Q 01/05

Which Soviet satellite, launched in October 1957, started the Space Race?

A) Sputnik 1

B) Luna 2

C) Vostok 1

D) Explorer 1

Answer · why

A) Sputnik 1

It weighed 184 pounds; the US answered with NASA in 1958.

Q 02/05

Which war lasted from June 1950 until an armistice in July 1953?

A) Vietnam War

B) Korean War

C) Suez Crisis

D) Algerian War

Answer · why

B) Korean War

It began as a civil war between North and South Korea.

Q 03/05

Whose nationalisation of the Suez Canal in 1956 triggered an invasion by Britain, France and Israel?

A) Anwar Sadat

B) King Farouk

C) Gamal Abdel Nasser

D) Hosni Mubarak

Answer · why

C) Gamal Abdel Nasser

The operation succeeded militarily but US and Soviet pressure forced a withdrawal.

Q 04/05

Who overthrew Fulgencio Batista in Cuba in 1959?

A) Che Guevara alone

B) Juan Perón

C) Augusto Pinochet

D) Fidel Castro

Answer · why

D) Fidel Castro

It created the first communist government in the Western hemisphere.

Q 05/05

The 1956 Montgomery bus boycott was sparked by which activist?

A) Rosa Parks

B) Harriet Tubman

C) Coretta Scott King

D) Ella Baker

Answer · why

A) Rosa Parks

It ended when Browder v. Gayle struck down Alabama's segregated bus laws.