Cleveland, Ohio is a city with a rich history and a diverse cultural landscape. From its early days as a hub for industry and transportation, to its modern role as a major center for healthcare and education, Cleveland has played a significant role in shaping the history of the United States. The city is home to a number of notable landmarks and institutions, including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and the Cleveland Clinic.
Cleveland is also known for its sports teams, including the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League and the Cleveland Indians of Major League Baseball. The city has a passionate sports culture, and its teams have a dedicated fanbase. Additionally, Cleveland is known for its vibrant food scene, with a wide variety of cuisines and dining options available.
Overall, Cleveland is a city with a unique and fascinating history, as well as a diverse cultural landscape. Whether you're a sports fan, a history buff, or simply looking for a fun and interesting place to visit, Cleveland has something to offer. Trivia questions about Cleveland can range from its sports teams and landmarks, to its history and cultural offerings, making it a great topic for a trivia night or quiz.
88 Cleveland Trivia Questions Ranked From Easiest to Hardest (Updated for 2024)
- What “F” Castle and Victorian stone house in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood shares its name with the last name of an American Founding Father who invented bifocals and discovered lightning?
Answer: Franklin Castle
- In December 2020, the Major League Baseball team of what city announced that it would change its name, finally responding to longstanding complaints that the old name was racist?
Answer: Cleveland
- If you take a stroll along W 11th Street in Cleveland, you’ll find yourself standing in front of Ralphie Parker’s family home. What celebrated festive movie was the house featured in?
Answer: A Christmas Story
- Which Oscar-winning actress, Bond girl, X-Men hero, and DC comics villain, was born in Cleveland in 1966 and named after one of the city’s most popular department stores?
Answer: Halle Berry
- He was born Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi in 1984, but what stage name does the “Day ‘n’ Nite” rapper and Cleveland native go by?
Answer: Kid Cudi
- Cleveland physicist Dayton Miller, using cathode ray tubes he'd purchased at the World's Columbian Exposition, was one of the first people in the world to make images using what type of electromagnetic radiation, which had been discovered a few years earlier by Wilhelm Rontgen?
Answer: X-Rays
- In the summer of 1969, a fire in which river in Cleveland brought more awareness to the environmental threat of pollution?
Answer: Cuyahoga
- Charlie Sheen portrayed a recently-released prisoner named Ricky "Wild Thing" Vaughn who went on to play Major League Baseball for Cleveland in what sports comedy film?
Answer: “Major League”
- Michael B. Jordan plays book-burning Cleveland fireman Guy Montag in a 2018 adaptation of what strangely unburnable Ray Bradbury book?
Answer: Fahrenheit 451
- "Johnny Football" was the nickname of what quarterback, who was drafted in 2014 by the Cleveland Browns and lasted only two seasons with the team?
Answer: Johnny Manziel
- Liz Lemon visits Cleveland with her love interest Floyd, who hopes to move there, in the first season of what sitcom?
Answer: 30 Rock
- The Cleveland Guardians have a Triple-A minor league affiliate in Columbus with what nickname? A term for a speedy merchant sailing vessel, it’s also the nickname of a pro NBA franchise in Los Angeles, CA.
Answer: Clippers
- Buzz Beer is the alcoholic beverage brand of choice of the show’s title character and his Cleveland-based friends Oswald Lee Harvey and Lewis Kiniski on what mid-‘90s ABC sitcom starring the current host of “The Price Is Right?”
Answer: “The Drew Carey Show”
- CLE is the airport code for Cleveland's international airport, which is named after what city manager and aviator who helped found the airport?
Answer: Hopkins
- Legendary Ohio DJ Alan Freed invented what three word phrase, now often associated with the city of Cleveland, on his radio show in 1951?
Answer: Rock and Roll
- What college quarterback was a walk on with Oklahoma in 2014 after transferring from Texas Tech, but went on to win the starting job and the 2017 Heisman Trophy? A charismatic figure with endorsements from Hulu, among others, he was drafted number 1 overall by the Cleveland Browns in 2018.
Answer: Baker Mayfield
- What Cleveland Cavaliers basketball player was been featured in more gossip than sports headlines due to his on-again-off-again relationship with Khloe Kardashian that maybe finally ended in 2021?
Answer: Tristan Thompson
- What “A” media company and newspaper conglomerate is owned by the Newhouse family, and whose name implies that they move forward? They own “The Plain Dealer” in Cleveland, as well as “GQ” and “Wired” among many national magazines.
Answer: Advance Publications
- Lola Bistro, B Spot Burgers, and Mabel's BBQ are among the Cleveland restaurants in the empire of what chrome-domed Food Network star chef?
Answer: Michael Symon
- What movie, set in Cleveland, OH, was produced by George Lucas and has a duck from outer space as the title character?
Answer: Howard the Duck
- He and his family moved to Strongsville, Ohio in 1853 and he attended Cleveland's Central High School. Sixty years later, he was considered the richest man in the world and had a fortune worth 2% of the U.S. GDP. Who is this man?
Answer: John D Rockefeller
- "Stump the Bookseller" is a service in which patrons can submit recollections of a book in hopes that a fellow-book-lover can remind them the title of the book. This service is offered by legendary bookstore in Cleveland since 1994?
Answer: Loganberry Books
- The home stadium of the Cincinnati Bengals is named after what man, who is also the namesake of another Ohio NFL team 220 miles to the northeast?
Answer: Paul Brown (of the Cleveland Browns)
- AKA "The Big Z," Lithuanian-born center Zydrunas Ilgauskas played nearly his entire NBA career with what Eastern Conference team?
Answer: Cleveland Cavaliers
- What world renowned nonprofit medical center in Cleveland, administered by its namesake corporation since 1921, has a square with four perforations as its logo, and its name is a word meaning a hospital department with outpatient specialist care?
Answer: Cleveland Clinic
- What musical hall of fame and museum, one of the architectural hallmarks of Cleveland, was designed by I.M. Pei and built on the shores of Lake Erie in 1995?
Answer: Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame
- Erieside Avenue in Cleveland is home to what museum and educational facility? It shares its name with five prominent bodies of water in the region, and many exhibits in the museum are about this topic.
Answer: Great Lakes Science Center
- Although this hero’s home city might be Metropolis, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster were at high school in Cleveland, 1933, when they invented what seminal superhero?
Answer: Superman
- Downtown Cleveland is home to what Victorian-era structure with two nine-story buildings, built in 1890 with a giant glass skylight? Based on its name, you might expect to be able to play “Pac-Man” and “Frogger.”
Answer: The Arcade
- "My Cleveland Heart" is a 2020 song by what singer-songwriter whose biggest hits include "Running on Empty" and "Somebody's Baby?"
Answer: Jackson Browne
- University Circle in Cleveland is home to what “S” concert hall, home of the Cleveland Orchestra, which shares its name with a compensation payment offered to certain fired employees?
Answer: Severance
- Which Chinese-American architect designed Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?
Answer: I. M. Pei
- The Spartans are the mascot for the 19 varsity teams at which Cleveland university?
Answer: Case Western Reserve University
- If you want an experience that will really “stick with you” for life, head to Avon in June for their annual festival in celebration of which silver, can-fix-it-all adhesive product?
Answer: Duck Tape
- "The desert's quiet, Cleveland's cold / And so the story ends we're told": What 1972 country classic by Townes Van Zandt concerns the betrayal of one outlaw by his friend, who later returns to his native Cleveland to live out a much diminished life?
Answer: Pancho and Lefty
- Hot in Cleveland, starring Betty White and Valerie Bertinelli, was the first original programming to appear on what network, which is otherwise known for playing "classic" television?
Answer: TV Land
- A researcher at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History was inspired by a Beatles song when he gave what name to the famous skeleton of a female Australopithecus he discovered in Ethiopia?
Answer: Lucy
- What Eastern Orthodox cathedral in Cleveland's Tremont neighborhood is considered one of the country's best examples of traditional Russian architecture?
Answer: St. Theodosius
- Cleveland's Public Square was the original home of a monumental statue of what hero of the Battle of Lake Erie, which was later moved to Put-in-Bay, Ohio?
Answer: Oliver Hazard Perry
- Cleveland is the largest city on which of the five Great Lakes?
Answer: Erie
- What larger-than-life Cleveland native became famous for promoting Muhammad Ali's boxing matches, including the "Rumble in the Jungle" and "Thrilla in Manila?"
Answer: Don King
- One of Cleveland-born actor Burgess Meredith's most iconic roles was what avian-obsessed Batman villain, alter ego Oswald Cobblepot?
Answer: The Penguin
- The James A. Garfield Memorial, where the assassinated president is buried, lies in what historic Cleveland cemetery?
Answer: Lakeview Cemetery
- The Cleveland suburb of Chagrin Falls is generally considered to be the "hometown" of what comic strip duo, as it was for creator Bill Watterson?
Answer: Calvin and Hobbes
- Bizzy, Wish, Layzie, Krazy, and Flesh-n- are the "first names" of the members of a rap group that formed in Cleveland in 1993. What word, which also appears in the band's name, completes all of these stage names?
Answer: Bone
- At 57 stories high, which skyscraper in Public Square is the tallest building in Ohio?
Answer: Key Tower
- When Cleveland elected him 1968, who became one of the first African American mayors in a major U.S. city?
Answer: Carl Stokes
- What comedian, singer, and Cleveland native sang a special rendition of his signature tune, "Thanks for the Memory," at the final game at Cleveland Stadium in 1993?
Answer: Bob Hope
- Frankie is the first name of a Cleveland native often called "America's King of Polka." What's Frankie's last name, which he shares—though oddly, they're not related—with another famous accordionist?
Answer: Yankovic
- 4,200 crystals make up what object on Euclid Ave. in Cleveland's Playhouse Square district, the largest outdoor example of such objects in the world?
Answer: Chandelier
- New Orleans has it's "po'boys," but Cleveland has what sandwich, made up of kielbasa, coleslaw, barbecue sauce, and french fries on a bun?
Answer: Polish Boy
- Frank G. Jackson is longest serving mayor in Cleveland history, after surpassing the 12 years served by which other mayor from 1989 to 2001
Answer: Michael R. White
- Winning 22 games in a row between August and September 2017, the Cleveland Guardians hold the record for the longest winning streak in which major league sport?
Answer: Baseball
- A nickname of legendary Cleveland DJ Alan Freed provided the name for what canine mascot of the Cleveland Cavaliers?
Answer: Moondog
- Cleveland native Margaret Hamilton donned loads of green makeup in 1939 to play what iconic villain on film?
Answer: The Wicked Witch of the West
- Which house in Cleveland’s Fairfax neighborhood is home to the oldest Black theater company in the United States?
Answer: Karamu
- Renowned running back and actor Jim Brown played for which NFL team between 1957 and 1965?
Answer: Cleveland Browns
- What frozen food brand started out as a chain of restaurants in the Cleveland, Ohio area? The brand was bought by Nestle in 1973.
Answer: Stouffer's
- Which large accounting firm was formed in 1989 when two firms merged, one being from Cleveland and the other named someone with the first name Arthur?
Answer: Ernst & Young
- The second season focused on Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, an American Army soldier charged with desertion. The third season explored cases in the Cleveland area. And the first season won a Peabody Award for innovative long-form nonfiction. What is this podcast series with over 300 million downloads?
Answer: Serial
- Cleveland students can pick up a Bird scooter on the campus of what private research university that resulted from the 1967 merger of a liberal arts college and an engineering-and-science-focused technical institution?
Answer: Case Western Reserve University
- Bizzy Bone, Wish Bone, Layzie Bone, Krayzie Bone, and Flesh-n-Bone are the sweetly singing members of what Cleveland hip hop group?
Answer: Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
- The Guardians of Traffic are eight iconic statues overlooking the Hope Memorial Bridge in what Midwestern U.S. city?
Answer: Cleveland, OH
- In November 2021, what NBA guard, who began his career with the Knicks in 2011 and was on the 2016 championship Cavaliers team, won Season 30 of "Dancing With the Stars?"
Answer: Iman Shumpert
- Its numerous impressive parks and vast greenery helped earn Cleveland what two-word unofficial nickname? We're looking for BOTH words here.
Answer: Forest City
- What four-time Olympic gold medalist, considered "perhaps the greatest and most famous athlete in track and field history" during his lifetime, called Cleveland home from the age of 9 onwards?
Answer: Jesse Owens
- His ability to hang onto the football with sure hands led to Cleveland Browns receiver Dante Lavelli getting what "sticky" nickname?
Answer: Gluefingers
- "Swag" and "The Yoga Instructor" are nicknames for what alliteratively named point guard and Louisville native who currently plays with the Cleveland Cavaliers?
Answer: Rajon Rondo
- What electrically powered item was first seen in the U.S. in 1914 at the corner of East 105th Street and Euclid Avenue in Cleveland?
Answer: Traffic light
- In one of the world's most famous cases of insurance fraud, the Beverly Hills ophthalmologist Steve Cooperman faked the 1999 theft of two paintings worth millions of dollars (they were being stored in a Cleveland storage locker) to claim a $12.5 million insurance payout. With one guess, name either of the two artists behind the "stolen" works.
Answer: Monet and Picasso
- Cleveland-born musician Tracy Chapman says she may have been influenced to learn guitar by what donkey-logo'ed country music variety TV show set in fictional Kornfield Kounty?
Answer: Hee Haw
- Adopted after his Alaskan antics by a Buckeye industrialist, you can visit the preserved body of what Iditarod-inspiring, antidote-schleppin' sled dog at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History?
Answer: Balto
- What head coach helped the Chicago Cubs snap its 108-year championship drought by winning the 2016 World Series with a Game 7 victory over the Cleveland Indians?
Answer: Joe Maddon
- What TV show, which ran from 1995 to 2004, featured the theme song, "Cleveland Rocks," performed by The Presidents of the United States of America?
Answer: The Drew Carey Show
- Cleveland's Thyagaraja Festival is dedicated to the classical music of what country, and is the largest such festival outside that country?
Answer: India
- The Cleveland Museum of Art serves as a stand-in for the headquarters of what counter-terrorism agency in the Marvel Cinematic Universe?
Answer: S.H.I.E.L.D.
- What internationally known chef with the first name Ettore began his career in Cleveland before reaching a level of household fame known by few other chefs in history?
Answer: Chef Boyardee
- In 2019, what NBA team's home court changed its name from Quicken Loans Arena to the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, in recognition of Quicken's signature online product?
Answer: Cleveland Cavaliers
- What Indians catcher was an All Star in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and he might be best known for colliding at home plate with Pete Rose in the 1970 All Star Game? After he retired, he started doing color commentating for Oakland A’s games in 1986.
Answer: Ray Fosse
- Located near Cuyahoga Valley National Park, what Cleveland suburb is named after the ancient kingdom once ruled by Alexander the Great?
Answer: Macedonia
- In 1886, the Standard Oil Trust (largest manufacturing company in the world) moved to 26 Broadway St after relocating from what Midwestern city?
Answer: Cleveland
- During LeBron's 4-year stint playing for the Miami Heat in between his tenures with the Cleveland Cavaliers, what man served as his head coach?
Answer: Erik Spoelstra
- Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame only has one triple-inductee. Who was inducted as a member of The Yardbirds, then again as a member of Cream, and finally a third time as a solo artist?
Answer: Eric Clapton
- Which former MLB pitcher for the Kansas City Royals and Cleveland Indians has managed the Rockies since 2016?
Answer: Bud Black
- What former NBA Champion was the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers for the first two years of LeBron James's career?
Answer: Paul Silas
- After LeBron James, the player who scored the next-most points over their Cleveland Cavaliers career is what 7'3" Lithuanian center who played for the team from 1997-2010?
Answer: Zydrunas Ilgauskas
- In which West Cleveland neighborhood can you shop at Warren Village, toss a ball around at Rainbow Park, or see a show at The Hooley?
Answer: Kamm's Corner
- What electric switch hitting shortstop, traded from the Cleveland Indians to the New York Mets in 2021, is called “Mr. Smile” because of his organic positivity and large grin?
Answer: Francisco Lindor
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About the Author
Eli Robinson is the Chief Trivia Officer at Water Cooler Trivia. He was once in a Bruce Springsteen cover band called F Street Band.
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