thumbnail

1940s Decade Quiz

Do you have what it takes to answer these questions about the 1940s?
Quiz by Quizmaster
Rate:
Last updated: February 10, 2020
You have not attempted this quiz yet.
First submittedFebruary 17, 2015
Times taken35,633
Average score65.0%
Rating4.35
4:00
Enter answer here
0
 / 20 guessed
The quiz is paused. You have remaining.
Scoring
You scored / = %
This beats or equals % of test takers also scored 100%
The average score is
Your high score is
Your fastest time is
Keep scrolling down for answers and more stats ...
Question
Answer
What does the E stand for in V-E day?
Europe
In what movie did Sam play the song "As Time Goes By"?
Casablanca
In what city did Anne Frank hide?
Amsterdam
Who said "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat"?
Winston Churchill
What film genre was exemplified by "Double Indemnity" and "The Maltese Falcon"?
Film Noir
Who was assassinated in New Delhi in 1948?
Mahatma Gandhi
What French fashion designer and perfumer was suspected of being a Nazi spy?
Coco Chanel
In what French region would you find Omaha, Juno, and Gold beaches?
Normandy
What new country was led by David Ben-Gurion?
Israel
At what university did J.R.R. Tolkien teach?
Oxford
What was the name of the American and British effort to develop an atomic bomb?
Manhattan Project
Who directed "Citizen Kane"?
Orson Welles
Who wrote the play "Death of a Salesman"?
Arthur Miller
What name was given to Japanese suicide pilots?
Kamikaze
What American program gave massive amounts of aid to help rebuild Europe?
Marshall Plan
What would you find on Carmen Miranda's hat?
Fruit
What bebopping saxophonist was known as "Bird"?
Charlie Parker
What musical featured the songs "Some Enchanted Evening" and "Bali Ha'i"?
South Pacific
To what island did Chiang Kai-shek flee?
Taiwan
What brutal leader was called "Uncle Joe" in an attempt to soften his image?
Joseph Stalin
+4
Level 37
Jan 20, 2017
I am so nostalgic for that time, even though I hadn't been born as yet, my parents made it seem so REAL and EXCITING! - So much

more so than the dull history books depicting the era.

+11
Level 67
Nov 28, 2017
I don't know that I'd characterize the period dominated by the bloodiest conflict in recent history as "exciting."
+15
Level 72
Nov 29, 2017
Well it certainly wouldn't have been boring
+5
Level 37
Dec 18, 2017
My parents did! - Given the mundane existence of the '30s, the '40s came alive! Yes, there was, sadly, danger and death but living on the edge is a particular high for some.
+3
Level 52
Dec 19, 2020
"Exciting" does not necessary mean good.
+3
Level 76
Nov 30, 2017
My brothers were born during the war, and my parents made it seem real, too, talking about sugar and gasoline rationing, working in a torpedo factory, friends missing in action - but I don't think they ever felt nostalgia or excitement for those years. Their tone was more one of weariness when they remembered those times. But I think I understand what you're saying - it was a very unique time in our history and the men and women who lived through it had amazing stories to tell.
+2
Level 76
Jun 9, 2020
Wow, reading that comment now makes me wonder why I was so negative when I wrote it. Yes, my parents did talk about the hard times during the war, but they also had good memories of the decade when they married and started their family.
+3
Level ∞
Jan 3, 2020
No doubt for many, especially in the United States or Great Britain that didn't see the worst of the fighting, the 1940s were the most exciting and purpose-filled decade of their lives.
+12
Level 75
Jun 15, 2018
Unsurprisingly, I got every history-related question and not a single pop-culture one.
+4
Level 22
Feb 10, 2020
I might just be a little too critical, but I feel like accepting "Bird" as an answer to the question, "What bebopping saxophonist was known as 'Bird'?" may just be a bit too easy...
+1
Level ∞
Feb 10, 2020
Auto type-ins are to blame. This has been fixed, thank you.
+2
Level 77
Nov 29, 2021
I got the 'Death of a Salesman' question by guessing 'Miller' (as in Glenn Miller) for the saxophonist question!
+5
Level 80
Mar 5, 2022
Lucky, especially since Glenn Miller was a trombonist.
+2
Level 70
Jun 4, 2020
Dang, that sucks many don't know the talented Charlie Parker. This man is a legend!
+1
Level 62
Jun 19, 2022
They named an important nightclub after him, "Birdland" in New York.

I wrote a paper about Bird and Dizzy Gillespie for History of Music in high school.

+8
Level 67
Jun 4, 2020
Nice job on describing Stalin as a "brutal dictator" while ignoring Churchill's genocidal atrocities. :P
+6
Level 37
Jun 4, 2020
Churchill was defending, mine and your freedom, my friend.
+7
Level 69
May 8, 2022
While his later leadership undoubtedly helped save the world from the scourge of Nazism, he, as a younger man however, almost certainly committed what we today would characterize as war crimes. When it comes to history, sometimes we have to grapple with holding two separate thoughts at the same time. There are a lot of uncomfortable truths as well as reasons to celebrate the whole man that was Churchill.
+1
Level 67
Jun 17, 2022
Unless you happen to be South Asian.
+1
Level 62
Jun 19, 2022
Yeah, Pol Pot was a great guy.
+4
Level 66
Sep 6, 2020
so many commies here in jetpunk
+2
Level 83
Jun 17, 2022
there are 3 or 4 that comment a lot but it seems like they have made it their mission to leave as many out-of-touch and obviously biased comments as possible on as many quizzes as possible.
+2
Level ∞
Jan 30, 2022
Back in the 1930s, there were thousands of idealistic young people who moved from western countries to Stalin's Russia because they had heard tales of how great the socialist revolution was. A large percentage of these poor saps ended up dying in prison camps.

There's a good book about it. "Useful idiots" often end up the victims of history.

+1
Level 83
Jun 17, 2022
I'm sure in CanadaDry's mind those were some of the coolest camps in history, though.
+3
Level 65
Jun 4, 2020
I could only remember Arthur Miller's first name :-(
+1
Level 74
Jun 17, 2022
A bit too pop culture-heavy for a quiz about the decade with humanity's greatest war and genocides, in my opinion.
+2
Level 73
Jun 17, 2022
there are plenty of quizzes on those things though and too many can get a bit bleak. this quiz is a good balance of different things that happened in different fields
+1
Level 65
Jun 17, 2022
Anne Frank's story was an hoax perpetrated by her father, Gandhi was working for the Crown and probably faked his death, atomic weapons don't exist, etc.

Great quiz if you believe in our false History.

+8
Level 83
Jun 17, 2022
please seek professional help
+2
Level 65
Jun 17, 2022
Go get your third (fourth?) shot, everything will be fine.
+1
Level 83
Jun 18, 2022
I've had my 3rd shot. And yes, everything is fine. Just like the millions/billions of others who did the same and are doing much better than the millions of unvaccinated who died from COVID-19. Seriously, please seek help. We're rooting for you.
+2
Level 62
Jun 19, 2022
I just recovered from Covid and I'd been vaccinated. That crap doesn't work.
+1
Level 86
Jun 30, 2022
@Cooldrive, good call getting vaccinated, otherwise you might not have recovered at all.
+12
Level 67
Jun 17, 2022
The first time I read this, I read it as "Anne Frank's story was a hoax perpetrated by her father, Gandhi." Then I read it correctly, and it's just as stupid either way.
+5
Level 77
Jun 17, 2022
Good points but there are some more. Double Indemnity and The Maltese Falcon were actually documentaries, "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat" was originally said by Elmar Fudd, and Chiang Kai-shek fled to the dark side of the moon where he helped Hitler set up a VW factory.
+1
Level 62
Jun 19, 2022
𝓕𝓲𝓷𝓪𝓵𝓵𝔂, 𝓪 𝓑𝓻𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻!