1962 Trivia
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45 free 1962 trivia questions with answers — history quiz, new questions added Sep 2026.
This 1962 trivia quiz covers the year the Cold War came closest to turning hot. Expect questions on the Cuban Missile Crisis and the submarine officer who refused to fire, John Glenn's three orbits, Telstar's first transatlantic TV signal, Mariner 2 at Venus, Algeria's independence, Jamaica, Uganda and Trinidad leaving the British Empire, the Second Vatican Council and the Alcatraz escape. Culture rounds cover the Seattle World's Fair, the Rolling Stones' first gig, Lawrence of Arabia, Johnny Carson taking the Tonight Show, Marilyn Monroe's death, the year's Nobel Prizes and the babies of 1962, from Tom Cruise to Jodie Foster. Early rounds suit anyone who lived through it or studied it; later rounds reward real year-by-year buffs. Every answer was checked against encyclopaedia entries before publishing.
30 of 45 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which 1962 book warned that pesticides such as DDT were poisoning wildlife?
Silent Spring
Silent Spring drew threats of lawsuits from the chemical industry, yet it spurred tighter US controls on pesticides, including DDT.
Q 02Which three major US retailers opened their first stores in 1962?
Walmart, Kmart and Target
Walmart, Kmart and Target all opened in 1962, and Sam Walton and Kmart's Harry Cunningham had each studied the same Rhode Island discounter, Ann & Hope.
Q 03Which Pacific nation became independent from New Zealand on January 1, 1962?
Western Samoa
Western Samoa, renamed Samoa in 1997, skipped December 30, 2011 entirely, jumping the date line to line up with trade partners Australia and New Zealand.
Q 04Aboard which capsule did John Glenn become the first American to orbit Earth on February 20?
Friendship 7
Before Friendship 7 flew, John Glenn asked NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson to verify the electronic computer's calculations of his orbit.
Q 05Which award did Jacqueline Kennedy win for her February 1962 tour of the White House?
An honorary Emmy
An honorary Emmy: her nationally televised tour showed off the White House restoration she had helped direct during her husband's first year in office.
Q 06Which French designer showed the first collection of his own couture house in 1962?
Yves Saint Laurent
Yves Saint Laurent was dropped as Dior's head designer after being conscripted and hospitalized, then started his own house with his partner Pierre Bergé.
Q 07Which 1962 agreement ended the Algerian War?
Évian Accords
The Évian Accords let European settlers stay as foreigners, take Algerian citizenship or leave, and many soon left for France.
Q 08Which film won Best Picture at the 34th Academy Awards in April 1962?
West Side Story
West Side Story's Bernardo, George Chakiris, had played Riff, leader of the rival Jets, in the London stage production.
Q 09Which landmark opened with the Century 21 Exposition World's Fair in April 1962?
Space Needle
The Space Needle grew from a sketch businessman Edward Carlson scribbled on a napkin, later reworked on architect John Graham Jr.'s drawing board.
Q 10Which club beat Real Madrid 5–3 in Amsterdam to win the 1961–62 European Cup?
Benfica
Benfica came from behind: Real Madrid's Ferenc Puskás scored a first-half hat-trick, but two second-half goals from Eusébio sealed the win.
Q 11Which country hosted the 1962 FIFA World Cup?
Chile
Chile's bid leader, Carlos Dittborn, died a month before the tournament began, and the stadium in Arica that hosted World Cup games was named after him.
Q 12Whom did Brazil beat in the 1962 World Cup final?
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia had already drawn 0–0 with Brazil in the group stage, the match in which Brazil lost Pelé to injury.
Q 13Which composer's War Requiem premiered at the new Coventry Cathedral in May 1962?
Benjamin Britten
Benjamin Britten set poems by Wilfred Owen, killed in World War I, for a cathedral rebuilt after wartime air raids destroyed the old one.
Q 21Which Caribbean island became independent from Britain on August 6, 1962?
Jamaica
Jamaica's premier Norman Manley called the pre-independence election, but his rival Alexander Bustamante won it and became the first prime minister.
Q 22Which two monsters met in a Japanese film released in August 1962, the first of each in colour?
King Kong and Godzilla
King Kong and Godzilla met because Kong's original effects artist, Willis O'Brien, had pitched a Kong battle against a giant Frankenstein's monster.
Q 23Which French president survived a machine-gun attack on his car at Petit-Clamart in August 1962?
Charles de Gaulle
Q 14Which prison did Frank Morris and the Anglin brothers escape from in June 1962?
Alcatraz
Alcatraz's escapees left dummy heads in their beds to fool the guards, then left the island on a raft made from more than 50 raincoats.
Q 15Which activist group completed the Port Huron Statement in June 1962?
Students for a Democratic Society
Students for a Democratic Society grew slowly after its 1962 manifesto until the Vietnam War escalated, then organized a march on Washington in April 1965.
Q 16Which two African countries became independent from Belgium in 1962?
Rwanda and Burundi
Rwanda and Burundi had been part of German East Africa, and Belgium took them over under a League of Nations mandate after World War I.
Q 17At which London venue did the Rolling Stones make their debut on July 12, 1962?
Marquee Club
Before their Marquee Club debut, Brian Jones had advertised for bandmates in Jazz News, and pianist Ian Stewart answered.
Q 18Which British prime minister sacked a third of his cabinet in the 1962 'Night of the Long Knives'?
Harold Macmillan
Harold Macmillan's purge even ousted his chancellor, Selwyn Lloyd, yet Lloyd was back in the cabinet under the next prime minister in 1963.
Q 19Which highway did Prime Minister John Diefenbaker officially open at Rogers Pass in 1962?
Trans-Canada Highway
The Trans-Canada Highway was not physically complete when it officially opened in 1962, and work on other stretches went on for years.
Q 20Which activist, nicknamed the 'Black Pimpernel' for evading police, was captured in August 1962?
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela was first sentenced to five years in prison, then given life imprisonment at the Rivonia Trial in 1964.
Charles de Gaulle escaped unhurt, and the plot's leader, Jean Bastien-Thiry, became the last person France executed by firing squad.
Q 24Which NASA probe, launched in August 1962, first sent back data from another planet?
Mariner 2
Mariner 2 found Venus far hotter than expected, and it launched just 36 days after Mariner 1 was destroyed off course.
Q 25Where did Bob Dylan premiere 'A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall' in September 1962?
Carnegie Hall
The New York concert came weeks before the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Q 26Alouette 1, launched in September 1962, was the first satellite built by which country?
Canada
Canada's Alouette 1 kept working in radiation left by a US high-altitude nuclear test, probably because its power supply allowed for a 40% loss of solar-cell output.
Q 27Who became the first black student to register at the University of Mississippi in 1962?
James Meredith
James Meredith enrolled on October 1, 1962, the day after a campus riot against his admission left two people dead.
Q 28Who took over as permanent host of NBC's The Tonight Show in 1962?
Johnny Carson
Johnny Carson later moved The Tonight Show from New York to Burbank, California, in 1972, and hosted it until 1992.
Q 29At which Houston university did President Kennedy give his 'We choose to go to the Moon' speech in 1962?
Rice University
At Rice University, Kennedy compared the Moon goal to climbing the highest mountain and asked the crowd, 'Why does Rice play Texas?'
Q 30Which African country became independent of the UK on October 9, 1962?
Uganda
Independent Uganda's first prime minister, Milton Obote, later became president, and both of his terms in power were ended by military coups.