Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Regarding the 1692 Salem witch trials, which of these atrocities was NOT committed by the accusing body, during this blot on history?
2. For the next instance of mass hysteria, we remain in New England, moving to the west of Salem's Massachusetts locale, and finding ourselves in Rhode Island. It's the late 18th century. Tuberculosis claimed the lives of 2% of the population of New England, but what did the people blamed for the horrors afflicting the countryside?
3. Let's jump forward a century and a half to the panic attack of Halloween in 1938 to Orson Welles' radio broadcast of "War of the Worlds". What was the name of his company that rehearsed and broadcasted the adaptation of H.G. Wells's classic science fiction tale?
4. The following year, on January 28, 1939, in Bellevue, Louisiana, a case of mass hysteria afflicted several girls age 16-18 at a high school Homecoming dance. The initial case was exhibited by a senior named Helen who hated dancing, and whose boyfriend was dancing with a freshman girl very proficient at dancing. What started happening to Helen that spread to other girls?
5. In September 1944, what was the moniker given to whoever was thought to be spraying a "deadly nerve gas into 13 homes" and "knocked out 27 known victims" in Mattoon, Illinois?
6. The Communist Red Scare threatened the nation from 1947 to 1957. Hollywood named names and the FBI spied on citizens. What was the now famous line that Army lawyer, Joseph Welch, leveled at Red Scare Senator, Joseph R. McCarthy?
7. Psychiatrist Frederic Wertham's 1954 book led to a national panic that comic books were corrupting the morals of our youths. What was the name of his book?
8. During the Spring of 1954, law enforcement officials in the state of Washington investigated the sudden rash of which of the following complaints from thousands of motor vehicle owners?
9. The year 1962 saw three major cases of mass hysteria. Which of these was NOT one of them?
10. In 1976 in Mount Pleasant, Mississippi, 15 students writhed in agony on the ground. Although they found no evidence, what did school officials and police suspect was the cause?
Source: Author
Billkozy
This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor
ponycargirl before going online.
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