Q 01/05

Which doll, based on a German toy called Bild Lilli, debuted at a New York toy fair in March 1959?

A) Chatty Cathy

B) Barbie

C) Raggedy Ann

D) Betsy Wetsy

Answer · why

B) Barbie

Barbie was named after creator Ruth Handler's daughter Barbara and first sold for $3. A mint boxed 1959 original fetched over $3,500 on eBay in 2004.

Q 02/05

Which territory, a kingdom until an 1893 coup, became the 50th US state in August 1959?

A) Samoa

B) Alaska

C) Guam

D) Hawaii

Answer · why

D) Hawaii

Hawaii voted 94.3 percent for statehood in a June 1959 referendum. It was admitted on August 21, less than eight months after Alaska.

Q 03/05

Which 'Peggy Sue' singer died with Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper in an Iowa plane crash in February 1959?

A) Buddy Holly

B) Eddie Cochran

C) Gene Vincent

D) Sam Cooke

Answer · why

A) Buddy Holly

Buddy Holly chartered the plane out of frustration with the tour's freezing buses. Bandmate Waylon Jennings gave his seat to the flu-stricken Big Bopp...

Q 04/05

Which leader of Cuba's 26th of July Movement reached Havana a week after Batista fled on New Year's Day 1959?

A) Che Guevara

B) Juan Perón

C) Fidel Castro

D) Salvador Allende

Answer · why

C) Fidel Castro

Fidel Castro took a long victory march across the island and arrived on 8 January. Batista had flown to the Dominican Republic hours into the new year...

Q 05/05

Which CBS anthology series, introduced each week by its creator Rod Serling, premiered in October 1959?

A) The Outer Limits

B) The Twilight Zone

C) Alfred Hitchcock Presents

D) One Step Beyond

Answer · why

B) The Twilight Zone

The Twilight Zone ran for 156 episodes, and Serling wrote or co-wrote 92 of them himself while also serving as executive producer.