How Well Do You Know This Decade in History? 1930-1939

Last updated · 6 min play time

Unlike the Roaring Twenties, the 1930s were a time of economic hardship, environmental devastation, and limited global trade.

This quiz was expert written by Colleen Curran. Colleen earned an MA in History at Boston College in 2016. She specialized in nineteenth and twentieth-century American race and labor history. She currently works as an Editor for the Massachusetts Historical Commission and continues her education in the Sustainable Development Program at the Harvard Extension School.


Colleen earned an MA in History at Boston College. She currently works as an Editor for the Massachusetts Historical Commission, and continues her education in the Sustainable Development program at the Harvard Extension School.

She specialized in nineteenth and twentieth-century American race and labor history.

1930s Quiz Questions

20 Questions · 129.5K Plays · 3 Comments

Question 1

This popular movie, based on a novel, starred Judy Garland, used Technicolor, and was nominated for six Academy Awards.

  • A
    The Wizard of Oz
  • B
    It Happened One Night
  • C
    Gone with the Wind
  • D
    King Kong

Question 2

What famous sky scraper was completed in 1931?

  • A
    John Hancock Tower
  • B
    Shanghai Tower
  • C
    Chrysler Building
  • D
    Empire State Building

Question 3

The original ______ comic was sold in the United States in 1938. This particular issue sold for $3.2 million in 2014.

  • A
    Batman
  • B
    Hulk
  • C
    X-Men
  • D
    Superman

Question 4

What piece of fiction, published in 1939, won author John Steinbeck the National Book Award, a Pulitzer Prize, and later a Nobel Prize:

  • A
    Nineteen Eighty-Four
  • B
    A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
  • C
    The Grapes of Wrath
  • D
    The Catcher in the Rye

Question 5

This synthetic polymer has been used to create ropes, tires, carpets, clothing, food packaging and much more. It was created by the DuPont industrial company in the 1930s, and was showcased at the World Fair in New York in 1939.

  • A
    Aramid
  • B
    Nylon
  • C
    Spandex
  • D
    Rayon

Question 6

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal was a series of programs established by the federal government to help Americans suffering as a result of the Depression. The New Deal focused on the "3 Rs." What is NOT one of the three Rs?

  • A
    Relief
  • B
    Refund
  • C
    Recovery
  • D
    Reform

Question 7

France and the United Kingdom declared war on Germany in 1939 after Nazi Germany invaded what country, starting the Second World War?

  • A
    France
  • B
    Finland
  • C
    Poland
  • D
    Romania

Question 8

This champion racehourse became a symbol of hope for many Americans in the 1930s

  • A
    Seabiscuit
  • B
    Secretariat
  • C
    Sea Bird
  • D
    American Pharoah

Question 9

What president threatened to pack the Supreme Court after the Court struck down a piece of the National Recovery Administration?

  • A
    Calvin Coolidge
  • B
    Franklin Delano Roosevelt
  • C
    Herbert Hoover
  • D
    Harry Truman

Question 10

What famous man led a nonviolent march in 1930 against British control of salt production in India.

  • A
    Henry David Thoreau
  • B
    Indira Gandhi
  • C
    Mohandas Gandhi
  • D
    Martti Ahtisaari

Question 11

Thousands of homeless Americans lived in shantytowns named after this president who was blamed for the Great Depression:

  • A
    Coolidge
  • B
    Truman
  • C
    Roosevelt
  • D
    Hoover

Question 12

This busy airport, along with thousands of other projects, was created by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a program that employed millions of Americans as a result of the New Deal.

  • A
    LaGuardia
  • B
    LAX
  • C
    O'Hare
  • D
    Logan

Question 13

What European country fought a civil war between 1935 and 1939?

  • A
    Algeria
  • B
    Bolivia
  • C
    Spain
  • D
    Germany

Question 14

In 1935, President Franklin Roosevelt signed into law the National Labor Relations Act, which gave workers the right of collective bargaining, and the ability to form and/or join unions. The NLRA is better known as the ___________ Act, named after the Senator who introduced this bill to the Senate floor.

  • A
    Sampson
  • B
    Jones
  • C
    Stewart-Debbs
  • D
    Wagner

Question 15

The first Fifa World Cup was played in 1930 in what country?

  • A
    Spain
  • B
    Venezuela
  • C
    Germany
  • D
    Uruguay

Question 16

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA), and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) are just a few of the programs created under the New Deal. What is another name for president Roosevelt's New Deal agencies?

  • A
    100 Day Programs
  • B
    FDR Agencies
  • C
    Letter Agencies
  • D
    Alphabet Agencies

Question 17

The Great Depression was the worst economic disaster in United States history. What was the highest unemployment rate during the Depression?

  • A
    15%
  • B
    25%
  • C
    13%
  • D
    30%

Question 18

The first National Football League draft took place in ____ at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Philadelphia.

  • A
    1936
  • B
    1939
  • C
    1933
  • D
    1937

Question 19

The Weimar Republic came to an end after Adolph Hitler, head of the Nazi party, became the Chancellor of Germany and leader of the Third Reich until 1945. What year did Hitler become Chancellor?

  • A
    1935
  • B
    1939
  • C
    1930
  • D
    1933

Question 20

This useful tool was patented in 1930.

  • A
    Seat Belt
  • B
    Velcro
  • C
    Zipper
  • D
    Electric razor

Comments (3)

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I'm 83 and I do many quizzes and trivias to keep my brain working. My mother suffered from senile dementia and I have done everything I know to do to avoid going down that road!

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It recorded an answer I mistakenly touch. I knew the books was THE G****S OF WRATH.

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It's loaded up with so many ads that the screen keeps jumping around. After selecting an answer the screen jump changing the selection to another answer. It's VERY annoying and unfairly lowers the score

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