1950s - Sheet1

Question 1

hydrogen bomb

Answer 1

President Truman demanded the construction of this bomb in 1950 after finding out the Soviets detonated an atomic bomb.

Question 2

North and South Korea dividing parallel:

Answer 2

38th parallel North, when the North crossed this parallel in 1950 the Korean War began.

Question 3

22nd Amendment

Answer 3

This Amendment limited the president to two terms, passed in response to FDR’s presidency.

Question 4

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg

Answer 4

During the Second Red Scare, these two American citizens were given the death penalty for conspiracy to commit espionage insofar as passing information about the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union. While Julius was likely guilty, his wife was almost certainly innocent.

Question 5

UNIVAC I

Answer 5

The second computer in the United States, it was used by the census bureau and then by newscasters.

Question 6

Battle of Inchon

Answer 6

MacArthur lead this amphibious battle of the Korean War in which Japanese forces were repelled. MacArthur followed this up, fatally, with a full-scale Korean invasion prompting military intervention from China.

Question 7

Treaty of San Francisco

Answer 7

This 1951 treaty officially ended World War 2 between Japan and the allied nations, ended Japan’s position as an imperial power and called for compensation for allies who suffered Japanese abuses of human rights.

Question 8

Wernher von Braun

Answer 8

This man “The Father of Rocket Science” in 1952 published “Man Will Conquer Space Soon!” and then went on to aide NASA in space exploration.

Question 9

Flint-Worcester tornado outbreak sequence

Answer 9

These 1953 tornadoes killed more than 250 people and many blamed the government’s nuclear testing for the disaster.

Question 10

1953 Waco tornado outbreak

Answer 10

These tornadoes were among the deadliest in American history and lead to the creation of a National Weather Center.

Question 11

Atoms for Peace

Answer 11

The title of a speech given by Eisenhower to the U.N., in which he called for the whole world to be armed with nuclear bombs.

Question 12

détente

Answer 12

A Cold War tactic of gradually easing U.S.-Soviet tensions.

Question 13

polio

Answer 13

This disease was a pandemic from the 1900’s decade to the 1950’s until 1954 when a vaccination was ordered nationwide.

Question 14

Domino theory

Answer 14

Eisenhower began this 1950s-1980s Cold War theory that if one nation fell to communism surrounding nations would follow.

Question 15

Claudette Colvin

Answer 15

This African-American girl in 1955 refused to give up her seat to a white man. The NAACP declined to use her to represent the movement due to the fact that she became pregnant while unmarried.

Question 16

Emmett Till

Answer 16

In 1955, this 14 year old black boy was murdered for allegedly flirting with a white woman. The world was horrified by the brutality of the killing and it was a pivotal event in the Civil Rights Movement.

Question 17

Rosa Parks

Answer 17

A black woman who refused to give up her seat on the bus in 1955 sparking the Montgomery Bus Boycotts and the Civil Rights Movement.

Question 18

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Answer 18

This Civil Rights Leader got his start leading the Montgomery Bus Boycotts. He was also unfairly persecuted by J. Edgar Hoover.

Question 19

Federal Aid Highway Act

Answer 19

AKA the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act, signed by Eisenhower, it authorized an interstate highway system.

Question 20

1956 Grand Canyon mid-air collision

Answer 20

Two planes collided, killing all passengers, lead to sweeping regulations of cross-country flying and air traffic control.

Question 21

In God We Trust

Answer 21

Phrasing about God in the anthem and in the state motto became very popular during Eisenhower’s presidency as the nation was eager to distance itself from the atheistic Soviet Union.

Question 22

Bobby Fischer

Answer 22

An American chess prodigy who won his first victory when he was 13.

Question 23

Edsel

Answer 23

Ford lost millions on this failed automobile, which was less popular with the 1950s audience than predicted.

Question 24

Sputnik 1

Answer 24

The first artificial Earth satellite. It was launched by the Soviet Union and triggered the Space Race in 1957.

Question 25

Antarctic Treaty

Answer 25

A groundbreaking treaty signed between the U.S. and the Soviets in 1959 declaring Antarctica as a scientific preserve.