A Slice in Time: 1940s History #2 Quiz

Answer: Jan Christiaan Smuts

De Klerk was the last president of South Aftica before apartheid ended in 1994. P W Botha was the Prime Minister of South Africa from 1978-1984. Barnard was the surgeon who performed the world's first heart transplant. Though very popular after WWII, Smuts narrowly lost his 1948 bid for president of the country, due in large part to his party's support for lessening the race segregation laws.

Answer: Pete Townshend

Townshend was a founding member of the seminal rock band "The Who" and wrote many of their hits including most of the songs of the rock opera "Tommy." Guitar virtuosos Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton were both members of the Yardbirds, whose songs included "For Your Love." Clapton left the group after a year and was the first three-time inductee into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame (as a solo artist and with the The Yardbirds and Cream). Page was named to the Hall of Fame as a member of The Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin. Jimi Hendrix was born in Seattle in 1942, died in London in 1970 and was named to the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.

Answer: Prague

In retaliation for Heydrich's murder Heinrich Himmler ordered the arrest, deportation, imprisonment and/or killing of more than 10,000 Czechs.

Answer: Santa Fe

Other hit songs from 1945 were "Sentimental Journey" by Les Brown and "Rum and Coca-Cola" by the Andrews Sisters. Johnny Mercer won his first Acadedmy Award for "Atchison" as well as three additional Oscars for "In The Cool, Cool, Cool Of The Evening" from "Here Comes The Groom" (1951), "Moon River" from "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (1961) and "Days of Wine and Roses" from the movie of the same name (1962).

Answer: Penicillin

While the antibacterial effects of penicillin had been known since 1928, mass producing the drug posed a problem. Legend has it that after a search around the world a moldy canteloupe was found in a grocery store that proved to be the best source of naturally occuring penicillin.

The first large scale production of the drug was in 1944 just prior to D-Day. The value of dry socks and condoms in Vietnam were cited by Lieutenant Dan in the movie "Forrest Gump."

Answer: Christian Dior

Both St. Laurent and Cardin worked for Christian Dior early in their careers. Dior was an innovator in global brand marketing, being amongst the first to capitalize on his name recognition by launching a variety of non-clothing products including a line of perfumes and home furnishings.

Answer: Princess Juliana

Juliana, queen of the Netherlands, was born in 1909 and ascended the throne in 1948 upon the abdication of her mother. She in turn abdicated the throne herself in 1980 in favor of her daughter who assumed the title Beatrix of the Netherlands. Prince Ernst August of Hanover was the third husband of Princess Caroline of Monaco.

There have been at least eight Norwegian princes named Haakon.

Answer: San Francisco

The United Nations charter was signed at the San Francisco Opera House. The permament headquarters of the UN moved to New York in 1949.

Answer: London

The 1948 Games were the first to be televised, although there were few homes in the UK with sets. Fun fact: Hungarian Karoly Takacs had been a member of his country's 1938 world champion pistol shooting team when a grenade shattered his right hand. He then re-learned to shoot with his left hand went on to take the top spot in the rapid-fire pistol event in 1948.

Answer: Charles Lindbergh

Lindbergh was viewed as a Nazi sympathizer for several reasons. He was deeply involved with the America First Committee, an anti-war group. Additionally he had made several trips to Germany prior to the war, was friends with well known anti-Semite Henry Ford and he was a proponent of eugenics.

Many now say that Lindbergh's views were common in the US and he wasn't so much a Nazi sympathizer as an inexperienced and naive politician who was unable to clearly articulate his positions.