150 Best 1950s Trivia Questions and Answers (Free Printable)

The TriviaTalent Team · 6 min read

Picture a Saturday somewhere in the middle of the decade: tail fins gleaming in the driveway, a radio crackling with something your parents called a racket, and a brand-new television glowing in the corner where everyone used to look at the fireplace. The 1950s were loud, hopeful and changing by the week.

You lived a good stretch of it, or heard every story twice at the kitchen table. So pull up a stool at the counter, order a cherry Coke, and see how much of the decade you can still call up. When you're done, try our 1950s trivia for seniors or take a stroll through things from the 50s you don't see anymore.

The Headlines

1. A war on the Korean peninsula ran through the early part of the decade. What year did it begin, and when did the fighting stop?

It began in 1950 and ended with an armistice in July 1953.

2. In 1953 a young woman was crowned at Westminster Abbey and would reign for more than half a century. Who was she?

Queen Elizabeth II.

3. On what date was she crowned?

June 2, 1953.

4. In 1956 Britain, France and Israel clashed with Egypt over a vital canal. What was this conflict called?

The Suez Crisis.

5. In 1959 a young revolutionary overthrew the government of Cuba. Who was he?

Fidel Castro.

6. The long-ruling Soviet leader died in 1953, clearing the way for Nikita Khrushchev. Name him.

Joseph Stalin.

America at Home

7. Which former general became U.S. president in January 1953 and served out the rest of the decade?

Dwight D. Eisenhower.

8. In its landmark 1954 ruling, Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court outlawed what?

Racial segregation in public schools.

9. In December 1955 a woman refused to give up her bus seat in Montgomery, Alabama, and helped set the civil-rights movement in motion. Who was she?

Rosa Parks.

10. Her arrest sparked a long boycott of the buses in which city?

Montgomery, Alabama.

11. In 1959 two new stars were added to the American flag as two territories became states. Which one became the 49th, in January?

Alaska.

12. And which became the 50th, that August?

Hawaii.

The Space Race and the Lab

13. On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched the world's first artificial satellite. What was it called?

Sputnik.

14. What was the name of the first American satellite, launched in January 1958?

Explorer 1.

15. What American space agency was founded in 1958 in response to Sputnik?

NASA.

16. In 1953 two scientists at Cambridge described the double-helix structure of DNA. Name them.

James Watson and Francis Crick.

17. Whose X-ray images of DNA were crucial to that discovery, though she is often left out of the story?

Rosalind Franklin.

18. Who developed the first widely used polio vaccine, given to millions of schoolchildren by 1955?

Dr. Jonas Salk.

19. In 1954 a British medical student became the first person to run a mile in under four minutes. Who was he?

Roger Bannister.

20. In 1953 a New Zealander and a Nepali Sherpa became the first climbers known to reach the summit of Mount Everest. Name them.

Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.

On the Screen and the Charts

21. What singer from Memphis became the face of rock and roll in the mid-1950s?

Elvis Presley.

22. On whose Sunday-night variety show did Elvis make his famous 1956 television appearances?

The Ed Sullivan Show.

23. A certain redheaded comedienne ruled Monday nights in a CBS sitcom that premiered in 1951. What was the show?

I Love Lucy. (Test yourself on our I Love Lucy trivia.)

24. What comic strip, starring a round-headed boy and his beagle, debuted on October 2, 1950?

Peanuts.

25. Who created Peanuts?

Charles Schulz.

26. In 1957 a mischievous feline in a tall red-and-white striped hat turned up in a Dr. Seuss book. What was its title?

The Cat in the Hat.

27. In 1956 a Hollywood star gave up the screen to marry Prince Rainier III of Monaco. Who was she?

Grace Kelly.

Toys, Fads and Firsts

28. In 1955 Walt Disney opened his first theme park in Anaheim, California. On what date — and how did much of the country first see it?

July 17, 1955, with the opening-day event broadcast live on ABC.

29. In 1958 the Wham-O company set off a nationwide craze with a simple plastic ring. What was it?

The Hula Hoop.

30. What fashion doll did Ruth Handler and the Mattel company introduce on March 9, 1959?

Barbie.

31. Barbie was modeled on a German doll. What was that doll's name?

Bild Lilli.

32. In 1952 a set of plastic facial features you poked into a real potato became the first toy ever advertised on television. Name it.

Mr. Potato Head.

33. Which company popularized the frozen, foil-tray "TV dinner" in the early 1950s?

Swanson.

34. Story has it Swanson's first TV dinner was built around a huge surplus of which Thanksgiving bird?

Turkey.

35. In 1955 a milkshake-machine salesman named Ray Kroc began turning a hamburger stand into a franchise empire. What was it called?

McDonald's.

36. What was the surname of the two brothers whose California burger stand Kroc franchised?

McDonald — Richard and Maurice.

A Few More for the Road

37. Grace Kelly's storybook 1956 wedding in Monaco was watched live on television by an estimated how many people?

More than 30 million.

38. The first American satellite, Explorer 1, reached orbit on what date in 1958?

January 31, 1958.

39. A year after Mr. Potato Head arrived, he was given a spouse. Who joined him in 1953?

Mrs. Potato Head.

Frequently asked questions

Who was president of the United States during the 1950s?

Harry S. Truman held the office into January 1953, when Dwight D. Eisenhower was sworn in. Eisenhower then served out the rest of the decade, through the end of the 1950s.

What was the biggest news story of the 1950s?

There were several, but the launch of Sputnik on October 4, 1957, may be the one that changed the most. The first satellite in orbit set off the space race and led directly to the founding of NASA in 1958.

What were the most popular toys of the 1950s?

A few became genuine crazes: Mr. Potato Head, the first toy advertised on TV, in 1952; the Wham-O Hula Hoop in 1958; and Barbie, introduced by Mattel in March 1959. For more everyday memories, see our things from the 50s you don't see anymore.

Sources

How did you do? Play our trivia quizzes and keep the memories of the decade close.