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Quiz about The 1950s
Quiz about The 1950s

Tough The 1950s Quiz | 15 Questions | History


This is a quiz on one of the most dynamic and groundbreaking decades of the 20th century, the 1950s.

A multiple-choice quiz by philipstevens. Estimated time: 4 mins.
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Time
4 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
216,143
Updated
Nov 10 23
# Qns
15
Difficulty
Tough
Avg Score
9 / 15
Plays
5216
Awards
Top 20% Quiz
Last 3 plays: Guest 12 (9/15), Guest 73 (4/15), wklbn60 (13/15).
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Question 1 of 15
1. Which conflict began on 25th June 1950? Hint


Question 2 of 15
2. Which wartime hero won an election on 26th October 1951? Hint


Question 3 of 15
3. Where was Queen Elizabeth II on 6th February 1952 when her father died and she ascended to the British throne? Hint


Question 4 of 15
4. Who succeeded Joseph Stalin as Premier of the Soviet Union after his death on 5th March 1953? Hint


Question 5 of 15
5. Who ran the first sub-four minute mile on 6th May 1954? Hint


Question 6 of 15
6. The Warsaw Pact was signed by representatives of eight countries on 14th May 1955. It was subsequently ratified by those eight countries and came into force on 6th June 1955 upon, when all eight countries had ratified the Pact. Which country was the 8th and last to ratify the Pact? Hint


Question 7 of 15
7. Which of these iconic figures died on 30th September 1955? Hint


Question 8 of 15
8. Rosa Parks' refusal to give up her seat on a bus led to a bus boycott in which state? Hint


Question 9 of 15
9. On 22nd February 1956, Elvis Presley entered the music charts for the first time with what song? Hint


Question 10 of 15
10. What was the name of the first artificial satellite, which was launched by the Soviet Union on 4th October 1957, beginning the space age?

Answer: (One Word)
Question 11 of 15
11. On 24th October 1958, Angelo Roncalli became Pope. What name did he take? Hint


Question 12 of 15
12. Arthur Miller's play "The Crucible" was inspired by which event of the 1950s? Hint


Question 13 of 15
13. In 1959, Cuba became the first Communist state in the Western Hemisphere.


Question 14 of 15
14. Dwight D. Eisenhower won two landslide elections in the 1950s. Whom did he defeat on both occasions? Hint


Question 15 of 15
15. In what year was the Suez Crisis?

Answer: (Year - four digits)

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Most Recent Scores
Today : Guest 12: 9/15
Today : Guest 73: 4/15
Today : wklbn60: 13/15
Mar 27 2024 : Guest 69: 4/15
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Score Distribution

quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Which conflict began on 25th June 1950?

Answer: Korean War

On 25th June 1950, North Korean forces began their assault across the 38th parallel (the line of latitude that had become the boundary between the newly independent countries of North and South Korea). The North Koreans had been supplied by the Soviets and the vast number of soldiers made the surprise attack a devastating success, forcing South Korean forces to retreat within days.

The United Nations authorised its members, which included the United States and its allies to use force against North Korea.

Although a cease-fire was established in 1953, technically the Korean War continues.
2. Which wartime hero won an election on 26th October 1951?

Answer: Winston Churchill

Just months after VE day, Winston Churchill's Conservatives had lost the 1945 general election by a landslide to Clement Attlee and the Labour Party. The result was a surprise to many, since Churchill was still very popular due to his wartime leadership.

However, at the next election in 1950, the Conservatives made a massive recovery, giving Labour an unworkably slim majority. Attlee was forced to call another election in 1951, which returned Churchill to power with a majority of 17.
3. Where was Queen Elizabeth II on 6th February 1952 when her father died and she ascended to the British throne?

Answer: Kenya

Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor entered the Treetops Hotel in Aberdares National Park, Kenya on 5th February 1952 as a princess, but left the next day as Queen Elizabeth II, as her father, King George VI, had died of lung cancer in the night. She was the first British monarch since the formation of the United Kingdom to be out of the country at the time of succession.
4. Who succeeded Joseph Stalin as Premier of the Soviet Union after his death on 5th March 1953?

Answer: Georgy Malenkov

Georgy Maximilianovich Malenkov became the Premier and First Secretary of the Soviet Union after Stalin's death, but only for six months. Malenkov was forced to step down as First Secretary after pressure from the Presidium, and was replaced by Nikita Khrushchev. Malenkov remained as Premier until 1955.
5. Who ran the first sub-four minute mile on 6th May 1954?

Answer: Roger Bannister

On 6th May 1954 at Iffley Road track in Oxford, Roger Gilbert Bannister became the first known human to run a mile in under four minutes. His official time was 3 min 59.4s. Bannister's record was broken 41 days later on 21st June by John Landy, who ran the mile in 3 min 58s.
6. The Warsaw Pact was signed by representatives of eight countries on 14th May 1955. It was subsequently ratified by those eight countries and came into force on 6th June 1955 upon, when all eight countries had ratified the Pact. Which country was the 8th and last to ratify the Pact?

Answer: Albania

The Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation and Mutual Assistance, (the Warsaw Pact), was a military alliance of the Soviet backed countries in Eastern Europe. The nations that joined were the Soviet Union, Albania, Bulgaria, East Germany, Romania, Hungary, Poland and Czechoslovakia. Albania was the last to ratify, on 6th June 1955. The first was Poland on 19th May 1955.
7. Which of these iconic figures died on 30th September 1955?

Answer: James Dean

James Byron Dean rose to fame in films such as "East of Eden" and "Rebel Without a Cause". He died on 30th September 1955, when he crashed his Porsche 550 Spyder near Cholame, California after Donald Turnupseed turned his car into his lane. His tragic death, at such a young age, made Dean a cult figure.
8. Rosa Parks' refusal to give up her seat on a bus led to a bus boycott in which state?

Answer: Alabama

On 1st December 1955, Rosa Parks got onto a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. As a black woman, she was obliged by state law to give up her seat to any white person who wanted it. Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man and as a result was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct.

This led to a bus boycott across Montgomery that lasted until 13th November 1956, when the United States Supreme Court declared Alabama bus segregatation laws unconstitutional. Perhaps a more important effect of the bus boycott was that it borught Martin Luther King to the attention of the public.
9. On 22nd February 1956, Elvis Presley entered the music charts for the first time with what song?

Answer: Heartbreak Hotel

"Heartbreak Hotel" was Elvis' sixth single, but his first on the RCA record label. It reached number one in April 1956. Elvis started a revolution in music and almost thirty years after his death, he is still known as 'The King' of rock and roll.
10. What was the name of the first artificial satellite, which was launched by the Soviet Union on 4th October 1957, beginning the space age?

Answer: Sputnik

Sputnik 1, Russian for traveller, launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in present day Kazakhstan, on 4th October 1957 at 19:12 UTC, and became Earth's first artificial satellite. The craft was small by today's standards, weighing only 83 kg (184 pounds) and orbited the Earth every 96 minutes.

Its signal, which could be picked up by any radio transceiver, announced to the world the birth of the space age.
11. On 24th October 1958, Angelo Roncalli became Pope. What name did he take?

Answer: John

Pope John XXIII was one of the most radical pontiffs of the twentieth century and although he was only pope for five years, he revolutionised the Roman Catholic Church. John convened the Second Vatican Council, or Vatican II, that completely changed the Catholic Mass. John's legacy of humour and humanity still impacts on the papacy today.
12. Arthur Miller's play "The Crucible" was inspired by which event of the 1950s?

Answer: Senator McCarthy's anti-Communist "witch hunts"

"The Crucible" is centred on the events of the Salem witch-hunts of the late seventeenth century. Miller used this as an allegory to condemn Senator McCarthy and the House Committee on Un-American Activities, which investigated individuals suspected of being Communists or Communist sympathizers.

The hearings became known as "Communist witch hunts" and Arthur Miller was himself called up to speak at one of them.
13. In 1959, Cuba became the first Communist state in the Western Hemisphere.

Answer: True

On 1st January 1959 Fulgencio Batista, who had ruled Cuba since he seized power seven years earlier, was overthrown by Fidel Castro. Initially Castro's plans for the future were unclear but within months he declared Cuba a communist state, the first in the western hemisphere, just a few miles off the United States' mainland. Tension between the US and Cuba rose during the next few years, until October 1962 when the island almost triggered a nuclear war, during the thirteen days of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
14. Dwight D. Eisenhower won two landslide elections in the 1950s. Whom did he defeat on both occasions?

Answer: Adlai Stevenson

Adlai Ewing Stevenson II, governor of Illinois 1949-1953, was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in 1952 and 1956, and he lost to Dwight D. Eisenhower both times. After his loss in 1952, Stevenson famously stated, "A funny thing happened to me on the way to the White House..."
15. In what year was the Suez Crisis?

Answer: 1956

The Suez Crisis started when President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal on 26th July 1956. Egypt was subsequently invaded by France and the United Kingdom, in an attempt to restore the canal to Anglo-French ownership and control.

The invasion was a disaster for the invading forces and within months France and the United Kingdom, under massive, combined pressure from the United States and the Soviet Union, were forced to withdraw. As a result of the conflict, British Prime Minister, Anthony Eden was forced to resign.
Source: Author philipstevens

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