Turbulent, Tempestuous, Tumultuous - the Sixties Quiz

Answer: Greensboro, North Carolina

The "Greensboro Four", as they were known, were joined the following day by hundreds of their fellow students. By that summer Woolworth's had integrated their lunch counter. This act, and its non-violence, spurred similar sit-ins across the South and kick-started the Civil Rights Movement.

Answer: Freedom Riders

In "Boynton v. Virginia" (1960) the U.S. Supreme Court found that segregation was unconstitutional in interstate commerce. The Congress of Racial Equality organized what came to be known as Freedom Riders. The original group of 13 Freedom Riders, seven African Americans and six whites left Washington, D.C., on a Greyhound bus bound for New Orleans. They were to attempt to use public facilities at bus stops along the route to test whether or not the Boynton ruling was being followed. The stops were met with such violence by white mobs that federal troops were used to quell the violence in some cases.

In one case in Alabama where some of the Riders were arrested, the hearing judge turned his back to the defending arguments and sentenced each Rider to 30 days in jail. The continuing violence and arrests gained national and international attention. The Riders continued throughout the summer. Finally, in the fall of 1961 the Interstate Commerce Commission issued regulations prohibiting segregation in interstate bus terminals.

Answer: quarantine

The use of "quarantine" legally distinguished this action from a blockade. A "blockade" assumed that a state of war existed. The crisis contained its share of drama on both sides, not the least of which was the fact that the leaders of the U.S. and U.S.S.R. were directly involved.

Answer: USS Thresher (SSN 593)

The "USS Thresher" (SSN 593) was the first nuclear submarine to be lost at sea. The Thresher was launched on July 9, 1960, from Portsmouth Naval Yard in New Hampshire. She was built with new technology so that she could run more quietly and dive deeper. The disaster forced improvements in the design and quality control of submarines.

Answer: The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

In August 1964 the U. S. Congress overwhelming approved the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, giving President Lyndon Johnson nearly unlimited powers to oppose "communist aggression" in Southeast Asia, not just South Vietnam. The resolution marked the beginning of an expanded military role for the United States.

The Johnson administration used the resolution as a pretext to begin heavy bombing of North Vietnam and to introduce U.S. combat troops.

Answer: Audubon Ballroom

Malcolm Little was born in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1925. He moved around after his father was killed and ended up in the Roxbury section of Boston where he was part of a street gang. At the age of 21 he went to prison for 6 years for robbery. It was there that he joined the Nation of Islam.

He left the Nation of Islam in 1964 and split with its leader, Elijah Muhammad. Tensions grew until February 21, 1965, when he was assassinated by three members of the Nation of Islam.

Answer: a team composed of all black players defeated a team composed of all white players

The 1966 men's NCAA Basketball Championship was played at Cole Fieldhouse on the campus of the University of Maryland. The University of Kentucky Wildcats, coached by Adolph Rupp, faced the Texas Western Miners, coached by Don Haskins. The Miners fielded an all-black starting lineup against Rupp's all-white lineup. Haskins motivated his team by telling them about a promise made by Rupp that his white Kentucky team would not be defeated by an all-African-American lineup. Texas Western won the "game that changed American sports".

Answer: Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee

In January 1967 NASA held tests for the Apollo Program, which was designed to land a man on the moon and return him safely to Earth. An investigation into this tragic event found that a faulty wire was the most likely culprit. Astronauts Grissom, White, and Chaffee were trapped in the command module. Apollo missions 2-6 were of the unmanned variety.

After the tragedy with Apollo 1, the next manned Apollo launch was Apollo 7 in 1968.

Answer: The Ambassador Hotel

1968 was arguably not only the most tumultuous year of the decade, but of the century. Assassinations, riots, and violence across America, and the ever-engrossing conflict in Vietnam had us wondering what had become of America.

The Ambassador Hotel was a hotel in Los Angeles, California. It also housed the famous Coconut Grove nightclub, which hosted six Oscar ceremonies. Every Hollywood performer wanted to appear at the Coconut Grove. After the assassination of Senator Kennedy, the hotel and the surrounding area fell into decline. It was closed in 1989 and demolished in 2005.

Answer: The Weather Underground

The SDS Convention was continuously disrupted by riots initiated by the Weather Underground. The Weather Underground, also known as the as the Weathermen, represented the far-left wing of the SDS. The SDS had originated at the University of Michigan in 1969 and grew out of the anti-war protests being staged on college campuses across America. The Revolutionary Youth Movement (RYM) and RYMII were the progenitors of the Weather Underground.

The stated goal of the Weathermen was the violent overthrow of the U.S. Government. The Weather Underground's first major public demonstration, labelled "The Days of Rage", took place in Chicago, Illinois. This protest was a significant in that it revealed a more violent approach by the student movement.