WINNER: Kerry Yoshida, Legislative Director, Senator Tony Strickland

QUESTION: Andrew Hallidie was the London-born mechanical genius who was lured to California by the Gold Rush. On June 2, 1873, ground was broken at Clay and Kearny Streets in San Francisco for an invention of Hallidie’s that has defined the city ever since. What was it?

ANSWER: The world’s first cable car system which, within a few months, would be climbing 2,800 feet up Clay Street, a rise of 307 feet. Hallidie Plaza, at the foot of Powell Street near the cable car turnaround, contains a monument to his contribution.