Warning: This 1955 Quiz Is Surprisingly Difficult!
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During the 1950s, the baby boom generation was still very young as people were starting families after the Second World War ended. While the decade is typically associated with nostalgia for Americana and conformity, 1955 was a year when a lot of changes were taking place. The middle of this decade was a very significant year for a number of reasons that extend to the arts, entertainment, politics, technology, and business.
The fast food restaurant chain McDonald’s opened its first location in 1955 and it has since become a global fixture and one of the most recognizable brands in the world. The popularity of this restaurant and others like it such as drive-ins was a consequence of increased car ownership and mobility. New laws passed during this year required seatbelts to be installed in all new cars for the first time, as automobile ownership continued to increase and safety was a concern.
Walt Disney opened his first theme park named Disneyland in Anaheim California in July of 1955. This was an important step in the emergence of the Disney entertainment empire that exists to this day in various incarnations.
On December 1st, 1955 African American civil rights activist Rosa Parks was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama for refusing to give up her seat on a bus. While the civil rights movement is formally associated with the 1960s, this is still considered to be the most important event to demonstrate the problems with segregation and separate but equal policies.
Rock and roll music was becoming a global phenomenon during this year with the continued popularity and controversy of a number of musicians. These included Elvis Presley’s infamous hip shaking, Bill Haley and the Comets’ song rock around the clock, and the guitar playing of Chuck Berry. James Dean starred in the movie East of Eden, but was also killed in a car accident in this same year. Young people would also have new toys to look forward to as both Lego blocks and Velcro were invented in 1955.
Both Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were born in 1955. A few decades later the world would entirely change because of technologies they helped create that allowed people to work and communicate more efficiently. Technology was still advancing rapidly in the aftermath of the war, and some of the things created during that time found other uses. Many families were spending a large sum of money to bring a black and white television into their homes. The United States began to use the kind of atomic power that was developed during the Second World War as an everyday power source for use in nuclear plants. Portable transistor radios were invented and quickly bought by consumers in 1955.
Test your memory and 1950s knowledge by trying to get a high score on this quiz. It will definitely help if you were around to experience the culture and politics of 1955, along with the important movies and television shows of the time. Let’s get started and see how much of this year you can really remember.
The fast food restaurant chain McDonald’s opened its first location in 1955 and it has since become a global fixture and one of the most recognizable brands in the world. The popularity of this restaurant and others like it such as drive-ins was a consequence of increased car ownership and mobility. New laws passed during this year required seatbelts to be installed in all new cars for the first time, as automobile ownership continued to increase and safety was a concern.
Walt Disney opened his first theme park named Disneyland in Anaheim California in July of 1955. This was an important step in the emergence of the Disney entertainment empire that exists to this day in various incarnations.
On December 1st, 1955 African American civil rights activist Rosa Parks was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama for refusing to give up her seat on a bus. While the civil rights movement is formally associated with the 1960s, this is still considered to be the most important event to demonstrate the problems with segregation and separate but equal policies.
Rock and roll music was becoming a global phenomenon during this year with the continued popularity and controversy of a number of musicians. These included Elvis Presley’s infamous hip shaking, Bill Haley and the Comets’ song rock around the clock, and the guitar playing of Chuck Berry. James Dean starred in the movie East of Eden, but was also killed in a car accident in this same year. Young people would also have new toys to look forward to as both Lego blocks and Velcro were invented in 1955.
Both Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were born in 1955. A few decades later the world would entirely change because of technologies they helped create that allowed people to work and communicate more efficiently. Technology was still advancing rapidly in the aftermath of the war, and some of the things created during that time found other uses. Many families were spending a large sum of money to bring a black and white television into their homes. The United States began to use the kind of atomic power that was developed during the Second World War as an everyday power source for use in nuclear plants. Portable transistor radios were invented and quickly bought by consumers in 1955.
Test your memory and 1950s knowledge by trying to get a high score on this quiz. It will definitely help if you were around to experience the culture and politics of 1955, along with the important movies and television shows of the time. Let’s get started and see how much of this year you can really remember.