Q 01/05

Which newspaper ran the mistaken headline 'Dewey Defeats Truman' after the 1948 US presidential election?

A) The New York Times

B) Chicago Daily Tribune

C) The Washington Post

D) St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Answer · why

B) Chicago Daily Tribune

The Chicago Daily Tribune went to press early because its printers were on strike, before most states had reported. A grinning Truman held a copy alof...

Q 02/05

Which independence leader was shot by Nathuram Godse on his way to a New Delhi prayer meeting in January 1948?

A) Mahatma Gandhi

B) Jawaharlal Nehru

C) Muhammad Ali Jinnah

D) Subhas Chandra Bose

Answer · why

A) Mahatma Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi was 78 and walking to his evening multi-faith prayers at Birla House when three bullets struck him at point-blank range. The mansion is...

Q 03/05

Which company's instant camera, invented by Edwin Land, first went on sale in a Boston store in November 1948?

A) Kodak

B) Hasselblad

C) Polaroid

D) Leica

Answer · why

C) Polaroid

Polaroid put 57 of its Land Cameras on sale at Jordan Marsh before Christmas. Each could take and develop a picture in a minute or less.

Q 04/05

Which country declared independence on 14 May 1948, hours before a British Mandate expired at midnight?

A) Jordan

B) Lebanon

C) Syria

D) Israel

Answer · why

D) Israel

Israel was proclaimed by David Ben-Gurion at the Tel Aviv Museum that afternoon. The United States recognised the new state eleven minutes after midni...

Q 05/05

Which baseball legend, nicknamed the Sultan of Swat, died of cancer in New York in August 1948, aged 53?

A) Lou Gehrig

B) Ty Cobb

C) Babe Ruth

D) Honus Wagner

Answer · why

C) Babe Ruth

Babe Ruth lay in an open casket at Yankee Stadium for two days while thousands of fans filed past. The Yankees had retired his number 3 that same year...