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1940s Trivia
Step back into the pivotal 1940s with 150 questions spanning World War II, the birth of the United Nations, Hollywood's golden age, the dawn of the atomic era, and the music and culture that defined a generation at war and in triumph.
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Questions (150 of 150)
๐กmedium
Which legendary trumpeter and singer recorded 'What a Wonderful World' and rose to fame in the 1940s?
๐กmedium
In what year did the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor occur, bringing the U.S. into World War II?
๐กmedium
Which 1944 film noir classic, directed by Billy Wilder, features an insurance murder plot?
๐ดhard
What was the name of the first sustained nuclear chain reaction, achieved in December 1942 in Chicago?
๐กmedium
Which 1944 Hitchcock film stars Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman as spies in South America?
๐กmedium
Which operation was the Allied invasion of North Africa in November 1942?
๐กmedium
Which bandleader, famous for 'In the Mood,' disappeared over the English Channel in December 1944?
๐ขeasy
What name was given to May 8, 1945, when Germany surrendered?
๐ขeasy
What global conflict dominated the first half of the 1940s?
๐ดhard
What Nazi concentration camp, liberated by the Soviets on January 27, 1945, is the most well-known symbol of the Holocaust?
๐ขeasy
Which U.S. naval base was attacked by Japan on December 7, 1941?
๐กmedium
Which 1949 Carol Reed film is set in postwar Vienna and stars Orson Welles?
๐ขeasy
Which branch of the U.S. military developed the atomic bomb in a secret project?
๐กmedium
What Pacific island saw one of the war's most iconic photographs of Marines raising a flag in February 1945?
๐ขeasy
Which British Prime Minister led the UK through most of World War II?
๐กmedium
What famous jazz style emerged in the 1940s as a reaction against big band swing?
๐ขeasy
Who was the U.S. President when World War II ended in 1945?
๐กmedium
Which singer's version of 'God Bless America' became an unofficial national anthem during WWII?
๐กmedium
What battle, fought from August 1942 to February 1943, was a turning point on the Eastern Front?
๐กmedium
What was the name of the trials held in Germany from 1945 to 1946 to prosecute major Nazi war criminals?
๐ดhard
What was the exact date Japan formally surrendered aboard the USS Missouri?
๐กmedium
Which team did Jackie Robinson join in 1947, breaking Major League Baseball's color barrier?
๐ดhard
What was the name of the intelligence operation that decoded Japanese diplomatic messages, known by a color?
๐กmedium
Which actress won the Academy Award for Best Actress for 'Suspicion' (1941)?
๐ดhard
What was the name of the top-secret British facility where codebreakers worked during WWII?
๐ดhard
What was the yield of the 'Little Boy' atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, in kilotons of TNT?
๐ดhard
Which U.S. aircraft carrier, sunk in 1942, was discovered on the ocean floor in 1998?
๐ขeasy
What country was partitioned into India and Pakistan in 1947?
๐กmedium
Which scientist fled Nazi Germany and wrote a letter to FDR warning of atomic weapon potential?
๐ดhard
How many ships participated in the D-Day Normandy invasion fleet on June 6, 1944?
๐ดhard
Which 1941 Orson Welles film, often called the greatest movie ever made, was a box office disappointment?
๐ขeasy
What popular dance music style featured big bands and swing rhythms in the early 1940s?
๐ขeasy
Which battle, fought in December 1944 to January 1945, was Germany's last major offensive on the Western Front?
๐ขeasy
Which 1940s slang term described something excellent or first-rate?
๐กmedium
What pioneering antibiotic, mass-produced during WWII, saved countless soldiers' lives?
๐ดhard
Which 1940s actress was also an inventor who co-patented a frequency-hopping communication system?
๐ขeasy
Which classic Alfred Hitchcock thriller from 1940 won the Best Picture Oscar?
๐ขeasy
What landmark civil rights executive order did President Truman issue in 1948 to desegregate the U.S. military?
๐ขeasy
What children's book by Margaret Wise Brown, published in 1947, features a bunny saying goodnight to objects?
๐ขeasy
What 1946 Frank Capra film features a man who sees what life would be like without him?
๐ขeasy
What international organization was founded in 1945 to promote world peace?
๐ดhard
What was the top speed of the P-51 Mustang, the premier American escort fighter of WWII?
๐ดhard
How many V-2 rockets did Germany launch against England during the war?
๐ขeasy
What cereal mascot, a rooster named Cornelius, debuted in 1945?
๐ขeasy
What household item was rationed in the U.S. during World War II to support the war effort?
๐กmedium
What did the Lend-Lease Act of 1941 allow the U.S. to provide to Allied nations?
๐ขeasy
Which singer was known as 'Ol' Blue Eyes' and became a 1940s teen idol?
๐ดhard
Which 1949 Simone de Beauvoir book became a foundational text of modern feminism?
๐ขeasy
Which Italian dictator was executed by partisans in April 1945?
๐ขeasy
Which U.S. general commanded the Allied forces in Europe during World War II?
๐กmedium
Which U.S. general famously said 'I shall return' after leaving the Philippines in 1942?
๐กmedium
What was the name of the B-29 bomber that dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima?
๐ดhard
What was the exact date of the German surrender document signing, ending the war in Europe?
๐กmedium
Which country did Germany invade on September 1, 1939, starting World War II in Europe?
๐ขeasy
What Japanese city was the first target of an atomic bomb on August 6, 1945?
๐กmedium
What popular board game, first sold in 1949, requires players to solve a murder mystery?
๐ขeasy
What famous 1939 film won the Best Picture Oscar at the 1940 Academy Awards?
๐กmedium
What puppet character made his television debut in 1947 on NBC?
๐กmedium
Which country's communist revolution was led by Mao Zedong, completing in 1949?
๐ดhard
What was the name of the B-29 bomber that dropped the 'Fat Man' atomic bomb on Nagasaki?
๐กmedium
Which bebop saxophonist, nicknamed 'Bird,' revolutionized jazz in the 1940s?
๐ขeasy
Which country dropped the atomic bombs on Japan in August 1945?
๐ดhard
What was the codename for the American sector's beach on the eastern end of the Normandy landings?
๐กmedium
What country declared independence from British rule on August 15, 1947?
๐ขeasy
What dictator led Nazi Germany during the 1940s?
๐ดhard
What was the name of the German V-2 rocket program's lead designer, later recruited by the U.S.?
๐ขeasy
What was the name of the U.S. government's program encouraging women to work in factories during WWII?
๐กmedium
Which novel by George Orwell, published in 1949, depicts a totalitarian future?
๐กmedium
Which 1949 Arthur Miller play tells the tragic story of salesman Willy Loman?
๐กmedium
What was the 1948โ1949 Soviet blockade that the Western Allies countered with an airlift?
๐ขeasy
Which famous beach in France was stormed by American forces on D-Day?
๐ดhard
What was the name of the Japanese suicide pilots who deliberately crashed into Allied ships?
๐กmedium
Which code-breaking device at Bletchley Park helped the Allies decipher German Enigma messages?
๐ขeasy
What popular material was women asked to donate to the war effort to make parachutes?
๐ขeasy
Which branch of the military was established as an independent service in 1947?
๐กmedium
Which 1943 musical film starring Judy Garland features 'The Trolley Song'?
๐ขeasy
What famous crooner's rendition of 'White Christmas' became the best-selling single of all time?
๐ขeasy
What type of nylon product was extremely scarce during WWII due to military use of nylon?
๐กmedium
What 1947 film noir stars Robert Mitchum and is considered one of the greatest of the genre?
๐ดhard
What was the daily caloric ration for concentration camp prisoners at Auschwitz?
๐ดhard
Which 1940 novel by Richard Wright depicts the life of a young Black man in Chicago?
๐ดhard
Which Oscar-winning actress starred in the 1944 film 'Gaslight,' giving name to a psychological manipulation term?
๐กmedium
Which Oscar-winning 1946 film follows three WWII veterans returning to civilian life?
๐ขeasy
What toy, invented in 1943 by a naval engineer, walks down stairs?
๐ขeasy
What Disney animated film about a young deer was released in 1942?
๐ขeasy
What military operation on June 6, 1944 was the largest seaborne invasion in history?
๐กmedium
What massive Allied operation in September 1944 attempted to capture bridges in the Netherlands?
๐ดhard
What was the official name of Germany's last-ditch conscription of boys and old men in 1945?
๐ขeasy
What sport did Jackie Robinson famously integrate in 1947?
๐กmedium
What famous 'lip' cosmetic product saw a surge in popularity during WWII as a symbol of patriotism?
๐กmedium
What 1944 education benefit helped millions of returning WWII veterans attend college?
๐ดhard
Which battle in October 1944 was the largest naval battle in history by number of ships?
๐กmedium
What was the codename for the secret project that developed the first atomic bombs?
๐กmedium
What George Orwell novella, published in 1945, uses a farm as an allegory for the Russian Revolution?
๐ดhard
Which composer wrote the score for the 1944 ballet 'Appalachian Spring'?
๐ดhard
Which resistance fighter and spy, codenamed 'The White Mouse,' was the Gestapo's most wanted person?
๐กmedium
Which physicist is known as the 'father of the atomic bomb' for leading the Manhattan Project?
๐ขeasy
Which major U.S. city hosted the founding conference of the United Nations in 1945?
๐กmedium
What was the name of the volunteer women pilots who flew military aircraft in the U.S. during WWII?
๐ดhard
What was the exact tonnage of supplies airlifted during the Berlin Airlift (1948โ1949)?
๐ดhard
Which 1947 book by Dr. Benjamin Spock revolutionized American child-rearing?
๐กmedium
What was the name of the policy promising U.S. aid to nations resisting communism, announced in 1947?
๐ขeasy
Which 1940 Disney film features classical music paired with animation?
๐ดhard
What German code machine did the Allies famously crack, providing critical intelligence throughout the war?
๐ดhard
Which German general was known as the 'Desert Fox' for his campaigns in North Africa?
๐ขeasy
What new state of matter did the 1940s bring into common awareness through the atomic bomb?
๐ดhard
Which island in the Pacific was the site of a grueling campaign from August 1942 to February 1943?
๐ดhard
Which 1940 aerial battle over England was the first major military campaign fought entirely by air forces?
๐ดhard
Which jazz trumpeter co-pioneered bebop alongside Charlie Parker in the mid-1940s?
๐กmedium
What was Executive Order 9066, signed by FDR in 1942?
๐ขeasy
Which animated Disney film featuring a flying elephant was released in 1941?
๐กmedium
What was the name of the system of racial segregation laws in South Africa, formalized in 1948?
๐กmedium
What new nation was established as a homeland for Jewish people on May 14, 1948?
๐ดhard
How many American soldiers landed on Normandy beaches on D-Day?
๐ดhard
What 1940 Ernest Hemingway novel is set during the Spanish Civil War?
๐ดhard
Which 1946 nuclear test series at Bikini Atoll was the first peacetime nuclear weapons test?
๐กmedium
Which Tennessee Williams play, premiering in 1947, features Blanche DuBois?
๐ดhard
What World War II rationing book was issued to every American civilian?
๐ขeasy
Which European city was divided into four occupation zones after WWII?
๐ดhard
In what month and year did the Battle of Okinawa begin?
๐กmedium
What organization was created in 1949 as a Western military alliance against the Soviet Union?
๐กmedium
What was the last major German offensive on the Western Front, launched in December 1944?
๐กmedium
What type of vehicle became the iconic workhorse of the U.S. military during WWII?
๐ดhard
Which conference in February 1945 divided postwar Europe among the Allied powers?
๐ขeasy
What classic 1942 film stars Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in wartime Morocco?
๐ดhard
Which African-American fighter squadron, known as the 'Red Tails,' distinguished themselves in WWII?
๐ขeasy
What country was divided into East and West zones after World War II?
๐ดhard
What radio drama by Orson Welles caused mass panic in 1938, with echoes still discussed through the 1940s?
๐ดhard
What was the name of the 1944 assassination attempt against Adolf Hitler by German officers?
๐ขeasy
What was the name of the first general-purpose electronic computer, completed in 1945?
๐ขeasy
Which Andrews Sisters hit urged people to 'Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy'?
๐ดhard
Which woman mathematician, born in 1906, worked on trajectory calculations for the ENIAC computer?
๐กmedium
Which naval battle in June 1942 is considered the turning point of the Pacific War?
๐ดhard
Which German city was nearly destroyed by Allied firebombing in February 1945, killing around 25,000?
๐ขeasy
Which Axis power was the first to surrender in World War II, in September 1943?
๐ดhard
What was the code name for the first atomic bomb test, detonated on July 16, 1945 in New Mexico?
๐ดhard
Which country suffered the highest number of civilian and military deaths in World War II?
๐ดhard
What was the top speed of the German Me 262, the world's first operational jet fighter?
๐กmedium
Which U.S. program secretly recruited German scientists after WWII to work on rocket technology?
๐ขeasy
What new household appliance became widely available in American homes in the late 1940s?
๐ขeasy
What was the name of the genocide in which six million Jews were murdered by the Nazi regime?
๐ดhard
What number did Jackie Robinson wear when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947?
๐ขeasy
Which actress starred in the 1946 film noir classic 'Gilda'?
๐กmedium
What 1948 Humphrey Bogart film features the search for gold in the Mexican wilderness?
๐ขeasy
What was the name of the economic plan to rebuild Europe after World War II?
๐ขeasy
What name was given to the day Japan formally surrendered, ending World War II?
๐ขeasy
What famous diary written by a Jewish girl hiding from the Nazis was kept during 1942โ1944?
๐ดhard
How many people were killed in the firebombing of Tokyo on March 9โ10, 1945?
๐ดhard
What rare element was used as the fissile material in the 'Fat Man' bomb dropped on Nagasaki?
๐ดhard
What was the name of the Japanese-American combat unit that became the most decorated in U.S. Army history?
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