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Current Events by Year, 1950–1969

Based on the clues, guess these things that happened in each year.
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: December 5, 2023
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First submittedAugust 27, 2013
Times taken39,710
Average score65.0%
Rating4.33
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Year
Hint
Answer
1969
First person to walk on the moon
Neil Armstrong
1968
Vietnamese holiday on which Viet Cong forces launched a major offensive
Tet
1967
Rock musical about a "tribe" of New York hippies which debuted off-Broadway
Hair
1966
"Revolution" launched by Mao with the goal of replacing traditional Chinese values
Cultural Revolution
1965
Black nationalist leader assassinated in Harlem
Malcolm X
1964
Band which caused a "mania" when they visited the U.S.
The Beatles
1963
City where John F. Kennedy was assassinated
Dallas
1962
Actress who sang "Happy Birthday” to John F. Kennedy
Marilyn Monroe
1961
Country in which the Bay of Pigs invasion took place
Cuba
1960
Still-running British soap opera which aired for the first time
Coronation Street
1959
The 50th state to join the U.S.
Hawaii
1958
Former general who became President of France
Charles de Gaulle
1957
Russian satellite which became the first man-made object to orbit Earth
Sputnik
1956
Country whose Prince Rainier married actress Grace Kelly
Monaco
1955
Military agreement signed between the Soviet Union and seven Eastern Bloc allies
Warsaw Pact
1954
Silicon device demonstrated by Bell Labs – modern computer chips have billions
Transistor
1953
Soviet leader who died
Joseph Stalin
1952
British king who died
George VI
1951
Television show starring Lucille Ball which debuted on CBS
I Love Lucy
1950
Peninsula in Asia where a major war started that is still, technically,
currently ongoing
Korea
+8
Level 49
Dec 21, 2013
Ohh... It is MalcoLm x. I'm so stoopid!
+1
Level 67
Dec 21, 2013
Yes, I knew how to spell it, but just neglected to put in the second 'L." Thankfully, I knew the answer was correct and just had to go back and respell it correctly--only cost a second or two. 20/20 2:48
+8
Level 77
Jan 22, 2014
the nice thing is that if you just type 'X' you will get it. :-)
+1
Level 48
Dec 21, 2013
Requiring the "The" in the Beatles is pretty stingy.
+5
Level ∞
Dec 22, 2013
That would be stingy indeed, but it's not required.
+3
Level 66
Jan 26, 2020
The s however is required I typed beatle first since it is beatle mania, surprised it wasnt accepted, then went ah but the group is called the beatleS. Still, given how the question is phrased I think it is fair to accept beatle as an answer.
+1
Level 21
Dec 21, 2013
This quiz relates so much to my IB History course this was like revision
+4
Level 43
Dec 30, 2015
What on earth is 'I Love Lucy'!?
+3
Level 89
May 8, 2016
A TV show that aired in the '50s.
+1
Level 79
Dec 21, 2020
And a very popular one too!
+1
Level 75
Dec 5, 2023
Or should it be "Isle of Lucy"?
+3
Level 75
May 12, 2016
One of the iconic US shows starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz that is still being played today. The episodes about Vitameatavegamin and working in the chocolate factory are classic episodes. On the other hand, I've never heard of Coronation Street, but if it's that good I'm surprised there isn't a US knockoff version.
+4
Level 75
May 20, 2016
It isn't good - it's a soap which is just as mind-numbingly pointless as the rest of them
+2
Level 79
Dec 21, 2020
The episode that showed little Ricky's birth in I Love Lucy was watched by 44 million viewers, meaning 72% of all U.S. homes with TVs were tuned into I Love Lucy that night. It topped President Dwight Eisenhower's inauguration which drew in 29 million viewers the day before.
+4
Level 82
Nov 26, 2016
One of the most influential works of contemporary media, particularly on comedy and specifically the television sitcom, in history. The show that really marked the transition between Americans going out to the cinema or other places for entertainment and instead sitting at home around the television set.
+3
Level 77
Jan 18, 2020
But kalbahamut, roleybob is absolutely right - it's just entertainment. Opinions as to it's value are divided but this quiz purports to be about historical events and if you look at the items for 1951, 1960, 1962 and 1967, you will see that it's diluted by trivia.
+4
Level 82
Jan 26, 2020
entertainment that signaled a profound change to society and the way that people live. And, considering modern humans spend something like 30-50% of their time on entertainment, what do you mean by "just entertainment?"
+4
Level 82
Jan 26, 2020
and where did you get the idea that the quiz was about something other than trivia? All of these things happened in the years given.
+4
Level 75
Jan 28, 2020
CardinalSin - I was talking about Coronation Street, not I Love Lucy
+6
Level 47
May 8, 2016
Surprised so many people don't know the Transistor. Guess I can't talk, I didn't know the city in which Kennedy was assassinated
+2
Level 60
May 8, 2016
I tried "chip" and "microchip," wouldn't have thought of "transistor" - associate that more with radios.
+1
Level 72
Jan 27, 2020
A microchip would have millions of transistors on it.
+1
Level 60
May 9, 2016
I tried about 8 different things before getting transistor.
+4
Level 52
May 9, 2016
I hate to be picky, but Malcolm X was killed at the Audubon Ballroom at 165th Street & Broadway, which is firmly in Washington Heights, not Harlem. I know because I live nearby! It's a minor detail, I know, but he definitely was not killed in Harlem.
+1
Level 37
Feb 5, 2018
You're absolutely right; but who is going to associate him with anywhere else but Harlem? - Perhaps if quizzes would identify

it as Washington Heights, people would memorize it.

+7
Level 74
Dec 24, 2016
a bit amero-centric, I think
+1
Level 82
Mar 7, 2024
So were current events 1950-1969.
+4
Level 53
Jan 26, 2020
It's a bit dissapointing that the event for 1956 is just the marriage of some actress to the prince of a microstate. Instead of the famous Hungarian revolution of 1956 or the Suez crisis
+3
Level 44
Jan 27, 2020
Just like 62 is about somebody singing to a president, and not for example the Cuban Missile crisis, or the independence of Algeria or Jamaica.
+4
Level 78
Jan 26, 2020
Here is a Non-US, Non-UK Events quiz for the complainers.
+6
Level 44
Jan 27, 2020
Thank you. I'm not saying the USA or UK didn't do anything that should be mentioned, like the assassination of JFK, Korean and Vietnam wars, Bay of Pigs and Cuban Missile crisis, but a lot of the American things mentioned are way too trivial and way more interesting or important things happened in those years.
+1
Level 78
Jan 28, 2020
On one hand, I agree that some things mentioned are trivial compared to other world events. However, trivia is often useful when learning about a country's culture, and I'd rather learn something new than always answer the same questions. Also, if there was a Russian/French/Chinese Jetpunk, it would be just as self-centered as US Jetpunk (perhaps a bit less, because of the international dominance of US culture).
+1
Level 52
Jan 26, 2020
Check out my 100-question version for the entire century - https://www.jetpunk.com/user-quizzes/212340/20th-century-events
+2
Level 40
May 6, 2022
These quizzes have too many questions about the British monarchy. I know history but I stopped caring about British royalty once they no longer had any real political power.
+2
Level 66
Jun 24, 2022
1962 is very weak - I realise these events don't have to be objectively the most important event of the year, but still, to choose a politician getting birthday wishes? Algeria (and a couple others) became independent (a few events connected with this), Nelson Mandela was arrested, Western New Guinea ceased to be ruled by the Dutch and became part of Indonesia, Cuban Missile Crisis (okay, then too similar to 1961), to give just a few. If you're so interested in Marilyn Monroe, she even died the same year, which was more notable at least than her singing "Happy birthday".
+2
Level 72
Mar 3, 2024
It's an iconic moment for Marilyn, up there with the subway grate scene from "The Seven Year Itch" and "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend" from "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes." It's also a sad one: Marilyn is running out of time, as her career was faltering, and she looks more tired than luminous. All underscored by an innocent joke that is appalling in retrospect when Peter Lawford introduces her as "the late Marilyn Monroe."

Judge for yourself from this old video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvoqK6aLE2E.

+1
Level 46
Jul 20, 2023
Can you please accept "corrie" for coronation street.
+2
Level 75
Dec 5, 2023
It has "Street" in it so Corrie doesn't fit. It could be that on its own, but not "Corrie Street".
+1
Level 73
Mar 10, 2024
77% don't know what a transistor is? Wow!