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Quiz about Ten  Scary Things Baby Boomers Faced
Quiz about Ten  Scary Things Baby Boomers Faced

Ten Scary Things Baby Boomers Faced Quiz


Contrary to the beliefs of American 'Gen-Xers', growing up in the U.S. during the 1950s and 1960s was not all Davy Crockett coonskin caps, lava lamps and 'flower children'. There were also plenty of things around to scare the the 'baby boomers'.

A multiple-choice quiz by rblayer. Estimated time: 5 mins.
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Author
rblayer
Time
5 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
206,531
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
6 / 10
Plays
6278
Awards
Top 35% Quiz
Last 3 plays: Guest 174 (7/10), Guest 65 (5/10), StarSpice (4/10).
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Question 1 of 10
1. Atomic bombs could be dropped by Russia at any moment, or at least that's what American schoolchildren were led to believe. When an air raid siren sounded, they were taught to curl up on the floor in a "duck and cover" exercise. What was the name of the cartoon turtle used to demonstrate this civil defense drill? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. Polio struck over 60,000 people in 1952, mostly children, and killed 3,000 Americans. Imagine the horror of parents when a neighborhood child contracted the crippling childhood disease. Many vividly remember being stuck with a big needle full of Salk vaccine. A few years later another scientist developed an oral vaccine that was mercifully administered in a sugar cube. What was his name? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. Invaders from space were nothing new in the 1950s. Orson Welles' 1938 radio rendition of "The War of the Worlds" had already frightened a nation. But when Russia launched its Sputnik in 1957 America renewed its fascination with space, and widespread reports of UFOs and invaders from outer space began. Hollywood jumped on the bandwagon and produced countless, low-budget horror films about all forms of creatures from beyond. Which of the following was not a scary 1958 science fiction film? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. Emergency Broadcast System tests came on television randomly, and usually interrupted some enjoyable programming. As viewers held their breath awaiting word that Soviet nuclear warheads were about to rain down, they were forced to endure a half a minute of a loud, high-pitched obnoxious tone. In what year was the EBS initiated? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. An "iron lung" was huge cylinders with a person's head sticking out of one end. Poor souls, mostly children, suffering from respiratory paralysis were forced to use the contraptions in order to breathe. A small mirror above their heads was a patients' only contact with the world around them. Where in the U.S. was this device developed? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. Nikita Khrushchev was a fat, bald Soviet leader that promised to "bury" us, and banged his shoe on a podium at the United Nations. With the push of a button, he could have started World War III. From sending troops to crush the Hungarian uprising (1956), to building the Berlin Wall (1961), Khrushchev symbolized tyranny and remained a threat to world peace until he was deposed in 1964. Who was his successor? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. What is the "Doomsday Clock"? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. The prospect of Soviet missiles in Cuba not only caused churches to be open twenty-four hours a day, they put American military forces at DEFCON 2, the highest in U.S. history. Who was the U.S. Secretary of Defense during the 1962 crisis? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. Red China was a huge, mysterious land mass on the other side of the world with enough people to march six abreast into the sea without running out of people. Many children believed that you could get to China by digging a hole deep enough in the backyard. What sport was largely responsible for an easing of tensions between China and the U.S.? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. Mass murderers and serial killers made countless 1960s headlines, and American communities where paralyzed by sheer terror. Names like Whitman, Manson and Speck boosted hand gun sales while maniacs like the Boston Strangler killed repeatedly and evaded arrest. Those four were responsible for how many deaths? Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Atomic bombs could be dropped by Russia at any moment, or at least that's what American schoolchildren were led to believe. When an air raid siren sounded, they were taught to curl up on the floor in a "duck and cover" exercise. What was the name of the cartoon turtle used to demonstrate this civil defense drill?

Answer: Bert

"Bert the Turtle" was the star of the Civil Defense film "Duck and Cover" produced in 1950 shortly after the Soviet Union exploded its first nuclear device (in 1949). Schools regularly scheduled drills that served to remind children that at any moment they might be 'vaporized' like the buildings in the atom bomb films.
2. Polio struck over 60,000 people in 1952, mostly children, and killed 3,000 Americans. Imagine the horror of parents when a neighborhood child contracted the crippling childhood disease. Many vividly remember being stuck with a big needle full of Salk vaccine. A few years later another scientist developed an oral vaccine that was mercifully administered in a sugar cube. What was his name?

Answer: Sabin

Seeing classmates with crutches and metal leg braces was all the initiative little baby boomers needed to help collect millions of dimes in the "March of Dimes" campaigns. The 'saintly' Dr. Jonas Salk refused to patent his discovery, which would have made him a very wealthy man. Instead, his main interest was the widespread use of his vaccine.
3. Invaders from space were nothing new in the 1950s. Orson Welles' 1938 radio rendition of "The War of the Worlds" had already frightened a nation. But when Russia launched its Sputnik in 1957 America renewed its fascination with space, and widespread reports of UFOs and invaders from outer space began. Hollywood jumped on the bandwagon and produced countless, low-budget horror films about all forms of creatures from beyond. Which of the following was not a scary 1958 science fiction film?

Answer: My Baby Is a Martian

Fortunately, not everyone from outer space was bent on destroying the human race. The world could always count on being saved by Superman, from the planet Krypton.
4. Emergency Broadcast System tests came on television randomly, and usually interrupted some enjoyable programming. As viewers held their breath awaiting word that Soviet nuclear warheads were about to rain down, they were forced to endure a half a minute of a loud, high-pitched obnoxious tone. In what year was the EBS initiated?

Answer: 1963

Begun during the Kennedy Administration, the EBS's primary purpose was to allow the President to address the entire nation in an emergency situation. Fortunately, it was never used for a nuclear emergency. However, it has been activated over 20,000 times to broadcast civil emergency messages and warnings of severe weather hazards.
5. An "iron lung" was huge cylinders with a person's head sticking out of one end. Poor souls, mostly children, suffering from respiratory paralysis were forced to use the contraptions in order to breathe. A small mirror above their heads was a patients' only contact with the world around them. Where in the U.S. was this device developed?

Answer: Boston

The technical name of the breathing device is "negative pressure ventilator". Developed in 1927 by Harvard medical researcher Philip Drinker and his assistant Louis Agassiz Shaw, it was first used on October 12, 1928 at Children's Hospital, Boston.
6. Nikita Khrushchev was a fat, bald Soviet leader that promised to "bury" us, and banged his shoe on a podium at the United Nations. With the push of a button, he could have started World War III. From sending troops to crush the Hungarian uprising (1956), to building the Berlin Wall (1961), Khrushchev symbolized tyranny and remained a threat to world peace until he was deposed in 1964. Who was his successor?

Answer: Leonid Brezhnev

It was a truly amazing and unforgettable performance at the United Nations. Khrushchev later explained that his reference to "bury" did not mean kill, but was a figure of speech meaning that Communism would outlive capitalism and be present at its funeral. Brezhnev, a bushy- eyebrowed Ukrainian, was not much better.

While one hand engaged in detente with the SALT II Treaty with Jimmy Carter, the other hand crushed dissent in Czechoslovakia, Poland and Afghanistan.
7. What is the "Doomsday Clock"?

Answer: Scientists' opinion of global danger

In 1947 a "Doomsday Clock" appeared on the cover of the "Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists" and ever since has been repeatedly adjusted forwards and backwards to reflect the global level of nuclear danger and the state of international security. Calculated in minutes before midnight, the closest has been 1953 when the time was two minutes before midnight. This was the year that both the U.S. and U.S.S.R. were testing thermonuclear devices. The signing of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty in 1991 caused the clock to be moved to seventeen minutes to midnight.
8. The prospect of Soviet missiles in Cuba not only caused churches to be open twenty-four hours a day, they put American military forces at DEFCON 2, the highest in U.S. history. Who was the U.S. Secretary of Defense during the 1962 crisis?

Answer: Robert McNamara

In arguably the "hottest" period of the Cold War, U.S. President John Kennedy stood firm against the placement of Soviet missiles 90 miles from American soil. Millions flocked to churches around the country as war with the Soviet Union seem inevitable. After the Soviets backed down, someone said "we were eyeball to eyeball, and the other guy blinked".
9. Red China was a huge, mysterious land mass on the other side of the world with enough people to march six abreast into the sea without running out of people. Many children believed that you could get to China by digging a hole deep enough in the backyard. What sport was largely responsible for an easing of tensions between China and the U.S.?

Answer: Table tennis

U.S.-China relations improved in 1971, when the American Ping-Pong team received a surprise invitation to the People's Republic. "Time" magazine called it "The ping heard round the world." The young athletes were the first group of Americans allowed into China since the Communist takeover in 1949.
10. Mass murderers and serial killers made countless 1960s headlines, and American communities where paralyzed by sheer terror. Names like Whitman, Manson and Speck boosted hand gun sales while maniacs like the Boston Strangler killed repeatedly and evaded arrest. Those four were responsible for how many deaths?

Answer: 41

America lost three beloved leaders between 1963 and 1968, as John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King were gunned down by assassins. Adding terror to grief, Albert De Salvo, Richard Speck, Charles Whitman and Charles Manson sent 41 people to an early grave. De Salvo, aka the "Boston Strangler", raped and killed 13 women between 1962 and 1964. Speck slaughtered 8 Chicago nurses in July of 1966 and, two months later, Whitman dispatched another 13 souls with a high-powered rifle from atop the University of Texas tower.

The Tate-LaBianca murders in August of 1969, attributed to the Manson family, involved a 'mere' seven dead bodies.
Source: Author rblayer

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
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