TV Shows
Which sitcom became the first television series to be filmed on 35mm film before a live studio audience, setting the standard for future sitcoms?
A: I Love Lucy.
What was the first rock-and-roll song to reach No. 1 on the Billboard pop chart?
A: "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley & His Comets.
What laboratory test, introduced in the late 1940s, became a standard screening tool for syphilis?
A: The VDRL (Venereal Disease Research Laboratory) test.
What nickname was given to the congressional hearings investigating communist influence in the entertainment industry?
A: The Hollywood Blacklist (or HUAC hearings).
What was the first toy ever advertised nationally on television?
A: Mr. Potato Head.
Before becoming television's "King of Late Night," Steve Allen hosted what groundbreaking NBC variety program that debuted in 1954?
A: Tonight Starring Steve Allen (the original Tonight Show).
Which record producer and talent scout founded Sun Records in Memphis?
A: Sam Phillips.
Before Jonas Salk's vaccine, which disease caused annual summer epidemics that closed swimming pools and movie theaters?
A: Polio.
What 1948 campaign strategy helped Harry Truman defeat Thomas E. Dewey despite nearly every poll predicting his loss?
A: His whistle-stop train campaign.
Which company introduced the transistor radio to American consumers in 1954?
A: Regency.
What 1948 television program is widely considered the first network evening news broadcast?
A: CBS Television News.
Which singer replaced Perry Como on the CBS program Chesterfield Supper Club before launching a legendary solo career?
A: Frank Sinatra.
Which antibiotic, discovered in 1943, became the first effective treatment for tuberculosis?
A: Streptomycin.
Which U.S. senator became famous for waving a list of alleged communists working in the State Department?
A: Joseph McCarthy.
What was the name of the first commercially successful credit card introduced in 1950?
A: Diners Club Card.
Which anthology series, hosted by Alfred Hitchcock beginning in 1955, always featured Hitchcock's dry-humored introductions?
A: Alfred Hitchcock Presents.
What was the first Elvis Presley single released by RCA Victor after purchasing his Sun Records contract?
A: "Heartbreak Hotel."
What was the name of the large-scale 1954 field trial of the Salk vaccine involving nearly two million American children?
A: The Francis Field Trial (the Polio Pioneers study).
What newspaper famously printed the incorrect headline "Dewey Defeats Truman"?
A: The Chicago Daily Tribune.
Which household appliance was first sold for home use by the Tappan Company in 1955?
A: The microwave oven.
What science fiction children's program, first broadcast in Philadelphia in 1953, inspired generations of young viewers with its homemade spacecraft set?
A: Captain Video and His Video Rangers.
Which vocal group recorded the original version of "Blue Moon," a doo-wop classic released in 1956?
A: The Marcels. (Note: Their famous version was actually released in 1961. A better 1950s answer is The Clovers, who recorded it in 1953.)
Which physician won the 1954 Nobel Prize for developing cortisone treatments for rheumatoid arthritis?
A: Dr. Philip S. Hench.
Which 1947 plan committed billions of dollars to rebuilding war-torn Europe?
A: The Marshall Plan.
What was the name of the first Disneyland attraction guests encountered after entering the park on opening day in 1955?
A: Main Street, U.S.A.