Glowing in the Dark (Chernobyl)
What year did the Russian nuclear powerplant, Chernobyl, have its famous meltdown?
a) 1964
b) 1976
c) 1986
d) 1990
c) 1986
When did America test the first Hydrogen Bomb?
a) 1948
b) 1952
c) 1959
d) 1964
b) 1952 - The first test took place in 1952 on a small Pacific Island by the Marshall Islands. The explosion, nicknamed the “Mike Shot”, was very successful.
What year was the Berlin Wall built?
a) 1945
b) 1953
c) 1961
d) 1968
c) 1961
Why can't people see stars in any of the moon landing photos?
a) Sunlight reflecting off the moon washed them out
b) They forgot to put the stars in the photos when they filmed the moon landing in a Hollywood basement
c) A quick exposure of a camera can't capture stars
d) They were on the dark side of the moon
c) A quick exposure of a camera can't capture stars
Spies, Julius & Ethel Rosenburg, were sentenced and put to death by America for giving Russia what knowledge during the Cold War?
a) Knowledge how to build Atomic Bombs
b) Knowledge how to build Jet Engines
c) Knowledge how to build Spy Satellites
d) Knowledge how to build Computers
a) Knowledge how to build Atomic Bombs
What does the name Stalin mean?
a) Man of Steel
b) Man of the People
c) Grand Noble Leader
d) Great Uncle
a) Man of Steel
Around how many people were evacuated after the Chernobyl Disaster?
a) 210,000
b) 350,000
c) 460,000
d) 630,000
a) 210,000
What is the largest nuclear bomb ever tested?
a) Tsar
b) Flintlock
c) Trinity
d) Sunbeam
a) Tsar - Soviet thermonuclear bomb that was detonated in a test over Novaya Zemlya island in the Arctic Ocean in 1961
How long was the Berlin Wall? (City limits of Berlin)
a) 4 Miles
b) 12 Miles
c) 27 Miles
d) 36 Miles
c) 27 Miles 27 Miles (City Limits) Close to 100 Miles into countryside
Why was the US flag flapping if there is no wind in space?
a) The fan in the basement of the filming location was accidentally left on
b) There was a rod put along the top of the flag to keep it out for pictures
c) The flag was made of plastic so it would not flop down
d) The flag was actually not flapping, but NASA later photoshopped it to be more patriotic
b) There was a rod put along the top of the flag to keep it out for pictures
CIA agent Aldrich Ames was arrested by the FBI in 1994 for being a spy and selling confidential information to Russia, including information that resulted in American assets being killed by Russia. How many CIA agents were killed by the Soviet Union because of his betrayal?
a) Only one person was killed
b) 3 CIA agents were killed
c) At least 10 CIA agents were killed
d) Somewhere around 25 CIA agents were killed
c) At least 10 CIA agents were killed
Which is a real Stalin saying?
a) Pain is temporary
b) History is for the weak-minded people
c) Death solves all problems - no man, no problem
d) Free ice cream for all communist peoples
c) Death solves all problems - no man, no problem
Why did the reactor explode in Chernobyl?
a) Due to a flawed design in the power-plant during a low-power test
b) Lightning strike in thunder storm
c) Sabotage by anti-Communist rebels
d) Soviet scientist fell asleep and reactor overheated
a) Due to a flawed design in the power-plant during a low-power test
Roughly how many nuclear bombs did America have during the Cold War?
a) 4,000
b) 9,000
c) 23,000
d) 32,000
d) 32,000 nuclear warheads (1966)
Russia had close to 40,00 (1988)
How many people died trying to escape over, under or through the Berlin Wall?
a) Less than 10
b) Roughly 40
c) Over 100
b) Well Over 1,000
c) Over 100 (numbers vary by websites) - 140 to 327
Why can't we see Armstrong's camera in the reflection of the picture?
a) Hollywood forgot to put a camera in his hands when faking (I mean filming) the moon landing
b) It was the wrong angle to see a camera
c) The camera was mounted on his suit and is in the photo
d) The curve on the glass of his space helmet makes it hard to see the camera due to distortion
c) The camera was mounted on his suit and is in the photo
Which drug did the CIA think would help with interrogation and mind control in their now famous and highly illegal MK Ultra drug experiments?
a) LSD
b) Scopolamine
c) Midazolam
d) Sodium Thiopental
a) LSD
What career did Stalin almost have before dictator?
a) Priest
b) Engineer
c) Doctor
d) Teacher
a) Priest He went to seminary, but was expelled for being too radical
What was the primary lasting health effect people experienced from Chernobyl radiation?
a) Thyroid cancer
b) Vision loss
c) Cystic fibrosis
d) Leukemia
a) Thyroid cancer - The Soviet Union tried to cover it up (but did try to get people iodine pills to treat some affected people
What is the largest nuclear bomb America ever tested?
a) Upshot-Knothole
b) Operation Redwing
b) Castle Bravo Test
d) Hardtack 1
b) Castle Bravo - 1954 test on Bikini Atoll. They thought it would yield the equivalent of 5 million tons of TNT, but, in fact, "Bravo" yielded 15 megatons - making it more than a thousand times bigger than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
How many guards/personnel were assigned to guarding the Berlin Wall and East German borders?
a) 3,000
b) 13,000
c) 28,000
d) 47,000
d) 47,000 Guards and Personnel were assigned to the Border Guards at the height of the Cold War.
When looking at the photos of the Apollo 11 spacecraft landing location, critics ask why the moon dust is not disturbed by spacecraft thrusters as it landed?
a) Due to low gravity on the moon the thrusters only had 1.5psi of thrust so no moon dust was stirred up
b) The moon dust was stirred up but settled back down when the photo was taken
c) There is no moon dust, it is mostly solid rock
d) Hollywood props department lowered the spacecraft down using ropes and pulleys as they did not actually use a real rocket engine in the basement when filming
a) Due to low gravity on the moon the thrusters only had 1.5psi of thrust so no moon dust was stirred up
During the Cold War, common household objects could be disguised to be used in the world of spies. One famous object was used was lipstick that secretly could be used as what?
a) Camera
b) Audio recording device
c) Radio
d) Gun
d) Gun
When were gulags officially abolished in Russia?
a) 1960 (Six years after Stalin died)
b) 1985 (Gorbachev started changing Russia)
c) 1991 (When Soviet Union ended)
d) They are still used today
a) 1960 (Six years after Stalin died)
Roughly, how many people died due to the melt down of Chernobyl?
a) 31-50
b) 100-150
c) 500-1,300
d) 2,200-2,600
a) 31-50 31 Officially (UN says 50) (Thousands of people were exposed to radiation)
Roughly how many countries have nuclear weapons today?
a) 4
b) 7
c) 9
d) 13
c) 9 United States, Russia, France, China, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, India, Israel, and North Korea
What were Wall-Peckers? (a Berlin Wall term relating to Wood-Peckers)
a) People who broke pieces of the wall to keep as souvenirs.
b) People who attempted to break through the wall, but were arrested
c) Family members who were arrested for helping their family members escape through the Berlin Wall by providing them tools like hammers/chisels
d) People in East Berlin who lived in taller apartment buildings who could see over the wall into West Berlin (like a bird living in a tree)
a) People who broke pieces of the wall to keep as souvenirs.
When leaving the earth, astronauts had to fly through the Van Allen Belt, a high concentration of radiation from solar wind, as they left earth’s atmosphere. How did they get through it safely?
a) Rest assured that the Hollywood filming of the moon landing was safe as they never actually left earth
b) They were exposed to it, but went through it fast to minimize their exposure to the radiation
c) NASA did not take this into consideration and the astronauts did get sick and later developed cancer towards the end of their lives
d) The Van Allen Belt does not actually contain radiation and conspiracy theorists are incorrect
b) They were exposed to it, but went through it fast to minimize their exposure to the radiation
In the Cold War, what were ‘Dead Drops’ in the world of spying?
a) A spot to drop a dead body after an assassination
b) A secret codeword for a woman who would spy for Russian to trick men into giving up information
c) A safe house where the CIA could interrogate captured enemies
d) A secret location where a spy could drop information for his or her handler
d) A secret location where a spy could drop information for his or her handler
How many gulag camps did the Soviet Union have?
a) 1,000
b) 5,000
c) 10,000
d) 30,000
d) 30,000