1960s History Trivia

Few decades packed in as much transformation as the 1960s, a moon landing, a war that divided a generation, and a civil rights movement that rewrote American law. This quiz covers the decade's defining moments, from Dallas to the lunar surface.

Eleven questions on one of the twentieth century's most consequential ten-year stretches.

Civil Rights and Assassination

The decade's first half was dominated by the civil rights movement, culminating in Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech at the 1963 March on Washington and the passage of the Civil Rights Act the following year. But the decade was also scarred by violence, from President Kennedy's assassination in Dallas in 1963 to King's own assassination in Memphis in 1968.

Cold War Flashpoints

The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 brought the US and Soviet Union to the brink of nuclear war, while the Berlin Wall, erected in 1961, became the era's starkest symbol of a divided world. Meanwhile, US involvement in Vietnam escalated sharply after 1964, drawing the country into a war that would dominate headlines for the rest of the decade.

Culture and the Cosmos

• The Beatles led a wave of British bands that reshaped popular music worldwide.
• Woodstock in 1969 became the defining moment of the era's counterculture.
• Apollo 11 landed the first humans on the Moon in July 1969, closing the decade on a note of triumph.