What Happened in ...? (1950s edition) Quiz

Answer: Joseph McCarthy

McCarthy, a Republican from Wisconsin, made this statement in a speech to a women's club in his home state, and it caused a furor in the federal government. Within the month, committee hearings were set up to determine whether disloyal persons had been employed by the State Department, and though the committee would eventually find that McCarthy's charges were fraudulent, he had made a name for himself and would continue with his investigations for years.

Answer: "The Shot Heard 'Round the World"

Outfielder Thomson of the New York Giants hit a home run in the bottom of the ninth inning in the third game of a three-game playoff between the Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers, winning the National League Pennant. The Giants were at one point 13 and a half games back of the Dodgers in the standings, but roared back by winning 37 of their last 44 games to force a tie. Waiting on deck behind Thomson? Willie Mays.

Incidentally, Blindlady-27 was also born in 1951. Thanks for the heads-up!

Answer: The Soviet Union

Israel also made its debut in the Olympics in Finland in 1952, but did not win a medal. The United States won a total of 76 medals (40 gold) and the USSR scored 71 overall (22 gold), beginning a rivalry that lasted until the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. The other three countries listed made their debuts during the next Olympiad, in 1956 in Melbourne, Australia.

Answer: "I Love Lucy"--Lucy gives birth to Little Ricky.

The show "Lucy Goes to the Hospital" aired on January 19, and drew a 71.7% rating, beating the 67.7% rating that Eisenhower's inauguration would hit the very next day. The producers of the show planned the episode to coincide with actress Lucille Ball's real-life pregnancy and delivery of Desi Arnaz, Jr. Over the next seven years, five child actors would play Ricky.

Answer: The USS Nautilus

Many people believe that the American sub "Nautilus" was named for Captain Nemo's ship in Jules Verne's "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea", but actually 'Nautilus' has a long history when it comes to naval nomenclature--Robert Fulton built a submarine vessel named 'Nautilus' in 1800, seventy years before Verne wrote his novel.

In 1958, the ship became the first vessel to reach the North Pole (albeit underwater).

Answer: The Guinness Book of Records

"The Guinness Book of Records" is the copyrighted book with the most copies sold worldwide, thus making it eligible for one of its own records. The compilation's origins lay in an argument between Sir Hugh Beaver (of the Guinness Breweries) and some of his acquaintances about which was the fastest European game bird. And I still can't find an answer to that question ...

Since 1955, the book's name has changed several times, becoming "The Guinness Book of World Records", and now it's "Guinness World Records" (thanks to ozzz2002 for the clarification!)

Answer: Howl

"Howl" became perhaps the most famous work of the Beats. It went on trial for obscenity (mostly due to its frank treatment of homosexuality), but in 1957 was deemed of "redeeming social importance" and allowed to be sold. During the trial, nine literary experts testified as to the poem's worth.

Answer: Paul McCartney and John Lennon

In July of 1957, Lennon's band The Quarrymen was playing a gig at St. Peter's Woolton Parish Church in Liverpool (he was 16), and McCartney (then 15) was at the fete, heard the band, and was introduced to his future collaborator. By October, the two were playing together.

In February they brought 14-year-old George Harrison into the band, and they started thinking of names. "Johnny and the Moondogs" was an early option, but eventually they settled on "The Beatles".

Answer: Television

The rationale was, that when Clare was too sick to attend Mass, she saw it 'broadcast' onto the wall of her chamber. A nun in the order of Saint Clare (known as "The Poor Clares", "The Order of Poor Ladies" or "The Minoresses") was the founder of the Eternal Word Television Network, a Catholic-themed television network based in Alabama.

Answer: Plane crash

A charter plane carrying Buddy Holly, J.P. Richardson ("The Big Bopper") and Richie Valens crashed near Clear Lake in Iowa, killing the three of them and the pilot (Roger Peterson). Waylon Jennings had originally been scheduled to fly with Holly and Valens, but gave up his seat to Richardson because the latter had caught the flu and wanted to get to Minnesota quickly. Valens got his seat because he'd never flown in a small plane before and wanted to experience it.

The tragedy was immortalized in Don McLean's 1971 song "American Pie".