New York: a Dutch wall, a bridge-builder's wife and a reversed sky

New York is a city everyone thinks they know — from postcards, films and its skyline. This quiz takes you through its history in 20 questions with pictures.

How much did the Dutch really pay for Manhattan, and why does a famous street carry the name of something that disappeared in the 17th century? After whom was the town renamed in 1664, where did the first president take his oath, and what gave its name to the founding document of the stock exchange? Which writer handed the city a nickname that a comic-book hero would borrow?

Then the 19th century: who crossed a great new bridge first, holding a rooster? Whose water was poured into the harbor in 1825, who designed the great park, and what did landowning mean for the families who lived on its site before it existed? What burned on Fifth Avenue in July 1863, what is hidden inside the giant in the harbor, who paid for its pedestal — and why does it look so different today?

Finally: what was the first immigrant at the new station given, what was a tower shaped like a clothes iron officially called, how long did a church spire rule the skyline, what is wrong with a famous painted sky, and how did a secret railway under Broadway move its only car? The illustrations are old photographs, photochroms, engravings, lithographs, a watercolor, a map and paintings in the public domain.