Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Atomic bombs could be dropped by Russia at any moment, or at least that's what American schoolchildren were led to believe. When an air raid siren sounded, they were taught to curl up on the floor in a "duck and cover" exercise. What was the name of the cartoon turtle used to demonstrate this civil defense drill?
2. Polio struck over 60,000 people in 1952, mostly children, and killed 3,000 Americans. Imagine the horror of parents when a neighborhood child contracted the crippling childhood disease. Many vividly remember being stuck with a big needle full of Salk vaccine. A few years later another scientist developed an oral vaccine that was mercifully administered in a sugar cube. What was his name?
3. Invaders from space were nothing new in the 1950s. Orson Welles' 1938 radio rendition of "The War of the Worlds" had already frightened a nation. But when Russia launched its Sputnik in 1957 America renewed its fascination with space, and widespread reports of UFOs and invaders from outer space began. Hollywood jumped on the bandwagon and produced countless, low-budget horror films about all forms of creatures from beyond. Which of the following was not a scary 1958 science fiction film?
4. Emergency Broadcast System tests came on television randomly, and usually interrupted some enjoyable programming. As viewers held their breath awaiting word that Soviet nuclear warheads were about to rain down, they were forced to endure a half a minute of a loud, high-pitched obnoxious tone. In what year was the EBS initiated?
5. An "iron lung" was huge cylinders with a person's head sticking out of one end. Poor souls, mostly children, suffering from respiratory paralysis were forced to use the contraptions in order to breathe. A small mirror above their heads was a patients' only contact with the world around them. Where in the U.S. was this device first used?
6. Nikita Khrushchev was a fat, bald Soviet leader that promised to "bury" us, and banged his shoe on a podium at the United Nations. With the push of a button, he could have started World War III. From sending troops to crush the Hungarian uprising (1956), to building the Berlin Wall (1961), Khrushchev symbolized tyranny and remained a threat to world peace until he was deposed in 1964. Who was his successor?
7. What is the "Doomsday Clock"?
8. The prospect of Soviet missiles in Cuba not only caused churches to be open twenty-four hours a day, they put American military forces at DEFCON 2, the highest in U.S. history. Who was the U.S. Secretary of Defense during the 1962 crisis?
9. Red China was a huge, mysterious land mass on the other side of the world with enough people to march six abreast into the sea without running out of people. Many children believed that you could get to China by digging a hole deep enough in the backyard. What sport was largely responsible for an easing of tensions between China and the U.S.?
10. Mass murderers and serial killers made countless 1960s headlines, and American communities where paralyzed by sheer terror. Names like Whitman, Manson and Speck boosted hand gun sales while maniacs like the Boston Strangler killed repeatedly and evaded arrest. Those four were responsible for how many deaths?
Source: Author
rblayer
This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor
bloomsby before going online.
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