Hello folks, get ready to channel your inner “time machine” because we’re about to embark on a “decade-nt” adventure back to the 1940s! Forget about “rationing” your brainpower, this trivia will have you “beaming” with knowledge like a newly patented transistor from this remarkable era! Let’s “Swing” into action and see if you can “beat” this ’40s trivia like a “bebop” tune. Don’t get “stuck in a bunker,” we’ve “rationed” these questions just right, so you won’t have to “Enigma” code them. So, put on your thinking “caps” and let’s “march” forward. Are you ready? World “War 2” things go – your brainpower, and this trivia quiz!
1. Which conflict began in the 1940s that significantly shaped the world geopolitics?
2. In what year was the United Nations established in the 1940s?
3. Who was the President of the United States at the start of the 1940s?
4. What was the major global event that took place during the first half of the 1940s?
5. Which invention in the field of computer science happened in the 1940s?
6. Who was the British Prime Minister for the most part of World War II?
7. What societal change regarding women’s work took place in the U.S. during the 1940s?
8. Which event in 1947 led to the creation of the state of Israel?
9. Which famous American baseball player made his debut in 1947?
10. What was the name of the project that led to the creation of the first nuclear weapons in the 1940s?
11. What highly influential economic framework was developed by John Maynard Keynes in the 1940s?
12. What was the name of the first antibiotic drug mass-produced in the 1940s?
13. What was the name of the trials where the leaders of Nazi Germany were prosecuted for war crimes?
14. Who succeeded Franklin D. Roosevelt as President of the United States after his death in 1945?
15. Which major European city was divided into sectors by the Allies after World War II?
16. What major sporting event resumed in 1948 after a 12-year hiatus due to World War II?
17. Which major international organization, aimed at maintaining peace and security, was established in 1945?
18. What was the name of the plan, initiated in 1948, to aid European economic recovery after World War II?
19. Who was the British monarch throughout the 1940s?
20. What was the name of the military strategy used by the Allies in the Pacific Theater of World War II?
21. Who was the leader of the Soviet Union during the 1940s?
22. What major technological invention revolutionized communication in the 1940s?
23. What was the name of the operation for D-Day, the Allied invasion of Normandy in 1944?
24. Which country suffered the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945?
25. Who was the first African American to play in Major League Baseball in the modern era starting from 1947?
26. What country was partitioned into India and Pakistan in 1947?
27. What iconic comic book superhero first appeared in the 1940s?
28. What landmark piece of legislation was signed into law by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944 to provide benefits for World War II veterans?
29. What influential political ideology began to grow rapidly in China during the 1940s?
30. Which famous film, considered one of the greatest of all time, was released in 1941?
31. What strategy did Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Joseph Stalin agree upon at the Tehran Conference in 1943 to end World War II?
32. Which art movement became popular in the 1940s and was characterized by abstract and spontaneous expressions?
33. Who was the famous scientist that wrote a letter to President Roosevelt in 1939 about the potential of atomic weapons, leading to the start of the Manhattan Project?
34. Which U.S. policy, established in 1947, aimed to contain the spread of communism worldwide?
35. Who was elected as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in 1945, succeeding Winston Churchill?
36. Which significant speech, given by Winston Churchill in 1946, first used the term “Iron Curtain” to describe the division between Western democracies and Eastern Bloc countries?
37. Which country gained independence from the United States in 1946?
38. Which musical style, characterized by a fast tempo, complex chord progressions, and numerous key changes, originated in the 1940s?
39. Who was the notorious gangster, famous for his organized crime syndicate in Chicago, who died in 1947?
40. Which country officially became a republic in 1946, ending centuries of monarchy?
41. Which iconic cartoon character, known for his fast speed and comedic antics, was introduced by Warner Bros in 1940?
42. What was the name of the scientific paper published by Claude Shannon in 1948, laying the groundwork for modern information theory?
43. What important geopolitical event occurred in Palestine in 1948?
44. In 1941, which attack prompted the United States to enter World War II?
45. What groundbreaking civil rights event took place in the U.S. when President Truman signed Executive Order 9981 in 1948?
46. Who was the renowned Indian leader who was assassinated in January 1948?
47. What influential economic policy was introduced by U.S. Secretary of State George Marshall in 1947?
48. Which popular superhero, known for his shield, was introduced by Marvel Comics in March 1941?
49. In 1947, India became independent from which country?
50. What major event, caused by racial tensions between African Americans and whites, occurred in Detroit in 1943?
51. Which two cities were the first to be hit by atomic bombs in 1945?
52. What percentage of American women were involved in the workforce during World War II?
53. What was the name of the 1942 American naval victory in the Pacific that turned the tide of World War II?
54. Which famous American author published “For Whom the Bell Tolls” in 1940?
55. What major international agreement, signed in 1945, established the United Nations?
56. Who was the iconic Hollywood actress who set fashion trends in the 1940s and starred in films like “The Philadelphia Story”?
57. What genre of music, characterized by electric instruments and a strong rhythm and blues influence, began to take shape in the late 1940s?
58. What was the name of the program established by the U.S. after World War II to help Europe rebuild its economy?
59. Which empire in Asia ended in the 1940s after over 2000 years of monarchical rule?
60. What was the name of the Nazi concentration and extermination camp where over 1 million people were killed during World War II?
61. Who was the writer of the famous novel “1984”, published at the end of the 1940s?
62. What was the name of the conference in 1945 where Allied leaders decided how post-World War II Europe should be organized?
63. Which influential fashion designer released the groundbreaking “New Look” fashion line in 1947?
64. What major development in human rights occurred in 1948 under the United Nations?
65. Which two cities were divided into zones of occupation by the Allies after World War II?
66. What major labor action took place in the United States in 1946, involving over a million workers?
67. Who wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning play “A Streetcar Named Desire” that debuted in 1947?
68. Which Asian country gained independence from the United States in 1946?
69. In 1949, which country was founded by Mao Zedong after the Chinese Civil War?
70. Who was the famous American baseball player that retired in 1947 after 20 seasons with the New York Yankees?
71. In which year of the 1940s did India and Pakistan gain independence from British rule?
72. Who was the U.S. President who ordered the use of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
73. What term, first used by Winston Churchill in 1946, described the political and ideological barrier isolating Eastern European countries?
74. Who was the author of the novel “Animal Farm”, which was published in 1945?
75. What was the name of the plane that dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima?
76. Which operation marked the successful invasion of Normandy by the Allied forces in 1944?
77. Who was the infamous FBI director who started his tenure in the 1940s?
78. In 1948, which South African policy that institutionalized racial segregation and discrimination was implemented?
79. What major conflict began in China in 1946 and ended in 1949?
80. What 1942 event was a prime example of Japanese-American internment during World War II?
81. Who was the Soviet foreign minister who played a significant role in the establishment of the United Nations in 1945?
82. What major technological invention, which had a significant impact on the music industry, was introduced by Columbia Records in 1948?
83. In 1942, what was the name of the major World War II battle which marked Germany’s first major defeat and a turning point in the war?
84. Who was the famous British statesman who lost the Prime Minister’s position shortly after the end of World War II in 1945?
85. In 1948, who became the first president of Israel?
86. What famous novel, portraying a disenchanted World War II veteran, was released by John Hersey in 1946?
87. Which popular household appliance, that changed food preservation and preparation, became widely available in the 1940s?
88. Which scientific discipline, studying the heredity and variation of organisms, was revolutionized in the 1940s through the discovery of DNA as the hereditary material?
89. Which famous Christmas song, often covered by various artists, was written by Irving Berlin in 1942?
90. What two new superpowers emerged after World War II in the 1940s?
91. Which famous painter, renowned for his drip painting technique, emerged into prominence in the late 1940s?
92. What major civil rights organization in the United States was founded in the 1940s?
93. Which influential book, critiquing totalitarian regimes and considered a classic of political science fiction, was published in 1949?
94. Which automobile model, one of the most recognized in the world, began production in the 1940s?
95. What significant labor movement took place in Hollywood during the 1940s?
96. Which science fiction writer, often called the “dean of science fiction writers”, published his first story in the 1940s?
97. Who was the U.S. President at the end of the 1940s?
98. What was the name of the diplomatic and military strategy employed by the U.S. in the late 1940s to counter the spread of communism?
99. What was the name of the U.S. policy that provided aid to Western Europe after World War II?
100. Which Asian country was divided at the 38th parallel after World War II, leading to the creation of two separate states?
101. Which African country gained independence from Italy in 1941?
102. What two countries were the main adversaries in the Greek Civil War that took place from 1946 to 1949?
103. What was the first man-made object to reach the edge of space, achieved by a V-2 rocket in 1944?
104. Who was the leader of Italy at the beginning of 1940s?
105. What economic system was implemented by China after the communist victory in the Chinese Civil War in 1949?
106. Who directed the film “It’s a Wonderful Life”, which was released in 1946?
107. Which Southern U.S. state became the first to abolish racial segregation in schools, with the 1947 “Mendez v. Westminster” case?
108. Who was the famous artist best known for her sculptures, who won the Grand Prize for Sculpture at the 1948 Venice Biennale?
109. Which influential science fiction and fantasy magazine was first published in 1949?
110. What was the infamous campaign carried out by U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy in the early 1950s, which originated from the fear and paranoia of the late 1940s?
111. What landmark document was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948, outlining basic human rights for all?
112. Which city hosted the Winter Olympics in 1948 after a 12-years pause caused by World War II?
113. Which Southeast Asian country declared independence from France in 1945, marking the beginning of the First Indochina War?
114. Who were the three main Allied leaders during World War II, often referred to as “The Big Three”?
115. Which major American film award ceremony was first televised in the 1940s?
116. What was the decisive naval battle in the Pacific Theatre of World War II that took place in June 1942?
117. Which political organization was founded in China in 1949, following the conclusion of the Chinese Civil War?
118. Which famous American playwright, known for plays like “Death of a Salesman” and “The Crucible,” started his career in the 1940s?
119. What did the G.I. Bill, signed into law in 1944, provide to veterans of World War II?
120. What was the name of the first programmable digital computer, completed in 1946?
121. Which famous song by Bing Crosby, first released in 1942, is one of the best-selling singles of all time?
122. Which prominent British economist’s ideas formed the basis for Keynesian economics and influenced the creation of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in the 1940s?
123. What major policy change did the British government make in India in 1942 in response to the Quit India movement?
124. What was the name of the US foreign policy that provided aid to Greece and Turkey to prevent them from falling into the Soviet sphere in the late 1940s?
125. Which country conducted a series of nuclear weapon tests at Bikini Atoll in the late 1940s?
126. What was the name of the agreement signed in 1944 that established the rules for commercial and financial relations among the world’s major industrial states?
127. Who was the prominent American civil rights activist who, in 1941, planned a march on Washington to end racial discrimination in the defense industry?
128. Which American poet, widely regarded as one of the most important poets of the 20th century, won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1943?
129. In 1948, who became the first woman elected as a Member of Parliament in India?
130. Which famous detective comic strip, created by Chester Gould, saw the introduction of iconic villain Flattop Jones in the early 1940s?
131. Who was the French fashion designer that released the New Look, a highly influential fashion style, in the 1940s?
132. What international conflict started in 1945 and lasted until 1991, involving the United States and the Soviet Union?
133. What was the name of the financial aid program initiated by the U.S. to help rebuild Western Europe after the devastation of World War II?
134. Which cartoon character, known for his catchphrase “Eh… What’s up, doc?”, was first introduced by Warner Bros in 1940?
135. Who was the famous American jazz singer, also called the “First Lady of Song,” who gained prominence in the 1940s?
136. Which classic children’s board game, known for its shortcut ladders and slides, was first sold by Milton Bradley in the 1940s?
137. What was the name of the American initiative after World War II to help Germany recover, which included an emphasis on democratization, decentralization, dismantling of the war industry, and decartelization?
138. What major event in 1941 led to the United States’ entry into World War II?
139. Who was the leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party who lost the Chinese Civil War and fled to Taiwan in 1949?
140. What was the major political shift in Japan after World War II during the late 1940s?
Final Words
Congratulations for making it to the end! You’ve certainly “stormed the beach” of this trivia! We hope you had a “blast from the past” and learned something new about the 1940s. Remember, while the past cannot be “changed,” it can always be “challenged” with a good trivia quiz. Feeling “allied” with the trivia spirit? Don’t “drop the bomb” on your knowledge-seeking journey! Check out other mind-tickling quizzes on Trivia Bliss including more history quizzes on the music of the 1940s, easy questions about the 1950s, the music of the 1950s, the 1960s, easy questions about the 1960s, music of the 1960s, the 1970s, easy questions about the 1970s, the music of the 1970s, a quiz all about the Titanic, and more. Thanks for playing, and keep those trivia wheels turning!
Leave a Reply