Memorable Photographs of the 20th Century Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Annie Leibowitz has recorded an era with her portraits of famous people, from Queen Elizabeth II to Miley Cyrus. One of the best-known was of a celebrated rock musician embracing his wife. He appears naked in the portrait, she is fully clothed, her long hair fanned out. The photo would appear on the cover of "Rolling Stone" magazine. Who were the famous pair?

Answer: John Lennon and Yoko Ono

On December 8, 1980, five hours after Leibowitz took the photograph, John Lennon was dead, murdered by Mark David Chapman. Originally the plan was to photograph Lennon only, but he was adamant that his wife appear as well. Leibowitz would later write in "Rolling Stone" that Lennon told her she "had captured their relationship exactly."

2. The photograph, known best as "V-J Day in Times Square" was taken on August 14, 1945, showing a young sailor enthusiastically kissing a nurse in a white uniform, amid a joyous crowd. The photo was published in "Life" magazine, and several people have claimed to be the subjects. Which famed photographer took the picture?

Answer: Alfred Eisenstaedt

Alfred Eisenstaedt was a master of the candid shot. His photograph capturing that celebration is one of the most famous of the 20th century. The contrast between the sailor's dark uniform and the nurse's white one made for a perfect composition, and the photographer knew he had a great picture.
Eisenstaedt is quoted in his book "Eisenstaedt on Eisenstaedt" as saying the sailor was running along the street kissing every female he came across. Quite a few people have come forward to say they were the photographed ones. There was a lot of kissing going on that day.

3. Some images just can't be forgotten. Most often called "Napalm Girl", this photograph of a young girl, running naked and screaming down a road along with her family, was shot just after her village had been bombed. In which country was this photo taken?

Answer: Vietnam

The photo was taken in June of 1972 by Associated Press photographer Nick �t. Phan Thị Kim Ph�c was nine years old when her village in Vietnam was attacked by South Vietnamese planes dropping napalm bombs. The girl was severely burned. The photographer immediately drove the girl and her injured family members to seek medical care. She recovered from the burns completely and now lives in Canada.

4. A photograph that would further turn public opinion against an already unpopular war was taken on the campus of Kent State University. A anguished girl kneels over the body of a young man, a student who had just been shot by National Guard troops during an anti-war demonstration. In what year was the photograph taken?

Answer: 1970

The girl in the photo was a runaway named Mary Vecchio, fourteen years old at the time. The photo taken by a student photographer named John Filo. The young man in the photo died, along with three others, with nine students injured.

College campuses were in turmoil in 1970, and Kent State University was no exception. After the exposure of the My Lai massacre, unhappiness over the draft lottery, the invasion of Cambodia, and secret bombing raids came to light, demonstrations were held on campuses all over the country. Richard Nixon had campaigned for the presidency on the promise of ending the war in Vietnam, and it seemed that the war was escalating, if anything. Ohio's governor sent National Guard troops to the Kent State campus, anticipating violence. The students became rowdy, and the National Guard opened fire on the crowd, with tragic results.

5. Among the best-known photographs of Mahatma Gandhi was the portrait taken of him at his spinning wheel, taken by a pioneering woman photographer. Known as "Gandhi Spinning Thread", it was taken in 1946 in Poona, India. What famous photojournalist took that photo?

Answer: Margaret Bourke-White

Margaret Bourke-White was sent to India by "Life" magazine to cover India's independence and the partition of India and Pakistan. Before Mahatma Gandhi allowed Bourke-White to photograph him, he asked her to learn to use the spinning wheel, which she did.

The spinning wheel had become symbolic of India's independence, and Gandhi encouraged all Indians to spin their own cloth and to burn all their British-made clothing. Margaret Bourke-White was the first professional woman photojournalist, and the first photographer from the United States allowed entry into the Soviet Union.

She was also the first woman photographer for "Life" magazine, the first woman to be a war correspondent and work in a combat zone during the Second World War, and one of the first to enter and photograph a German concentration camp when the war ended.

6. An American president stood in the doorway of a helicopter, smiling broadly, his arms raised in the air, his fingers forming the "V" sign. He almost appeared to be celebrating some triumph, but that was not the case. He was in fact saying goodbye, leaving the White House in disgrace. Who was this American president?

Answer: Richard Nixon

Following the Watergate scandal, and faced with almost certain impeachment by the U.S. Congress, Richard Milhouse Nixon chose to resign as President, the first ever to do so. The photograph was taken on August 9, 1974, by the media covering his departure.

7. One of the world's most admired war photographers was assigned by "Life" magazine to cover the Normandy invasion on D-Day, on Omaha Beach, during World War II. He shot several rolls of film of the action, including a famous photo of a young soldier struggling through the water towards the beach amidst the battle. What fearless journalist took those photographs?

Answer: Robert Capa

Robert Capa was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1913, and died after stepping on a land mine while covering the First Indochina War in 1953. He was a combat photographer who covered wars wherever they happened, including the Spanish Civil War, the Arab-Israeli War in 1948, and World War II. He landed on Omaha Beach with the first wave of soldiers, and he was in Paris on the Day of Liberation from the Germans.

All but eleven shots out of a hundred taken by Capa on Omaha Beach were lost in the darkroom, by a technician who exposed the film too soon in his eagerness to see the results. But the eleven that survived give us a vivid picture of that day. Among his work, a chilling 1944 photo of a French woman with her head shaved as punishment for collaborating with the enemy, and a famous photo taken during the Spanish Civil War, a soldier falling at the very moment he was shot.

8. During World War II, "pinup" shots of movie stars were very popular with soldiers. There were several famous pinups, but perhaps the best known was of a pretty blonde actress, wearing a bathing suit, with her hair piled in curls on her head. She's looking back over her shoulder at the camera, with a little smile on her face. Which actress posed for this famous shot?

Answer: Betty Grable

Grable's photograph was plastered on the noses of bombers and on soldier's footlockers. She was "the gal with the million dollar legs", and the GIs adored her.
A sultry photograph of Rita Hayworth kneeling on a bed wearing a nightgown was just as popular as the Grable pinup. Brunette actress Jane Russell was another favorite. They all gave the "boys" something to fight for. Marilyn Monroe came along a bit later, after the war.

9. On February 23, 1945, several Marines were photographed raising the American flag on the summit of Mount Suribachi, which was located on an island of great strategic value to both American and Japanese forces. The island came under control of American troops after fierce fighting. Which island was it?

Answer: Iwo Jima

Joe Rosenthal of the Associated Press would win the Pulitzer Prize for the photograph, which is usually called "Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima." One of the costliest battles in Marine Corps history took place on this island, with many casualties and injured. Situated halfway between Japan and U.S.-held Saipan Island, Iwo Jima was considered to be part of their homeland by the Japanese.

The island was vitally important to the United States as a refueling base for bombers on missions to Japan, and was used as an air-sea rescue site as well.

The photograph actually records the second raising of the American flag on Mount Suribachi, since there were no cameras present at the first.

10. A lone man stood in the path of a column of tanks, facing them down, armed with nothing but a shopping bag. The photo, generally known as "Man vs Tank" was taken in an enormous public square, during an anti-government demonstration. Where was this famous photo taken?

Answer: Tienanmen Square, Beijing, China

This picture was taken on June 5, 1989, during a time of turmoil in China. (It was actually taken on the Great Avenue of Chang'an just outside Tienanmen.) Many shots were taken of the lone man by different photographers present. The most frequently published was taken by Jeff Widener of the Associated Press.

Students and intellectuals were demonstrating in favor of economic and democratic reforms. The were also mourning the death of Hu Yaobang, a leader who supported such reforms. Their protests eventually led to large demonstrations in Tienanmen Square. The Chinese government sent troops to clear out the demonstrators, the troops opened fire on the crowds, and many people were killed.

All the photographs mentioned in this quiz can be found on the Internet.

Source: Author robbieh

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

Is photography art? Some say yes, others disagree. In any case, there's no denying the impact of photographs that capture images of major events and famous people. How many of these photographs have you seen?

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