Postwar & Modern America

40 questions · Answers revealed below each question · Print this set

1.Which April-May 1992 unrest followed the verdict in the Rodney King beating case?
- A. the Watts riots
- B. the Detroit unrest of 1967
- C. the Newark riots
- D. the Los Angeles riots
Show answer
the Los Angeles riots
Did you know? The 1992 unrest lasted six days across Los Angeles.
2.What was the first atomic bomb test, on July 16, 1945, called?
- A. the Crossroads test
- B. the Little Boy drop
- C. the Fat Man drop
- D. the Trinity test
Show answer
the Trinity test
Did you know? Trinity detonated in the Jornada del Muerto desert, New Mexico.
3.Which January 1973 agreement ended direct American combat involvement in Vietnam?
- A. the Paris Peace Accords
- B. the Korean Armistice
- C. the Geneva Accords
- D. the Treaty of Versailles
Show answer
the Paris Peace Accords
Did you know? Le Duc Tho and Kissinger shared the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize for the accords.
4.Which 1963 treaty banned nuclear tests in the atmosphere, in space and underwater?
- A. the Partial Test Ban Treaty
- B. the Non-Proliferation Treaty
- C. the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
- D. the Outer Space Treaty
Show answer
the Partial Test Ban Treaty
Did you know? Kennedy, Khrushchev and Macmillan signed the treaty in Moscow.
5.Which October 1989 earthquake struck during a World Series game?
- A. the Coalinga earthquake
- B. the Northridge earthquake
- C. the Loma Prieta earthquake
- D. the San Fernando earthquake
Show answer
the Loma Prieta earthquake
Did you know? The 6.9 quake postponed Game 3 of the Bay Area's "Battle of the Bay" Series.
6.Which October 2001 campaign targeted al-Qaeda bases and their hosts in Afghanistan?
- A. Operation Just Cause
- B. Operation Desert Storm
- C. Operation Iraqi Freedom
- D. Operation Enduring Freedom
Show answer
Operation Enduring Freedom
Did you know? Enduring Freedom began with strikes on October 7, 2001.
7.Which April 1995 bombing of a federal building killed 168 people?
- A. the Centennial Olympic bombing
- B. the Oklahoma City bombing
- C. the World Trade Center bombing
- D. the embassy bombings
Show answer
the Oklahoma City bombing
Did you know? The Alfred P. Murrah building attack remains the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in US history.
8.Which newspaper printed the premature headline "Dewey Defeats Truman" in November 1948?
- A. the Chicago Daily Tribune
- B. the Chicago Sun-Times
- C. the New York Times
- D. the Washington Post
Show answer
the Chicago Daily Tribune
Did you know? Truman posed with the wrong headline at St. Louis Union Station.
9.Which 1970 nationwide teach-in day launched annual environmental action?
- A. Clean Air Day
- B. World Environment Day
- C. the first Earth Day
- D. Arbor Day
Show answer
the first Earth Day
Did you know? About 20 million Americans joined the first Earth Day, April 22, 1970.
10.Which December 1979 Soviet move into a South Asian neighbor ended the era of détente?
- A. the Angolan intervention
- B. the Czechoslovak intervention
- C. the Polish martial law
- D. the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
Show answer
the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
Did you know? Carter answered with the grain embargo and an Olympic boycott.
11.What was the 1991 combat phase of the Gulf campaign called?
- A. Operation Enduring Freedom
- B. Operation Desert Shield
- C. Operation Iraqi Freedom
- D. Operation Desert Storm
Show answer
Operation Desert Storm
Did you know? Desert Storm's air campaign opened on January 17, 1991.
12.Which 2010 law expanded health insurance coverage nationwide?
- A. the Social Security Act
- B. the Affordable Care Act
- C. the Medicaid act
- D. the Medicare Modernization Act
Show answer
the Affordable Care Act
Did you know? The ACA was signed on March 23, 2010.
13.Which December 2000 Supreme Court case ended the Florida recount?
- A. Bush v. Gore
- B. Roe v. Wade
- C. Gore v. Harris
- D. Bush v. Palm Beach
Show answer
Bush v. Gore
Did you know? The 5-4 decision effectively settled the 2000 election.
14.Which 1954 televised hearings ended with Army counsel Joseph Welch's famous rebuke?
- A. the Army-McCarthy hearings
- B. the Kefauver hearings
- C. the Iran-Contra hearings
- D. the Watergate hearings
Show answer
the Army-McCarthy hearings
Did you know? Welch asked McCarthy: "Have you no sense of decency, sir?"
15.Which 1962 book by a marine biologist launched the modern environmental movement?
- A. Walden
- B. A Sand County Almanac
- C. The Population Bomb
- D. Silent Spring
Show answer
Silent Spring
Did you know? Rachel Carson's Silent Spring documented pesticide harms.
16.Which investment bank's September 2008 collapse marked the crisis' peak?
- A. Bear Stearns
- B. Goldman Sachs
- C. Lehman Brothers
- D. Merrill Lynch
Show answer
Lehman Brothers
Did you know? Lehman's bankruptcy was the largest in US history.
17.Which 1993 pact linked Canada, the United States and Mexico in free trade?
- A. the North American Free Trade Agreement
- B. the Trans-Pacific Partnership
- C. the Central American FTA
- D. the European Union treaty
Show answer
the North American Free Trade Agreement
Did you know? NAFTA took effect on January 1, 1994.
18.Which 1947 Long Island development became the emblem of the postwar suburb?
- A. Palmer Park
- B. Oak Ridge
- C. Levittown
- D. Riverside
Show answer
Levittown
Did you know? Levittown's assembly-line houses sold for about 7,990 dollars.
19.Which 1973 law requires the president to notify Congress within 48 hours of military action?
- A. the National Security Act
- B. the Authorization for Use of Military Force
- C. the Homeland Security Act
- D. the War Powers Resolution
Show answer
the War Powers Resolution
Did you know? Congress passed the War Powers Resolution over Nixon's veto.
20.Which bipartisan commission published its final report on the September 11 attacks in July 2004?
- A. the Baker-Hamilton commission
- B. the Warren Commission
- C. the 9/11 Commission
- D. the Church Committee
Show answer
the 9/11 Commission
Did you know? Former governor Thomas Kean chaired the 9/11 Commission.
21.Which 1994-1995 labor stoppage canceled the World Series for the first time since 1904?
- A. the NBA lockout
- B. the baseball strike
- C. the hockey lockout
- D. the NFL referee lockout
Show answer
the baseball strike
Did you know? The players' strike wiped out the 1994 postseason.
22.Which team won the first Super Bowl, played in January 1967?
- A. the Oakland Raiders
- B. the Green Bay Packers
- C. the Kansas City Chiefs
- D. the Dallas Cowboys
Show answer
the Green Bay Packers
Did you know? Coach Vince Lombardi's Packers beat Kansas City 35-10 in Super Bowl I.
23.Which 1965 act replaced national-origin quotas with preference categories?
- A. the Immigration and Nationality Act
- B. the Refugee Act of 1980
- C. the Quota Act of 1921
- D. the Chinese Exclusion Act
Show answer
the Immigration and Nationality Act
Did you know? The Hart-Celler act reshaped American immigration flows.
24.Which March 2020 act funded relief checks and expanded unemployment during the pandemic?
- A. the American Rescue Plan
- B. the Dodd-Frank Act
- C. the CARES Act
- D. the ACA
Show answer
the CARES Act
Did you know? The CARES Act sent about 2.2 trillion dollars in relief.
25.Which 1947 act unified the armed forces under a secretary of defense and created the CIA?
- A. the Homeland Security Act
- B. the Patriot Act
- C. the National Security Act
- D. the Espionage Act
Show answer
the National Security Act
Did you know? The 1947 act also stood up the National Security Council.
26.Which August 1964 naval incident led to Congress's open-ended resolution on Vietnam?
- A. the Maddox collision
- B. the EC-121 shootdown
- C. the Pueblo seizure
- D. the Gulf of Tonkin incident
Show answer
the Gulf of Tonkin incident
Did you know? Congress passed the Tonkin Gulf Resolution with two dissenting votes.
27.Which 1964 commission investigated the Kennedy assassination?
- A. the Warren Commission
- B. the 9/11 Commission
- C. the Kerner Commission
- D. the Church Committee
Show answer
the Warren Commission
Did you know? Chief Justice Earl Warren chaired the seven-member commission.
28.Which 1945-1946 conference set postwar terms at a palace near Berlin?
- A. the Paris Peace Conference
- B. the Bretton Woods conference
- C. the Congress of Vienna
- D. the Potsdam Conference
Show answer
the Potsdam Conference
Did you know? Truman, Stalin and Churchill met at Potsdam in July-August 1945.
29.Which 1972 education law title barred sex discrimination in schools and colleges?
- A. Title VII
- B. Title I
- C. Title IX
- D. Title IV
Show answer
Title IX
Did you know? Title IX opened school sports and admissions to women nationwide.
30.Which 1972 agreement froze each side's strategic missile launchers?
- A. the INF Treaty
- B. SALT I
- C. SALT II
- D. START I
Show answer
SALT I
Did you know? Nixon and Brezhnev signed SALT I in Moscow in May 1972.
31.Which December 2004 act created the Director of National Intelligence?
- A. the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act
- B. the National Security Act
- C. the PATRIOT Act
- D. the Homeland Security Act
Show answer
the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act
Did you know? The 2004 act implemented core 9/11 Commission recommendations.
32.Which February 1993 truck bombing targeted a Manhattan twin-tower complex?
- A. the Khobar Towers bombing
- B. the Oklahoma City bombing
- C. the 1998 embassy bombings
- D. the 1993 World Trade Center bombing
Show answer
the 1993 World Trade Center bombing
Did you know? Six people died in the 1993 garage bombing.
33.Which couple was executed for conspiracy to commit espionage in June 1953?
- A. Aldrich and Martha Ames
- B. Morris and Lona Cohen
- C. the Walker spy ring
- D. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
Show answer
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
Did you know? The Rosenbergs' trial remains a landmark of the early Cold War.
34.Which August 1981 strike ended when President Reagan fired over 11,000 controllers?
- A. the coal strike of 1977
- B. the steel strike of 1959
- C. the PATCO strike
- D. the postal strike of 1970
Show answer
the PATCO strike
Did you know? The PATCO dismissals reshaped public-sector labor relations.
35.Which December 1987 treaty eliminated an entire class of intermediate-range missiles?
- A. the INF Treaty
- B. the Test Ban Treaty
- C. SALT II
- D. START I
Show answer
the INF Treaty
Did you know? Reagan and Gorbachev signed the INF Treaty at the Washington summit.
36.Which June 2015 Supreme Court case recognized same-sex marriage nationwide?
- A. Roe v. Wade
- B. Loving v. Virginia
- C. Brown v. Board of Education
- D. Obergefell v. Hodges
Show answer
Obergefell v. Hodges
Did you know? Justice Kennedy's 5-4 Obergefell decision cited the Fourteenth Amendment.
37.Which 1944 New Hampshire conference created the IMF and the World Bank?
- A. the Potsdam Conference
- B. the Yalta Conference
- C. the Dumbarton Oaks conference
- D. the Bretton Woods conference
Show answer
the Bretton Woods conference
Did you know? Forty-four nations met at Bretton Woods' Mount Washington Hotel.
38.Which 1969 industrial river fire helped spark the Clean Water Act?
- A. the Hudson spill
- B. the Chicago River reversal
- C. the Potomac fire
- D. the Cuyahoga River fire
Show answer
the Cuyahoga River fire
Did you know? The Cuyahoga's oil-slicked surface burned in Cleveland in June 1969.
39.Which May 2011 operation killed Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan?
- A. Operation Enduring Freedom
- B. Operation Neptune Spear
- C. Operation Red Wings
- D. Operation Anaconda
Show answer
Operation Neptune Spear
Did you know? Navy SEALs flew the Neptune Spear raid from Jalalabad.
40.Which 2010 act overhauled financial regulation after the crisis?
- A. the Dodd-Frank Act
- B. the Sarbanes-Oxley Act
- C. the Glass-Steagall Act
- D. the CARES Act
Show answer
the Dodd-Frank Act
Did you know? Dodd-Frank created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

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