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1950s Decade Quiz

Do you have what it takes to guess these facts about the 1950s?
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: January 30, 2022
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First submittedFebruary 17, 2015
Times taken46,772
Average score65.0%
Rating4.37
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Hint
Answer
"Rebel without a cause" who died in a car crash at age 24
James Dean
What Norma Jeane Mortenson was better known as
Marilyn Monroe
Disease that Jonas Salk created a vaccine for
Polio
The first satellite to orbit the Earth
Sputnik
In 1959, it became the 50th U.S. state
Hawaii
J. D. Salinger's most famous novel
The Catcher in the Rye
Canal that was seized by Egypt
Suez Canal
Region annexed by China
Tibet
Actor who starred as Moses in "The Ten Commandments"
Charlton Heston
Singer who was managed by Colonel Tom Parker
Elvis Presley
Art movement exemplified by Jackson Pollock
Abstract Expressionism
Subculture who wore turtlenecks, played bongos, and smoked marijuana
Beatniks
Country that had an "economic miracle" under the leadership of Konrad Adenauer
West Germany
What were 78's, 45's, and 33's?
Records
Peninsula that was divided between two countries at the 38th parallel
Korea
Modern-day country in which the The Mau Mau Uprising occurred
Kenya
Treaty that was the Communist equivalent of NATO
Warsaw Pact
The world's largest corporation by revenue
General Motors
Singer of "Johnny B. Goode" and "Roll Over Beethoven"
Chuck Berry
Major discovery of Francis Crick and James Watson
Structure of DNA
35 Comments
+2
Level 66
Jun 9, 2015
It's People! Take your stinking paws off me you damn dirty ape!

Just could not remember Charleton Heston.

+1
Level 70
Dec 10, 2017
Omega Man
+1
Level 82
Jan 31, 2022
Soylent Green
+1
Level 59
Jun 9, 2022
Wayne's World 2
+1
Level 58
Mar 11, 2017
For some reason I was thinking Zulus for MauMaus. Is that racist?
+6
Level 80
Mar 11, 2019
no
+1
Level 64
Nov 2, 2017
Many countries had "economic miracles" in the 1950s including Mexico, Spain, Greece, Italy, etc. This questions should be removed or replaced.
+7
Level 69
Dec 10, 2017
qm refers to the 'Wirtschafswunder', which literally translates as economic miracle.
+1
Level 79
Dec 1, 2018
The Italian boom is also referred to as an 'economic miracle' in their language: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracolo_economico_italiano
+5
Level ∞
Jan 3, 2020
Added some more clarifying detail.
+4
Level 51
Dec 11, 2017
Hey, didn't Bill Wurtz tell me that Japan also had a post-war economic miracle?
+14
Level 65
Aug 20, 2019
You should accept Marty McFly, because he sang "Johnny B. Goode" on November 12, 1955.
+1
Level 61
Feb 7, 2020
The Starlighters should also be accepted.
+1
Level 69
Jan 16, 2024
Oh come on
+2
Level 66
May 21, 2020
Shoot, I typed "GM" and then assumed that General Motors wasn't it, even though it seemed right.
+29
Level ∞
May 21, 2020
Somehow you spelled GM wrong. I don't know how you did, but you did.
+1
Level 69
Nov 7, 2024
I tried three other car companies but not that one. At least I was on the right track.
+19
Level 84
Jan 30, 2022
Wilkins and Franklin forgotten as usual
+2
Level ∞
Sep 4, 2024
What about Raymond Gosling? Why are you leaving him out?
+5
Level 72
Nov 7, 2024
Literally the second sentence from his wiki: "he worked under the supervision of Maurice Wilkins and Rosalind Franklin"

C'mon Quizmaster you're better than this

also, you the one who left everyone out 😅

+1
Level 51
Nov 7, 2024
Awesome.
+2
Level 70
Jan 30, 2022
I feel like Johnny B Goode's prodigious bell ringing abilities are unfairly overshadowed by his guitar playing.
+1
Level 82
Jun 4, 2022
19/20 yields 4 points...hmm
+23
Level 61
Jun 4, 2022
Please add Rosalind Franklin as a co-discoverer of DNA.
+9
Level 70
Sep 25, 2024
Not even co-discoverer. It was all her.
+3
Level 71
Nov 7, 2024
Arguably Maurice Wilkins deserves (and got) some of the credit, and Raymond Gosling may deserve (and didn't get) some too.
+3
Level 79
Jun 4, 2022
Tibet was not a region but a de facto independent state.
+2
Level 80
Jun 4, 2022
Good quiz. I like the fact that probably the most important question is slipped in last
+1
Level 62
Sep 15, 2024
Quiz is not accepting Sputnik for me. I must have tried it a dozen times lol.
+1
Level ∞
Sep 15, 2024
Fixed! Sorry about that.
+4
Level 71
Oct 18, 2024
"The" Mau Mau should be in small caps (the)

Please accept LPs, vinyls for 'records'

Please add Rosalind Franklin as a co-discoverer of DNA

+3
Level 80
Nov 7, 2024
LPs played at 33 1/3. EPs were at 45. LPs by themselves aren’t quite right.
+1
Level 62
Nov 7, 2024
I tried 'vinyl rpms', 'vinyl speeds' and like 5 other combinations but 'records' lol
+2
Level 92
Nov 7, 2024
"Chuck! Chuck, it's Marvin. Your cousin, Marvin Berry. You know that new sound you're looking for? Well, listen to this!"
+1
Level 60
Dec 19, 2024
Now that we know who wrote The Catcher in the Rye, the next question is Hollywoo stars and celebrities, what do they know? Do they know things? Let's find out.