60s News - Read All About It! Quiz | Nostalgia

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Amid the chill of the Cold War, the United States began an embargo against which country on 3 February 1962?

Answer: Cuba

On January 9, 1962 the USSR and Cuba signed a trade agreement, which was a direct slap in the face for the US. Four weeks later, the U.S. began the, now famous, trade embargo against Cuba, which has remained in force ever since, denying the aficionados the pleasures of an Havana cigar, and keeping living standards in Cuba low.

2. Dag Hammarskjold became Secretary General of the United Nations in 1953, and was a major force for change in the infancy of the UN. Which of the statements below, regarding his life, is true?

Answer: He died in a plane crash in Northern Rhodesia in 1961

Dag Hammarskjold was killed when the plane in which he was traveling crashed in what is now Zambia (then Northern Rhodesia) in 1961. As Secretary General of the UN from 1953-61, Dag greatly extended the UN's influence and power in the world. His far-reaching initiatives led many to believe that operatives of the Soviet Union took steps to eliminate him.

He is, as of 2010, the only posthumous recipient of a Nobel Prize.

3. Who can forget a great marketing line of the 60s - "In Your Heart You Know He's Right," Do you remember the subject of the catch-phrase?

Answer: Barry Goldwater

In 1964, as Republican Presidential candidate, Goldwater stated that Social Security was unsustainable in its then current form. He was immediately accused of wanting to end Social Security altogether. A staunch supporter, Ronald Reagan, got his first national political recognition as the keynote speaker at the Republican Convention. And the rest, as they say - is politics.

4. Highly praised by other top drivers for his easy, yet in-charge driving style, Jim Clark achieved great success in his short and tragic career. He won two Formula 1 World Championships, as well as the Indy 500, the first non-American for nearly 50 years to win the pinnacle of US racing. With so many great cars and racing teams at the time, which racing team did Jim choose drive for?

Answer: Lotus

Jim Clark won 25 of his 72 Formula 1 races and competed at the Indy 500 five times, gaining a win and two second places. His versatility as a driver was legendary, both in the variety of cars he drove and the many types of races in which he competed - from Formula 1 to NASCAR and everything in between. He was an enormously popular driver, whose premature death at the Hockenheim race track in Germany, in April 1968, was greeted with shock and tremendous sadness. There has been much speculation that the rear tires deflated, and that it was that, and not driver error, that caused the crash.

Lotus cars, started by Colin Chapman in the 1950s, developed a very successful Formula 1 racing team, as well as the Lotus Elan, a sporty 2-seater that in many ways epitomized the 1960s.

One of Lotus' early successful drivers was Sterling Moss. After the untimely death of Jim Clark, Graham Hill picked up the slack for Team Lotus.

5. Died in 1968 - This famous Aussie man of medicine helped save many people in the world, who would otherwise have died. He was the first Australian to be named President of the Royal Society of Medicine. He was recipient of the 1945 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine. He was elevated to the peerage in 1965. Who was this great Australian?

Answer: Howard Florey

Lord Florey was born in Adelaide, Australia in 1898. He won a scholarship to study in England at Oxford University, where he later became a professor of pathology. Although penicillin was accidentally discovered by Alexander Fleming, it was Florey, in the 1940s, who developed penicillin for production and distribution, saving millions of lives, many in WWII.

There is a suburb of Canberra named after Florey, and in addition he appears on the Australian $50.00 note.

6. The 1960s was a time that saw most of Africa gain independence from their colonial masters. As Harold Macmillan had famously said 'The winds of change' were blowing across Africa. Many countries were granted independence in 1960, which major East African Country had to wait until 1963?

Answer: Kenya

In December of 1963 Kenya was given independence from Great Britain. Jomo Kenyatta became the first Prime Minister and then President in 1964 and was considered the Father of Kenya. He was a Kikuyu and carried this dominant tribe with him. There had been much unrest with the MauMau rebellion, and the British Crown Court had tried to link Kenyatta to the rebels. It was revealed that witnesses had been bribed, and there was no evidence whatever to uphold this contention.

Jomo Kenyatta was almost single-handedly responsible for bringing tribal peace to Kenya, allowing the country to create an incredible tourist industry both for never-forgotten safaris and for the beautiful beaches around Mombasa. Tourists came in droves, because of the perceived stability of the country,

7. What pharmaceutical was first approved for distribution in 1963, which subsequently became, and has stayed, one of the most over-prescribed medications on the planet?

Answer: diazepam (Valium)

Developed as a replacement for Librium, diazepam is 2-1/2 times stronger than its predecessor. It was marketed under the name of Valium by Hoffman La Roche. Intended for the treatment of anxiety, it was also prescribed for alcohol and opiate withdrawal, as well as insomnia. It had proven to be highly addictive to many people, which is why Doctors have moved patients onto other, newer medications.

Valium has been successfully used for many years in outpatient mildly invasive procedures, to keep the patient in a haze, thus eliminating the need for a full anesthetic.

8. What groundbreaking movie, centered in New York City, was the first "X" rated film to win an Academy Award in 1969?

Answer: Midnight Cowboy

"Midnight Cowboy" was a 1969 release starring Dustin Hoffman and, a then relatively unknown, Jon Voight. The movie centered around a Texan named Joe Buck (Voight) who came to New York to become a male hustler. In the course of pursuing his career choice, Joe ran into a crippled con man named Enrico "Ratso" Rizzo (Hoffman) and the two of them formed a reluctant bond as a couple of two-bit criminals. They ultimately developed a genuine affection for each other. Their personal stories were shown through flashbacks during the film. Eventually Rizzo's condition worsens and he dies at the end of the movie, on the way to sunny Florida.

The film was the first "X" rated film to win an Academy Award. (It actually won 3 Oscars). The "X" rating was given due to scenes involving both straight and gay sexual content.

Music from the film included the single "Everybody's Talkin', by Harry Nilsson.

Ironically, Voight, who played the na�ve Texan, is originally from New York, and Hoffman, who played the street smart New Yorker, is from Los Angeles.

9. We all remember John F. Kennedy defeating Richard M. Nixon in a very close race in the 1960 presidential election. We also remember the first televised presidential debates, but who remembers Nixon's running mate on the Republican ticket? Do you?

Answer: Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.

Nixon had chosen Senator Lodge of Massachusetts as his running mate, in the hope that Lodge's presence on the ticket would force Kennedy to divert time and resources to securing his Massachusetts base. The Cabot Lodges were also a well-respected New England family. It is unlikely that he and Nixon had much in common. As it happened, Nixon's plan failed, and Kennedy won his home state handily.

Charles Sullivan was running under the Constitution Party banner,and Nelson Rockefeller and Barry Goldwater had been the other two Republican nominees. Nixon would live to fight another day, to successfully bring the Presidency into ill-repute from a quagmire of lies and illegal acts.

10. By the 1960s the move from traditional grocery stores to less labor intensive supermarkets was well underway. During the 60s the concept of self service began to be applied to the banking industry. In which major financial center was the first "cash machine" installed, that allowed customers to withdraw cash from current/checking accounts?

Answer: Barclays Bank, London

Whilst Abu Dhabi can claim a 'first' in the development of ATMs it is not as the location of the first cash dispenser.

The City Bank of New York installed an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) in 1961 which accepted deposits, but did not dispense cash. This machine was removed after six months as it was widely ignored by customers. The first machine to dispense cash was installed in June of 1967 in London at the Enfield branch of Barclay's Bank. Two years later the first networked ATM was installed by Chemical Bank in the Rockville Center New York. The first ATM dispensing gold was installed in Abu Dhabi in 2010.

Source: Author Englizzie

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

60s News - Read All About It! Trivia Quiz

The 60s was a 'Stop the Presses' decade. We all remember the huge stories. However, we Sixties survivors present to you more of a smorgasbord of interesting news from many countries. We hope you enjoy our memories.

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