What Else Happened In 1954 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Bikini Atoll

The main reason that the Dooesday Clock ticked forward ... the USA began testing a series of hydrogen bombs. On 1st March the bomb known as Castle Bravo was the first in a series of high-yield thermonuclear weapon tests conducted by the USA as part of an operation known as 'Castle'.

It turned out that Castle Bravo's yield was 15 megatons of TNT, 2.5 times more than was anticipated. As a consequence it led to unexpected radioactive contamination of a large area around the Marshall Islands. Fallout affected many, including 23 Japanese fishermen who had acute radiation syndrome.

Answer: The 4 minute mile

For years many considered that running a mile in under 4 minutes was a human impossibility but on 6th May 1954 medical student Roger Bannister became the first person to do just that, in 3:59.4. His record was short-lived when Australian John Landy broke it a couple of weeks later.

In 1968 sprinter Jim Hines broke the long-standing 10-second barrier in the 100 metre event. Roger Bannister's father only ever broke into a sweat running for the train and Roger Bannister did not break any bones whilst running.

Answer: The end of rationing

Midnight on the 4th July 1954 saw the official end to 14 years of rationing when restrictions on the sale and purchase of meat and bacon were lifted.

Universal suffrage for all women in the UK eventually came about in 1928 when everyone over the age of 21 could vote. The age was lowered to 18 as late as 1970. In 1923 women could petition for divorce on the grounds of adultery, but it still had to be proved. In 1937, the law was changed and divorce was allowed on other grounds including drunkenness, insanity and desertion.

Answer: Polio

A group of children in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, received the first injections of a polio vaccine, developed by Dr. Jonas Salk, in February 1954.

Poliomyelitis was a disease that had seen regular outbreaks. Highly contagious, it attacked the nerve cells and sometimes the central nervous system causing muscle deterioration, paralysis and sometimes death. A victim of a 1921 outbreak in America was President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, then a young politician.

Answer: The Lord of the Rings

On July 29th 1954 The Fellowship of the Ring and the Two Towers, the first two of three volumes by Tolkien, were published. The other three choices were all published in 1959.

Answer: Alan Turing

Alan Turing is now famous for being a British mathematician and codebreaker, who conceived modern computing and played a pivotal role in the victory over Nazi Germany in WW2 by ultimately cracking the Enigma code used by German U-boats. In 1946 Turing created a design for the Automatic Computing Engine (ACE) - a digital computer.

He was, however, ostracised by contemporary attitudes to homosexuality. Charged with gross indecency, he opted for chemical castration rather than jail. His work and research faltered when his security clearance was revoked and in June 1954 he killed himself, aged 41. In 2009 a British Prime Minister made an unequivocal apology to Alan Turing and in 2013 he was granted a royal pardon.

The other choices are all people who have contributed to the world of computers.

Answer: Joe DiMaggio

First came James Dougherty from 1942 to 1946. Joe DiMaggio from 1954 to 1955. She filmed alongside Jack Lemmon.

Answer: The most boring day of the 20th century

Having fed 300 million facts into a search engine, it has been announced that 11th April 1954 was officially the most boring day of the 20th century - a day when nothing of any particular note happened. No births or deaths of famous people - no key events - nothing interesting at all.

Now, before you all google the date and come back at me with a wealth of fascinating facts - as the question states - this is what the "Daily Mail" think, and we all know how truthful the media is, don't we?

Answer: Soap Operas

Soap Operas were so-called due to the fact that the sponsors of so many of these shows were soap manufacturers. Both these appeared on our diddy little black and white screens in 1954 in the USA and UK respectively.

Answer: Elvis Presley

Ozzy Osbourne was, in fact, only 6 years old and Cliff Richard would have been 14. On the other hand Frank Sinatra had already found fame when he signed up with Columbia in 1943.