1946 Trivia Quiz Questions From the 40s
A revised and streamlined revival of what Kern and
Hammerstein show opens on
Broadway at the Ziegfeld Theatre?
A: Show Boat.
Where is the first meeting of the United Nations is held?
A: At Methodist Central Hall Westminster in
London.
Project Diana bounces radar waves off the
Moon, measuring
the exact distance between the Earth and the Moon, and proves that what?
A: Communication is possible between Earth and outer space, effectively opening
the Space Age.
Who declares the People's Republic of Albania, with himself
as prime minister?
A: Enver Hoxha.
What does Charles de Gaulle do?
A: Charles de Gaulle resigns as president of
France.
The United Nations Security Council holds what?
A: Its first session.
The Bell XS-1 is test flown for the first time (unpowered),
with whom at the controls?
A: Bell's chief test pilot Jack Woolams.
The United Mine Workers rejoins the what?
A: American Federation of Labor.
What happens to the Canadian schooner Bluenose?
A: It founders on a Haitian reef.
Who is selected as the first United Nations
Secretary-General?
A: Trygve Lie of Norway.
The Kingdom of Hungary becomes a what?
A: A republic, heavily influenced by the Soviet Union.
What happens to the Bank of England?
A: It is nationalized.
ENIAC (for "Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer"),
an early general-purpose electronic computer, is what?
A: Unveiled at the University of Pennsylvania.
Who is elected president of Argentina?
A: Juan Perón.
Who is elected President of North Vietnam?
A: Ho Chi Minh.
Who resigns as president of Finland?
A: C. G. E. Mannerheim.
In his speech at Westminster College, in Fulton,
Missouri,
what does Winston Churchill talk about?
A: The Iron Curtain.
At the 18th Academy Awards, what film wins best picture?
A: The Lost Weekend.
Who becomes president of Finland?
A: Juho Kusti Paasikivi.
What strikes Hilo and Laupāhoehoe on the Big Island of
Hawaii?
A: A 14-meter high tsunami with 173 killed and thousands injured.
Singapore becomes a what?
A: Crown colony.
Who is executed outside Manila, for leading the Bataan
Death March?
A: Japanese Lt. General Masaharu Homma.
In Japan, what happens for the first time?
A: Women vote during
elections for the House of Representatives of the 90th
Imperial Diet.
Syria's independence from what country is officially
recognized?
A: France.
The inaugural session of the what, occurs?
A: International Court of Justice (ICJ).
The United States recognizes whose government in
Yugoslavia?
A: Josip Broz Tito's.
The League of Nations, in its last meeting, transfers its
mission to what?
A: The United Nations and disbands itself.
Six inmates unsuccessfully try to escape from where?
A: Alcatraz Prison.
What company is founded with about 20 employees?
A: Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering (later renamed Sony).
What King abdicates, and is succeeded by his son Umberto
II?
A: King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy.
Who is elected leader of the Congress Party in India?
A: Jawaharlal Nehru.
Where is the first V-2 rocket successfully launched?
A: At the White Sands Missile Range.
At the Los Alamos Laboratory, Dr. Louis Slotin saves his
coworkers but receives what?
A: A fatal dose of ionizing radiation (the incident is initially classified).
The Hashemite Kingdom of "what" is founded?
A: Transjordan.
Who does the parliament of Transjordan makes their king?
A: Emir Abdullah.
A Greek referendum supports the return of what?
A: The monarchy.
In a referendum, Italians decide to turn Italy from a
monarchy into a what?
A: A republic.
In the referendum, who votes for the first time?
A: Women.
What sports association is formed in
New York City?
A: The Basketball Association of America.
Laurence Olivier's Henry V opens where?
A: In the United States.
It is the first Shakespeare film in what?
A: Color.
After more than 380 years of Western dominance, what
country attains full independence?
A: The Philippines.
What goes on sale in Paris?
A: Bikinis.
Who becomes the first American saint to be canonized?
A: Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini.
Howard Hughes nearly dies in a test flight of what?
A: The Hughes XF-11, which crashes in a Beverly Hills neighborhood due to a
propeller malfunction.
At Club 500 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, what two
comedians stage their first show as a comedy team?
A: Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.
Where does Holiday World, originally called Santa Claus
Land, open to the public?
A: At Santa Claus, Indiana, becoming the first themed park, preceding Disneyland
by 9 years.
Who wins the PGA Championship?
A: American golfer Ben Hogan.
Bulgaria is declared a what?
A: People's Republic after a referendum, and King Simeon II leaves.
What airline is founded in Hong Kong by American Roy
Farrell and Australian Sydney de Kantzow?
A: Cathay Pacific Airways.
The remaining ten Nazi war criminals sentenced to death at
the Nuremberg trials are what?
A: Executed by hanging in a gymnasium in the Nuremberg Palace of Justice.
In the first Basketball Association of America game, the
New York Knicks defeat what team?
A: Toronto Huskies 68–66 at Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens.
Senate and House elections in the United States both give
majorities to what party?
A: The Republicans.
