The Swingin' Sixties Trivia Quiz

Answer: Francis Gary Powers

The plane was downed on May 1, 1960 when Eisenhower was President.
Eichmann was captured in Argentina ("don't cry for him").
Kennedy beats Nixon. Fraser beats Laver at Wimbledon.
A first class stamp is four cents.

Paul Tibbets was the pilot of the Enola Gay in 1945.
Charles Sweeney piloted Bock's Car over Nagasaki in 1945.
Wiley Post was the first pilot to fly solo around the world in 1933.

Answer: Robert Frost

Poet Robert Frost (1874-1963) recited his poem on inauguration day on January 20, 1961. Frost died in Massachusetts, but he was born in San Francisco, CA.
The Bay of Pigs invasion on April 17, 1961 failed badly.
On August 13, 1961 East and West Berlin were physically separated for the first time, thus closing the last gap in the Iron Curtain. The construction of the Berlin Wall was completed by the end of the year.
The Federal debt is 292.6 billion.
Maya Angelou (1928-2014) recited at Clinton's inauguration.
Dickinson lived from 1830 to 1886.
Kahlil Gibran ("The Prophet") lived from 1883 to 1931.

Answer: Pat Brown

Edmund Gerald "Pat" Brown Sr. (1905-1996) is sometimes called "The Godfather of California". Pat was Attorney General of California before becoming Governor in 1959. He lost his bid for a third term to Ronald Reagan in 1966. His son "Jerry" served as the 34th and 39th Governor. France transfers sovereignty over to Algeria on July 3, 1962.
James Meredith, escorted by Federal Marshals, registers at the University of Mississippi on October 1, 1962.
Life expectancy in the U.S. is 70.1 years.

Answer: J.D.Tippit

Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested for the murder of President Kennedy and Officer J.D. Tippet. J.D. Tippit was shot later when he received a radio message and called Oswald over to his patrol car to question him. Governor Connally was in the car with the President and was also shot, but he survived. James Tague was a spectator who received a minor wound. Roy Truly was the supervisor who reported Oswald missing.
Martin Luther King delivers his "I have a dream" speech on August 28, 1963.
Kenya achieves independence.
Pope John XXIII dies and is succeeded by Pope Paul VI on June 21, 1963.

Answer: Mississippi

On June 21, 1964 James Chaney from Mississippi and two New Yorkers, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, all in their early twenties, were murdered in Neshoba Colunty, Mississippi. They were abducted, shot at close range and killed by members of the local White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Their story was depicted in the 1988 film "Mississippi Burning" directed by Alan Parker.
Nelson Mandela is sentenced to life imprisonment in South Africa.
Khrushchev is deposed; Brezhnev becomes General Secretary of the Communist Party.
Jack Ruby is convicted of murder.
Cost of a first class stamp is now five cents.

Answer: Malcolm X

Malcolm X (1925-1965), born Malcolm Little and also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, was a Muslim minister and an activist for human rights. Malcolm's father was shot when he was six, and his mother was placed in a mental institution when he was 13. He lived in foster homes and wound up in prison for larceny. While in prison he became a member of the Nation of Islam.
"The Autobiography of Malcolm X" was published shortly after his death.
The first US combat troops arrive in Vietnam.
Rhodesia declares unilateral independence from Britain.
The world population is 3.345 billion.

Answer: Miranda vs Arizona

Miranda vs Arizona was a landmark Supreme Court decision, ruling that detained criminal suspects, prior to police questioning, must be informed of their constitutional right to an attorney and against self-incrimination. And thus, all cop TV shows from then on had to add "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law." Sukarno leaves office, Guyana becomes independent and unemployment is 4.5%.

The others: Scopes ended with a victory on a technicality in 1925 for evolution. Marbury vs Madison was the first time the Supreme Court ruled a law unconstitutional (1803). Roe v Wade was about abortion (1973).

Answer: Palestine

The Six Day War, also known as the June War, was an Arab-Israeli conflict between Israel and the countries of Jordan, Egypt and Syria. It was fought between June 5 and June 10, 1967. The war resulted in territorial changes, i.e., Israel captured the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, the West Bank from Jordan and the Golan Heights from Syria.

The state of Palestine (the PLO) did not declare its independence until 1988. Racial violence breaks out in Detroit (July 23, 1967); Astronauts Griffin, White and Chaffee are killed during test flight (1/27/67); Thurgood Marshall is sworn in as first black justice of the Supreme Court (10/2/67).

Answer: Los Angeles

This was a turbulent year! On June 6, 1968 Robert F. Kennedy was slain in a Los Angeles hotel, a day after winning the California Democratic Primary. Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered in Memphis, Tennessee just two months earlier on April 4, 1968.
President Johnson announces he will not seek renomination (March 31st).
North Korea seizes the US Navy ship 'Pueblo' on January 23rd.
Czechoslovakia is invaded by Russians on August 20th.
North Vietnam launches the Tet Offensive (January through February).
A first-class stamp costs six cents as of January 7, 1968.

Answer: Apollo 11

For the first time in history, on July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 successfully lands on the moon. As Neil Armstrong said "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind". The first man-made craft, the Eagle, touched down safely, completing the mission objective and causing Armstrong to say "Houston, the Eagle has landed".
Muammar al-Qaddafi deposes King Idris in Libya.
The Stonewall riots occur in New York City (June 28th).
In August 1969 half a million people gather in Bethel, NY (near Woodstock) for rock 'n roll plus sex and drugs.