The Sixties Quiz

1. The Sixties Quiz A Special Feature For Us Baby Boomers

2. The sixties were jammed-packed with huge events that helped shape the lives and thoughts of 76 million baby boomers. This quiz should help give you an idea of what made the sixties so special for us.Can you identify which of the following events occurred in the sixties (1960-1969)? Respond to each, one at a time; "Yes" if you think it happened in the sixties; "No" if you think not, and we'll provide the correct answer right on the spot. Don't worry, we're not keeping score here.This is just for funzies. If you're a boomer, just sit back and enjoy some of the memories of the “good old days”. If you’re not a boomer, enjoy anyhow!

3. No That happened during his first term in the fifties. 1) Dwight Eisenhower had a heart attack while serving as president?

4. Yes, you’re correct Known as the ‘Bay of Pigs’ invasion in April of 1961, Cuban armed forces trained by Eastern Block nations defeated the combatants in three days. 2)  Rebels backed by the U.S. attempted a coup to overthrow Fidel Castro?

5. Yes On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy announced before a special joint session of Congress the dramatic and ambitious goal of sending an American safely to the Moon before the end of the decade. 3) President Kennedy challenged his country to land a man on the moon before the end of the decade? .

6. Yes Marilyn Monroe died August 4, 1962 at the age of 36. The coroner reported the probable cause of death as suicide from a lethal dose of barbiturates. 4) Marilyn Monroe died?

7. Correct Originally hosted by Jack Parr (1954) and then Steve Allen (1957) Johnny took over in October 1, 1962 and lasted until May 22, 1992. 5) Johnny Carson began a 30-year reign as host of the "Tonight Show“?

8. If you said No you got is right! You may not have even known that Elvis’ first #1 hit was Heartbreak Hotel April 21, 1956. 6) Elvis had his first #1 hit?

9. No is correct again! Elvis Aron Presley entered the United States Army at Memphis, Tennessee, on March 24, 1958, and then spent three days at the Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, Reception Station. He left active duty at Fort Dix, New Jersey, on March 5, 1960, and received his discharge from the Army Reserve on March 23, 1964.  His MOS was officially a tank gunner. 7) Elvis went into the Army?

10. Yes He performed the world's first human heart transplant operation on 3 December 1967, in an operation assisted by his brother, Marius Barnard; the operation lasted nine hours and used a team of thirty people. The patient, Louis Washkansky, was a 54-year-old grocer, suffering from diabetes and incurable heart disease. 8) Dr. Christian Barnard performed the world's first heart transplant in South Africa?

11. Yes President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, at 12:30 p.m. CST on November 22, 1963, while on a political trip. How could any of us forget. It was the same Friday night that Rockingham & Hamlet played for the championship. 9) President Kennedy was assassinated?

12. Correct On June 4, 1968, Robert F. Kennedy, the younger brother of President John F. Kennedy, won the California Democratic Primary. Shortly after midnight on June 5, 1968, Kennedy gave a victory speech at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California. After finishing his triumphant address, Kennedy exited the ballroom and traveled through the kitchen in order to reach a press conference. In the kitchen, Sirhan Sirhan shot Kennedy three times. An ambulance took Kennedy to Central Receiving Hospital and then to Good Samaritan Hospital for surgery. After hours of surgery, Kennedy remained in critical condition. On June 6, 1968, at 1:44 am PDT, Kennedy died. 10) Bobby Kennedy was assassinated?

13. Yes would be the correct answer At 6:01 p.m. on April 4, 1968, a shot rang out. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who had been standing on the balcony of his room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, TN, now lay sprawled on the balcony's floor. A gaping wound covered a large portion of his jaw and neck. A great man who had spent thirteen years of his life dedicating himself to nonviolent protest had been felled by a sniper's bullet. 11) Martin Luther King was assassinated?

14. Nope – Wrong Decade! On 13 January 1972, Wallace declared himself a candidate for President of the United States. Wallace was shot four times by Arthur Bremer while campaigning in Laurel, Maryland, on May 15, 1972, at a time when he was receiving high ratings in the opinion polls 12) Alabama Governor George Wallace was shot and paralyzed while running for president?

15. Yes Nixon lost the election 1960 narrowly, with Kennedy ahead by only 120,000 votes (0.2%) in the popular vote. There were charges of vote fraud in Texas and Illinois; Nixon supporters unsuccessfully challenged results in both states as well as nine others. After all the court battles and recounts were done, Kennedy had a greater number of electoral votes than he held after Election Day. 13) Richard Nixon lost the presidential election by a razor-thin margin?

16. Yes, you’re right here, too In a three-way race in 1968 between Nixon, Humphrey, and independent candidate George Wallace, Richard M. Nixon defeated Humphrey by nearly 500,000 votes to become the 37th President of the United States on November 5, 1968. 14) Richard Nixon won the presidential election?

17. Nope – Wrong decade On Friday August 9, 1974, under threat of impeachment, Richard Nixon became the only president in American history to resign from office. His resignation from political office was to be permanent, but he remained in the public eye as a prolific author and one of the nation's most cogent commentators on international politics. He even served as an informal adviser to many of his successors. 15) Richard Nixon was forced to resign from office in disgrace?

18. Sadly the answer is Yes Three US Astronauts, Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee are killed on the launch pad on January 27, 1967 during a simulated launch when a flash fire engulfs their command module during testing for the first Apollo/Saturn mission. They are the first U.S. astronauts to die in the line of duty. 16) Three U.S. astronauts died in a fire on the launch pad?

19. Yes Alan Shepard hit the world headlines on May 5th, 1961, when he became the first American in space in the tiny Mercury space capsule called Freedom 7. He was one of the original seven astronauts, who have become known as the "Mercury 7". 17) Alan Shepard became the first American to fly into space?

20. Yes He became the fifth person in space and the first American to orbit the Earth, aboard Friendship 7 on February 20, 1962, on the "Mercury Atlas 6" mission, circling the globe three times during a flight lasting 4 hours, 55 minutes, and 23 seconds. During the mission there was concern that his heat shield had failed and that his craft would burn up on re-entry, but he made his splashdown safely. Glenn was celebrated as a national hero, and received a ticker-tape parade reminiscent of Lindbergh. 18) John Glenn orbited the earth three times in the "Friendship 7”?

21. Yes indeed Launched from Florida on July 16, the third lunar mission of NASA's Apollo Program (and the first G-type mission) was crewed by Commander Neil Alden Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins, and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin Eugene "Buzz" Aldrin, Jr. On July 20, Armstrong and Aldrin landed in the Sea of Tranquility and became the first humans to walk on the Moon. Their landing craft, Eagle, spent 21 hours and 31 minutes on the lunar surface while Collins orbited above in the command ship, Columbia. The three astronauts returned to Earth with 47.5 pounds (21.55 kilograms) of lunar rocks and landed in the Pacific Ocean on July 24 19) The U.S. landed a man on the moon?

22. Nope – Wrong Decade Again Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev famously used an expression generally translated into English as "We will bury you!" ("Мы вас похороним!", transliterated as My vas pokhoronim!) while addressing Western ambassadors at a reception at the Polish embassy in Moscow on November 18, 1956 20) Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev warns the U.S., "History is on our side. We will bury you!“?

23. Yes On May 1, 1960, a U-2 spy plane piloted by Francis Gary Powers of the United States was shot down near Svedlovsk, Soviet Union. This event had a lasting negative impact on U.S. - U.S.S.R. relations. 21) An American spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union, giving the Russian leader all the reason he needed to cancel disarmament talks with the U.S.?

24. Yes November 15, 1969 - The 'Mobilization' peace demonstration draws an estimated 250,000 in Washington for the largest anti-war protest in U.S. history. 22) 250,000 protestors marched against the war in Washington, D.C.?

25. No – This was a build-up of events that happened in the 60’s The Kent State shootings – also known as the May 4 massacre or Kent State massacre – occurred at Kent State University in the city of Kent, Ohio, and involved the shooting of unarmed college students by members of the Ohio National Guard on Monday, May 4, 1970. The guardsmen fired 67 rounds over a period of 13 seconds, killing four students and wounding nine others, one of whom suffered permanent paralysis. 23) Four protestors were shot and killed by members of the National Guard during a demonstration against the war at Kent State University?

26. Yes 1964 --Surgeon General Luther L. Terry (1961-1965) issues Smoking and Health, the first Surgeon General's report to receive widespread media and public attention (January 11) 24) The U.S. surgeon general declared that cigarette smoking, a habit "enjoyed" by 60% of the adult population, is a major health hazard?

27. No Kennedy finally ran for the Democratic nomination in the 1980 presidential election by launching an unusual, insurgent campaign against the incumbent Carter, a member of his own party. A midsummer 1978 poll had shown Democrats preferring Kennedy over Carter by a 5-to-3 margin. During spring and summer 1979, as Kennedy deliberated whether to run, Carter was not intimidated despite his 28 percent approval rating, saying publicly: "If Kennedy runs, I'll whip his ass." 25) Ted Kennedy made a run for the presidency, but didn't get very far?

28. Yes In late September 1962, after a legal battle, an African-American man named James Meredith attempted to enroll at the University of Mississippi. Chaos briefly broke out on the Ole Miss campus, with riots ending in two dead, hundreds wounded and many others arrested, after the Kennedy administration called out some 31,000 National Guardsmen and other federal forces to enforce order. 26) The National Guard was required to oversee the integration of the University of Mississippi?

29. Nope – Wrong Decade Again The granddaughter of publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst and great-granddaughter of millionaire George Hearst, Patty Hearst gained notoriety in 1974 when, following her kidnapping by the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), she ultimately joined her captors in furthering their cause. Apprehended after having taken part in a bank robbery with other SLA members, Hearst was imprisoned for almost two years before her sentence was commuted by President Jimmy Carter. She was later granted a presidential pardon by President Bill Clinton in his last official act before leaving office. 27)   Newspaper heiress Patty Hearst was kidnapped by the so-called Symbionese Liberation Army?

30. Nope – Wrong Decade Again Elvis Presley died August 16, 1977 (aged 42) at Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee, of an apparent overdose of several prescription drugs 28) Elvis died?

31. Yes January 8, 1964: President Lyndon B. Johnson declares war, this time on poverty. During his State of the Union address, Johnson outlined ideas which he claimed would put an end to poverty. The Great Society he envisioned was to have the federal government taking a larger role in social welfare programs. His ideas were an extension of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal and Four Freedoms from decades earlier. 29) The president declares war on poverty in the U.S.?

32. Yes The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation between the Soviet Union, Cuba and the United States in October 1962, during the Cold War that would have resulted in war between Russia and the United States had Russia not agreed to remove missiles from Cuba. 30) The U.S. nearly went to war against the Soviet Union because of the presence of Russian nuclear missiles in Cuba?

33. Yes On the night of Aug. 8, 1969, members of cult leader Charles Manson's "Family" entered the Cielo Drive home of Roman Polanski and murdered his pregnant wife, Sharon Tate, in the name of "Helter Skelter," his twisted vision of apocalypse that he had lifted from The Beatles' White Album 31) Charles Manson and members of his cult brutally murdered actress Sharon Tate and several others?

34. Yes The Chicago Seven was a group of seven men who were arrested at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago and charged with conspiracy to incite a riot. The charge arose from an anti-Vietnam War demonstration outside the convention hall that was broken up by Chicago police. On February 18, 1970, after a raucous trial before Judge Julius Hoffman, a jury acquitted all seven defendants -- Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Dave Dellinger, Rennie Davis, Tom Hayden, Lee Weiner, and John Froines -- but found five of them guilty of crossing state boundaries with intent to incite a riot, a violation of a recently enacted federal statute that many authorities considered unconstitutional. Judge Hoffman sentenced the five to five years in prison and all seven and their counsel, William Kunstler, to short terms for contempt of court. All convictions on the federal count were overturned on appeal. 32) Abbey Hoffman, Tom Hayden, Bobby Seale, and Jerry Rubin are among the "Chicago 7" who were arrested during violent demonstrations at the Democratic National Convention?

35. 33) "Airport," "Jaws," and "The Exorcist" entice and thrill a boomer audience hungryfor exciting entertainment?

36. Yes "I Have a Dream" is the famous name given to the sixteen minute public speech by Martin Luther King, Jr., in which he called for racial equality and an end to discrimination. King's delivery of the speech on August 28, 1963, from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, was a defining moment of the American Civil Rights Movement. Delivered to over 200,000 civil rights supporters 34) Dr. Martin Luther King, preaching non-violence, offered his "I Have a Dream" speech before a audience of 200,000 in Washington, D.C.?

37. Yes The Detroit 1967 race riot or the 1967 Detroit rebellion was a multiracial civil disturbance in Detroit, Michigan that began in the early morning hours of Sunday, July 23, 1967. To help end the disturbance, Governor George Romney ordered the Michigan National Guard into Detroit, and President Lyndon B. Johnson sent in United States Army troops. The result was forty-three dead, 467 injured, over 7,200 arrests and more than 2,000 buildings burned down. 35) Huge and horrible race riots in Detroit surpassed those in the Watts section of Los Angeles two years earlier, in terms of both financial cost and lives lost. Forty-one people died; Detroit's mayor said, "It looks like Berlin in 1945." ?

38. Yes The First AFL-NFL World Championship Game in professional American football, later known as Super Bowl I and referred to in some contemporary reports as the Supergame, was played on January 15, 1967 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California. The NFL’s Green Bay Packers beat the AFL’s Kansas City Chiefs 35-10 36) The first Super Bowl was played?

39. Yes The song "The Twist" was written by Hank Ballard in 1959. He and his boys made up some twisting movements for the boys to do while playing music. Then in 1960, Chubby Checkers' twist record reached #1 on US charts and made the Twist (rock and roll dance) famous. 37) The Twist became the newest dance craze?

40. Yes The song "The Twist" was written by Hank Ballard in 1959. He and his boys made up some twisting movements for the boys to do while playing music. Then in 1960, Chubby Checkers' twist record reached #1 on US charts and made the Twist (rock and roll dance) famous. 37) The Twist became the newest dance craze?

41. This is a Classic ’60’s YES The British Invasion is a term used mainly in the United States to describe the large number of rock and roll, beat and pop performers from the United Kingdom who became popular in the U.S.A. from 1964 to 1966. 38) The Beatles led the "British invasion," landed in New York, and changed rock music forever?

42. 39) The women's liberation movement took off with the publishing of "The Feminine Mystique" by Betty Friedan?

43. Yes In 1961, Roger Maris hit his 61st home run of the season and broke a record that no one thought would ever be duplicated, much less broken. Babe Ruth's record of 60 home runs had stood since 1927. Historians describe that 1927 Yankees squad as one of the greatest ever. Ruth's feat of 60 home runs made that season even more memorable. 40) Roger Maris broke Babe Ruth's single-season home run record?

44. Yes The Walt Disney World Resort is the world's largest and most visited recreational resort, covering a 25,000-acre (39 sq mi; 100 km2) area southwest of Orlando, Florida, USA. The resort encompasses four theme parks, two water parks, 24 on-site themed resort hotels (excluding 8 that are on-site, but not owned by the Walt Disney Company), two health spas and fitness centers, and other recreational venues and entertainment. It opened on October 1, 1971 with only the Magic Kingdom theme park, and has since added Epcot (October 1, 1982), Disney's Hollywood Studios (May 1, 1989), and Disney's Animal Kingdom (April 22, 1998). 41) Disneyworld, a huge theme park outside of Orlando, opened to the public?

45. Nope – Next Decade Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (January 22, 1973), was a landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court on the issue of abortion. The Court held that a woman's right to an abortion is determined by the stage of pregnancy, and the state cannot prohibit abortion before viability. 42) The landmark Supreme Court decision, Roe vs. Wade, gave womenthe legal right to have an aobrtion?

46. Nope – Again, Next Decade The Twenty-sixth Amendment (Amendment XXVI) to the United States Constitution standardized the voting age to 18. It was adopted in response to student activism against the Vietnam War and to partially overrule the Supreme Court's decision in Oregon v. Mitchell. It was adopted on July 1, 1971. 43) The minimum voting age in the U.S. is officially lowered from 21 to 18?

47. Yes By year's end in 1967, U.S. troop levels reach 463,000 with 16,000 combat deaths to date. By this time, over a million American soldiers have rotated through Vietnam, with length of service for draftees being one year, and most Americans serving in support units. An estimated 90,000 soldiers from North Vietnam infiltrated into the South via the Ho Chi Minh trail in 1967. Overall Viet Cong/NVA troop strength throughout South Vietnam is now estimated up to 300,000 men. 44) With hundreds of American soldiers dying every week, the "troop strength" in Vietnam increased to 475,000?

48. Yes On June 19, 1964, Kennedy was a passenger in a private Aero Commander 680 from Washington to Massachusetts that crashed on final approach into an apple orchard in bad weather, in the western Massachusetts town of Southampton. The pilot and Edward Moss, one of Kennedy's aides, were killed. Kennedy was pulled from the wreckage by fellow Senator Birch E. Bayh II and spent months in hospital recovering from a severe back injury, a punctured lung, broken ribs and internal bleeding. He suffered chronic back pain from the landing for the rest of his life. 45) Ted Kennedy nearly died in a plane crash?

49. Yes Again On July 18, 1969, Kopechne attended a party on Chappaquiddick Island, off the coast of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, held in honor of the Boiler Room Girls. It was the fourth such reunion of the Robert Kennedy campaign workers. Kopechne reportedly left the party at 11:15 p.m. with Robert's brother Ted Kennedy, after he — according to his own account — offered to drive her to catch the last ferry back to Edgartown, where she was staying. She did not tell her close friends at the party that she was leaving and she left her purse and keys behind. Kennedy drove the 1967 Oldsmobile Delmont 88 off a narrow, unlit bridge without guardrails that was not on the route to Edgartown. It landed in Poucha Pond and overturned in the water. Kennedy extricated himself from the vehicle and survived, but Kopechne did not. 46) Ted Kennedy drove his car off a bridge, killing the passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne?

50. Yes The Berlin Wall (German: Berliner Mauer) was constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany), in 1961, that completely cut off the city of West Berlin, separating it from East Germany (including East Berlin). The barrier included guard towers placed along large concrete walls, which circumscribed a wide area (later known as the "death strip") that contained anti-vehicle trenches, "fakir beds" and other defenses. 47) Under the direction of the Soviet Union, East Berliners were trapped by a 26-mile long cement wall, effectively imprisoning its residents?