system that was formed when Highmark (Blue Cross-Blue Shield) purchased the assets of the West Penn Allegheny Health System?
Answer: Allegheny Health Network
- What 2009 Philipp Meyer novel, set in a fictional southwestern Pennsylvania town, has a title that refers to the declining fortunes of steel towns in the U.S.?
Answer: American Rust
- What global rooms can you visit at the University of Pittsburgh’s Cathedral of Learning to find out about 31 cultures from around the world that played a key role in building the city?
Answer: Nationality
- Measured by the daily average high temperature, what is the coldest month of the year in Pittsburgh at 35.7° F? We're using data from 1981 - 2010 in case that helps you at all (which would surprise us).
Answer: January
- "Mean" Joe Greene starred in one of the most acclaimed commercials of all-time for Coca-Cola in 1980's Super Bowl XIV. Greene ended the commercial with what three-word phrase?
Answer: Hey Kid, Catch
- In which of Pittsburgh’s cultural centers will you find the Robot Hall of Fame, which has honored C-3PO, Wall-E, and even a Roomba?
Answer: Carnegie Science Center
- What building, the tallest in Pittsburgh when it opened in 1929, has a flashing light atop its roof which has been blinking "P-i-t-t-s-b-u-r-g-h" in Morse Code all these years?
Answer: Grant Building
- Which pizzeria on Banksville Road is the oldest place to get a pie in Pittsburgh?
Answer: Beto's
- The famous slogan of "57 Varieties" created by H. J. Heinz was inspired by a saw that the food manufacturer saw advertising 21 styles of what piece of apparel? Even when Heinz first introduced the slogan, it was already incorrect as his company was manufacturing more than 60 food product varieties.
Answer: Shoes
- What Cincinnati Reds pitcher was runner-up for the NL Cy Young Award in 2014, was known for his unorthodox windup and his shaky performance in the 2013 NL Wild Card game in which Pittsburgh Pirates fans chanted his name loudly and he gave up 4 runs in 3 1/3 innings pitched?
Answer: Cueto
- What kind of dinosaur is "Dippy," the famous dinosaur skeleton that is the star of the collection of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History?
Answer: Diplodocus
- What Michigan-based fintech insurance company acquired the naming rights to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ home stadium in 2022?
Answer: Acrisure
- The kiddos traveled all around the country to compete, and the show had a few spin-offs in other parts of the U.S., but what state did the original “Dance Moms” cast hail from (i.e., the location of Abby Lee Miller’s studio)?
Answer: Pennsylvania
- The E-motion cone, sitting atop Pittsburgh's Carnegie Science Center, lights up in different colors to alert residents about the weather. What color does the E-motion cone turn to warn of severe weather?
Answer: Yellow
- By the 1840s, Pittsburgh was already one of the most populous cities in the U.S. west of the Allegheny Mountains. In part, this was because of the immigration of steelworkers that arrived in Pittsburgh after the Merthyr Rising in Europe. In what nation was the Merthyr Rising? Today, this nation has a population of around three million citizens.
Answer: Wales
- To perhaps better resemble the Steelers, the Pittsburgh Maulers changed its uniform colors from orange and purple to black and gold in 2023, before the team started playing in the second season of what minor football league?
Answer: United States Football League (USFL)
- What’s the name of the 150-foot-tall water-spewing, LED-enabled decorative construct at the head of the Ohio River in Pittsburgh?
Answer: Point State Park Fountain
- "The Pittsburgh Cycle" consists of 10 plays about the Black American experience, including "Fences" and "The Piano Lesson," by what playwright?
Answer: August Wilson
- What 1985 play by August Wilson, the sixth in his "Pittsburgh Cycle," was adapted into a 2016 film that Denzel Washington both directed and starred in?
Answer: Fences
- Students are usually past the practice chanter stage when they enroll at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Mellon for the nation's only major program for what woodwind instrument?
Answer: Bagpipes
- Jaromir Jagr, Mario Lemieux, Sidney Crosby, and Evgeni Malkin have all won what trophy, awarded to the MVP of the National Hockey League, while playing for the Pittsburgh Penguins?
Answer: Hart Memorial Trophy
- What iconic Oakland restaurant was once just called "The Original Hot Dog Shop," until the name of founder Syd Simon's late wife was added?
Answer: Essie's Original Hot Dog Shop
- What is the name of the country club, established in 1903, located just outside of Pittsburgh that has hosted the U.S. Open a record nine times?
Answer: Oakmont
- Carnegie Mellon stood in for the university in what 2000 film based on a Michael Chabon book, starring Michael Douglas as a stoner writing professor?
Answer: Wonder Boys
- Which museum in Pittsburgh’s Garfield neighborhood showcases critters that have been changed by humans in some way (for example, through genetic modification, selective breeding, and the effects of climate change)?
Answer: Center for PostNatural History
- What singer, civil rights activist, and Stormy Weather actress learned music from jazz great Billy Strayhorn after moving to Pittsburgh when she was 18?
Answer: Lena Horne
- What TV show set in Pittsburgh had a title character of a British butler working for a middle-class American family?It ran from 1985 to 1990.
Answer: Mr. Belvedere
- There is a neighborhood in southern Pittsburgh named after the farmer who initially grew popular strawberries in the area. The neighborhood was annexed by the city of Pittsburgh in 1927 and today borders both St Johns Cemetery and Brownsville Road. What is the name of this neighborhood?
Answer: Knoxville
- Which of August Wilson's ten "Pittsburgh Cycle" plays is the only one not actually set in Pittsburgh? Set in a Chicago recording studio, it was made into an Oscar-nominated film in 2020.
Answer: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
- When Andrew Carnegie started to produce steel in what would become the Carnegie Steel Company (later purchased by J.P. Morgan and merged with several other companies to form U.S. Steel), he adopted what industrial process which relies on blowing oxygen through the molten steel to remove impurities?
Answer: Bessemer
- In 1982, Carnegie Mellon computer scientist Scott Fahlman proposed on the school's digital message boards that posters use a "joke marker" to indicate when a comment was meant to be funny. He pitched a :-), the first ever appearance of this symbol that predates the emoji. What is this symbol called?
Answer: Emoticon
- Bill Mazeroski hit a walk-off home run in Game 7 to clinch the Pittsburgh Pirates’ World Series victory over the New York Yankees in what year? In that same year, the Pennsylvania Republican Party voted to nominate Richard Nixon for president in a losing campaign.
Answer: 1960
- What small Pittsburgh-area town, birthplace of Ken Griffey, Stan Musial, and Ken Griffey Jr., experienced a deadly air pollution event that killed 70 in 1948 and prompted American air quality standards?
Answer: Donora
- "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh" is the debut novel of what Pitt alum who went on to win a Pulitzer Prize for his novel "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay?"
Answer: Michael Chabon
- What's the name of the "Rockshelter" southwest of Pittsburgh that is the oldest known site of human habitation in the U.S., having been inhabited as early as 19,000 years ago?
Answer: Meadowcroft Rockshelter
- What Pittsburgh Pirates centerfielder told Barry Bonds to move in to cut off a potential single (a suggestion Bonds did not take) one pitch before Atlanta Braves utility player Francisco Cabrera hit a walk-off 2-run single in front of Bonds to win Game 7 of the 1992 NLCS?
Answer: Van Slyke
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Eli Robinson is the Chief Trivia Officer at Water Cooler Trivia. He was once in a Bruce Springsteen cover band called F Street Band.
