Baby Boomer Trivia: 100 Questions Only a True Boomer Can Answer

The television takes a moment to warm up, the picture blooming out of a white dot in the center of the glass. Somewhere a transistor radio is turned low under a pillow, and the smell of a TV dinner — foil peeled back, each little compartment steaming — drifts in from the next room.

If any of that lands, you were there. Here are a hundred questions drawn from the years that made your generation: the headlines you watched live, the toys you begged for, the songs and shows and grand openings. Read them aloud, or keep score against yourself. A true boomer will know more than they expect.

So, Are You Really a Boomer?

Start with the basics about your own generation.

1. Which years bracket the baby-boom generation?

1946 to 1964.

2. Roughly how many babies were born in America during those years?

About 76 million.

3. What unique status do boomers hold with the U.S. Census Bureau?

They are the only generation the Bureau has officially named.

The Night the Beatles Arrived

For millions of you, it was the first great shared television moment.

4. On which program did the Beatles make their American debut?

The Ed Sullivan Show.

5. On what date did it happen?

February 9, 1964.

6. Roughly how many Americans watched?

About 73 million.

7. That was close to what share of the whole country?

Nearly 40 percent.

8. How many lucky people saw it live in the studio?

Just 728.

9. Which Beatles single had topped the chart two weeks earlier?

“I Want to Hold Your Hand.”

Toys, Fads and the Coonskin Cap

The things you saved your allowance for.

10. Which doll debuted at a New York toy fair on March 9, 1959?

Barbie.

11. Who created her?

Ruth Handler, co-founder of Mattel.

12. After whom was Barbie named?

Handler’s daughter, Barbara.

13. And the Ken doll, who arrived two years later?

He was named for Handler’s son.

14. Which German doll inspired Barbie’s design?

The Bild Lilli doll.

15. How tall was that first Barbie?

Eleven inches.

16. Which 1958 Wham-O toy had kids spinning it around their waists?

The hula hoop.

17. How fast did it sell?

More than 25 million in the first four months.

18. Which Disney frontiersman set off a coonskin-cap craze in 1955?

Davy Crockett.

19. Who played him on television?

Fess Parker.

20. What was the show’s catchy theme song?

“The Ballad of Davy Crockett.”

21. Roughly how many watched the famous Alamo episode?

About 40 million.

The Space Race

You grew up looking at the sky and wondering who would get there first.

22. What did the Soviet Union launch on October 4, 1957?

Sputnik 1.

23. Why did it matter so much?

It was the first artificial satellite, and it set off the Space Race.

24. How often did it circle the Earth?

About every 96 minutes.

25. On what date did Americans first walk on the Moon?

July 20, 1969.

26. When had the mission launched?

Four days earlier, on July 16, 1969.

27. Name the three Apollo 11 astronauts.

Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins.

28. Who stayed behind, orbiting alone?

Michael Collins.

29. What was the lunar module called?

Eagle.

30. Where on the Moon did it land?

The Sea of Tranquility.

31. What did Armstrong say as he stepped down?

“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

32. Roughly how many people watched on television?

About 600 million, around the world.

Where Were You?

Some days every boomer remembers exactly where they stood.

33. Which president was assassinated on November 22, 1963?

John F. Kennedy.

34. In which city?

Dallas, Texas.

35. Who was accused of the shooting?

Lee Harvey Oswald.

36. From which building did the shots come?

The Texas School Book Depository.

37. What happened to Oswald two days later?

He was shot and killed by Jack Ruby.

38. Which commission concluded Oswald acted alone?

The Warren Commission.

Three Days of Peace and Music

By the end of the decade, your generation had a festival all its own.

39. Which 1969 festival drew hundreds of thousands to a New York dairy farm?

Woodstock.

40. On whose land was it held?

Farmer Max Yasgur’s, near Bethel.

41. On what dates?

August 15 to 18, 1969.

42. Roughly how many people came?

More than 400,000.

43. Who opened the festival on the first evening?

Richie Havens.

44. Which guitarist closed it on Monday morning?

Jimi Hendrix.

New Machines in the House

The gadgets that changed the living room.

45. What did Swanson begin selling on September 10, 1953, to eat in front of the TV?

The TV dinner.

46. Who is usually credited with the idea?

Salesman Gerry Thomas.

47. How many did Swanson sell in 1954 alone?

More than 10 million.

48. Which small 1954 device let you carry music in your pocket?

The transistor radio — the Regency TR-1.

49. What did that first one cost?

$49.95.

50. How many transistors did it contain?

Four.

Grand Openings

A string of firsts you may have witnessed in person.

51. Which theme park opened in Anaheim on July 17, 1955?

Disneyland.

52. Who built it?

Walt Disney.

53. A future president helped host the opening-day broadcast. Who?

Ronald Reagan.

54. Which salesman opened his first McDonald’s franchise in 1955?

Ray Kroc.

55. In which Illinois town?

Des Plaines.

56. Where had the McDonald brothers opened their original stand?

San Bernardino, California.

57. Which two teams played the first Super Bowl, in January 1967?

The Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs.

58. Who won, and by what score?

The Packers, 35–10.

59. What was that first game actually called at the time?

The AFL-NFL World Championship Game.

60. Who is said to have coined “Super Bowl,” after a toy?

Lamar Hunt, inspired by his son’s Super Ball.

61. Which pill did the FDA approve for birth control in 1960?

Enovid, the first oral contraceptive.

The King

And of course, the voice that started it all for so many of you.

62. Which 1956 single was Elvis Presley’s first for RCA Victor?

“Heartbreak Hotel.”

63. How long did it sit at number one?

Seven weeks.

Frequently asked questions

Who exactly counts as a baby boomer?

By the Census Bureau’s reckoning, anyone born in the United States from 1946 through 1964 — the long surge of births that followed the Second World War.

Are these questions good for a group?

Very. Read each one aloud and let the memories do the rest. For more of the same, try our things from the 1950s you don’t see anymore or our forgotten 1960s toys.

Why do so many questions come from the 1950s and ’60s?

Because that is when boomers were children and teenagers — the years that stamp a generation’s memory the deepest.

Where can I check these facts?

Every date and name here comes from the reputable sources listed just below.

Sources

• Baby boomers — Wikipedia
• Apollo 11 — Wikipedia
• Disneyland — Wikipedia

How did you score? Play our trivia quizzes and put the rest of your boomer memory to the test.