What Happened In 1947?
47 Trivia Questions and Answers for 1947 History
1. What was the highest-grossing film of 1947?
Welcome Stranger
2. This film, starring Maureen O’Hara, John Payne and Natalie Wood, won 3 Academy Awards.
Miracle on 34th Street
3. In 1947, what was the average life expectancy in the United States?
Men – 64.4 years, Women – 69.7 years.
4. This player broke the modern color-barrier in major league baseball when he stepped onto Ebbets Field in Brooklyn to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Name the player AND his number.
Jackie Robinson #42.
5. Which celebrity was NOT born in 1947: Art Garfunkel, Kevin Kline, Michael McKean, Richard Dreyfuss, or Albert Brooks?
Art Garfunkel (born November 5, 1941)
6. To the nearest dime, what was the average movie theater ticket price in 1947?
40 cents
7. What was the Biggest Number One Song of 1947?
Near You – Francis Craig
8. How much did a Loaf of Bread cost in 1947?
13 cents
9. How much did a pound of bacon cost in 1947?
78 cents
10. What was the first television station west of the Mississippi River?
KTLA in Los Angeles.
11. Probably the most famous diary in the world was first published in the Netherlands in 1947. Name that book.
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
12. Who won the Stanley Cup in 1947?
In 1947, The Toronto Maple Leafs won over the Montreal Canadiens (4 games to 2)
13. How many people lived in the United States in 1947?
The population was an estimated 144,126,071 people.
14. What quiz show, hosted by Groucho Marx, premiered on ABC Radio, and later on television?
You Bet Your Life
15. This Disney Character first appeared in Dell Comics Four Color #178.
Hint: He is very wealthy.
Scrooge McDuck
16. A US patent (#2417786) was granted to Hurley Smith for this clothing accessory, best known to be worn by white-collar workers and nerds.
The Pocket Protector.
17. The Tennessee Williams play A Streetcar Named Desire starring Jessica Tandy premiered at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on Broadway. Who played the role of Stanley Kowalski in the stage show?
Marlon Brando
18. Who was President of the United States in 1947?
Harry S. Truman (April 12, 1945 – January 20, 1953)
19. Starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Dorothy Lamour, the fifth “Road To…” film was released. Name that road movie.
Road To Rio
20. Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour also starred in a 1947 romantic comedy where Bing Crosby only had a cameo appearance. Name that film.
My Favorite Brunette
21. On December 27, 1947, NBC produced a cowboy and puppet hosted a TV show, and it ran until 1960. Based on the name of this children’s television show, what time is it?
It’s Howdy Doody Time.
22. This symbol represents the likelihood of a man-made global catastrophe and has been maintained since 1947 by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
Doomsday Clock
23. What was the Bestselling Fiction Book in 1947?
The Miracle of the Bells by Russell Janney
24. Which of the Axis powers was the first to regain its sovereignty with the withdrawal of Allied troops, in 1947?
Italy
25. Who won the Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award in 1947?
Jackie Robinson
26. Some would say that this American Thoroughbred champion racehorse was the greatest of all time, but he died in 1947, at the age of 30. Name that horse.
Man ‘o War
27. How much did a gallon of gas cost in 1947?
$0.23 per gallon
28. Born in 1947, Donald Brian Roeser, better known as Buck Dharma, was one of the founding members of what American rock group just a few decades later?
Hint One: Biggest hit was Burnin’ For You
Hint Two: Needs more cowbell
Blue Öyster Cult
29. This good-looking gentleman was one of the original outlandish wrestling stars and first appeared on television in 1947.
Gorgeous George
30. Name the small American town that is best known as the location of an Alien Spaceship crash in 1947.
Roswell, New Mexico.
31. In 1947, Edwin Land demonstrated his invention to the Optical Society of America. What was his invention?
The first “instant camera” – his Polaroid Land Camera.
32. Starting in Chicago, this children’s show, featuring a woman and two puppets, later went nationwide, on NBC. Name that show.
Kukla, Fran and Ollie.
33. Who was the American Vice-President in 1947?
The office of vice president was vacant from April 12, 1945 – January 20, 1949
34. In 1947, in the Harvard Mark II electromechanical computer, a moth was discovered, stuck in a relay. This was, literally, the first what?
Computer Bug
35. Purchased in Germany, John C. Hennessy, Jr. brought what vehicle, the first in America, to the United States?
His Volkswagen Beetle
36. This popular children’s book, the second of several Margaret Wise Brown with illustrations by Clement Hurd, was published.
Goodnight Moon
37. This 1947 comedy, starring Danny Kaye and Virginia Mayo was remade in 2013, starring Ben Stiller.
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
38. Who won the 1947 World Series?
In 1947, The New York Yankees won, beating the Brooklyn Dodgers (4 games to 3)
39. True or False? Several years after creating Captain America, comic book storytellers Joe Simon and Jack Kirby created the first Romance comic book, Young Romance.
True. It eventually ran for 208 issues.
40. United States Air Force test pilot, Captain Chuck Yeager, flew a rocket plane faster than the speed of sound. What was the name of the aircraft?
Bell X-1 (nicknamed ‘Glamorous Glennis’)
41. This theater-based annual award ceremony was first held in the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City.
The Tony Awards
42. Who was the Time Magazine Man of the Year in 1947?
George Marshall
43. Still popular today, this weekly news magazine began published in Hamburg, Germany.
Der Spiegel
44. These ancient texts were found on the northern shore of a large salt lake in the Middle East’s West Bank.
Dead Sea Scrolls
45. This television news/interview program debuted on November 6, 1947, on NBC.
Meet the Press
46. An aspiring actress named Elizabeth Short was murdered in Los Angeles. What nickname did the press give her murder?
The Black Dahlia. It is still unsolved.
47. This A-List pianist, singer-songwriter, and composer was born on March 24, 1947, in Pinner, Middlesex, England.
Elton John
Trivia Team Bonus Questions:
1. What is Elton John’s Real name?
Reginald Dwight
2. These simple but effective devices were used by the United States Navy Office of Naval Research in the late 1940s and 1950s for high-altitude atmospheric research.
Skyhook balloons.
3. What Horse won the Kentucky Derby in 1947?
Jet Pilot
4. #1 on the charts for six weeks in 1947, it was the only Top Ten Hit for Tex Williams and his band.
HINT: The surgeon general would not approve.
Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)
5. Who were the 1947 NFL Champions?
Chicago Cardinals
6. Who was the Pope in 1947?
Pope Pius XII, March 2, 1939 – October 9, 1958
7. What was the first pinball machine to include flippers?
The Humpty Dumpty pinball machine by Gottlieb.
8. Evelyn McHale, 23, was an American bookkeeper whose sudden death was photographed and dubbed “the most beautiful suicide”. At what famous New York City location did she die?
She committed suicide by jumping off the Empire State Building.
9. Who were the 1947 NBA Champions?
For the 1946-47 Season, Champion Philadelphia Warriors won 4 games to 1 over the Chicago Stags
10. Debuting on NBC, this was the first televised game show for children…
Juvenile Jury
