How Well Do You Know This Decade in History? 1930-1939
Written by Colleen Curran History Expert
Last updated · 6 min play time
Unlike the Roaring Twenties, the 1930s were a time of economic hardship, environmental devastation, and limited global trade.
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.
Quiz written by
Colleen Curran1930s 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.
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AThe Wizard of Oz
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BIt Happened One Night
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CGone with the Wind
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DKing Kong
The Wizard of Oz
This was the first movie made with Technicolor. Named the most viewed movie on television.
Question 2
What famous sky scraper was completed in 1931?
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AJohn Hancock Tower
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BShanghai Tower
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CChrysler Building
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DEmpire State Building
Empire State Building
Designed in Art Deco style. The Empire State Building was thwarted at the tallest building in NY after the creation of the The World Trade Centers. (Changed in 2001).
Question 3
The original ______ comic was sold in the United States in 1938. This particular issue sold for $3.2 million in 2014.
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ABatman
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BHulk
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CX-Men
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DSuperman
Superman
Superman is one of the most popular comic book characters ever created.
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:
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ANineteen Eighty-Four
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BA Tree Grows in Brooklyn
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CThe Grapes of Wrath
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DThe Catcher in the Rye
The Grapes of Wrath
This book is about a family traveling in the Mid-west of the US during the Depression who are then trapped in the Dust Bowl, a period of severe dust storms and damaged agriculture. It showcases the hardships millions witnessed during the 1930s.
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.
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AAramid
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BNylon
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CSpandex
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DRayon
Nylon
Nylon has various uses. After its invention in the 1930s, it was used during WWII as a replacement for silk in parachutes.
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?
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ARelief
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BRefund
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CRecovery
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DReform
Refund
Relief through public works; Recovery work in the housing sector, etc.; Reform of the financial system, trade, and prevention from another collapse.
Question 7
France and the United Kingdom declared war on Germany in 1939 after Nazi Germany invaded what country, starting the Second World War?
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AFrance
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BFinland
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CPoland
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DRomania
Poland
The Nazis believed in a racial hierarchy. Poles were considered racially inferior to the Germans. Hitler argued in favor of lebensraum, policies and practices that argued that racially inferior people needed to be removed (Polish, Slavic, Russian, etc), for the development of racially superior races (Germans).
Question 8
This champion racehourse became a symbol of hope for many Americans in the 1930s
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ASeabiscuit
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BSecretariat
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CSea Bird
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DAmerican Pharoah
Seabiscuit
Seabiscuit was an unliklely winner in a time when Americans had little hope of economic and job recovey following the great crash. Horse racing and the success of Seabiscuit was a sport that provided Americans an entertainment outlet at this difficult time.
Question 9
What president threatened to pack the Supreme Court after the Court struck down a piece of the National Recovery Administration?
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ACalvin Coolidge
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BFranklin Delano Roosevelt
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CHerbert Hoover
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DHarry Truman
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
FDR threatened to pack the supreme court with justices who would support New Deal agendas.The law was never supported by Congress and FDR suffered from loss of political support as a result. The Court did, however, uphold the right of the federal government to regulate labor-management relations.
Question 10
What famous man led a nonviolent march in 1930 against British control of salt production in India.
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AHenry David Thoreau
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BIndira Gandhi
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CMohandas Gandhi
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DMartti Ahtisaari
Mohandas Gandhi
Under British rule, the Indian population was not able to produce or sell salt, and were forced to buy expensive and often imported salt. Gandhi used civil disobedience to protest against these measures.
Question 11
Thousands of homeless Americans lived in shantytowns named after this president who was blamed for the Great Depression:
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ACoolidge
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BTruman
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CRoosevelt
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DHoover
Hoover
Hoovervilles (slums) developed along cities in the US during the Great Depression. Hoover was blamed for the Depression as he was president at the time of the Crash in '29, but it wasn't solely Hoover's fault. The Great Depression was a result of myriad problems that occured under former administrations, weak anti-trust laws, speculation, etc. Moreover, according to John Kenneth Galbraith, there was little economic understanding at that particular time, so for Hoover to understand how to remedy the issues of the Depression most likely wouldn't have been possible.
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.
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ALaGuardia
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BLAX
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CO'Hare
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DLogan
LaGuardia
The WPA gave thousands of Americans jobs during the 1930s through the federal and state governments. The WPA developed infrastructure that's still in use today. Much of this infrastructure is still in use today, but has not been continuously updated and is a political issue.
Question 13
What European country fought a civil war between 1935 and 1939?
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AAlgeria
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BBolivia
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CSpain
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DGermany
Spain
This war was fought between leftists and and right wing revolutionaries. Some argue that it was a fight between those in favor of democracy and fascism. Francisco Franco won the battle and ruled over Spain as a military dictator until his death in 1975.
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.
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ASampson
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BJones
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CStewart-Debbs
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DWagner
Wagner
The Wagner Act gives workers the right to collective bargaining and the right to unionize.
Question 15
The first Fifa World Cup was played in 1930 in what country?
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ASpain
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BVenezuela
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CGermany
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DUruguay
Uruguay
The Wolrd Cup is the championship for the world's most popular sport, soccer.
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?
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A100 Day Programs
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BFDR Agencies
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CLetter Agencies
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DAlphabet Agencies
Alphabet Agencies
New Deal agencies were created by the federal government through acts of Congress or by executive orders to help Americans that lost their homes and jobs due to the great crash of 1929.
Question 17
The Great Depression was the worst economic disaster in United States history. What was the highest unemployment rate during the Depression?
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A15%
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B25%
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C13%
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D30%
25%
A speculation bubble developed throughout the roaring twenties and caused the stock market to crash, triggering the worst economic crisis and economic depression in the United States. This economic crash affected all industrialized nations, limiting production, and trade worldwide.
Question 18
The first National Football League draft took place in ____ at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Philadelphia.
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A1936
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B1939
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C1933
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D1937
1936
The NFL is a popular sport in the US, hosting the Super Bowl every year, drawing millions of viewers.
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?
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A1935
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B1939
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C1930
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D1933
1933
Extreme political ideologies emerged during the late 1920s and into the 1930s ( nazism, fascism, communism--also seen in the mid 1800s). Adolph Hitler was a Nazi and led the country into war at the end of the decade.
Question 20
This useful tool was patented in 1930.
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ASeat Belt
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BVelcro
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CZipper
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DElectric razor
Electric razor
The electric razor was further developed later in the 1930s. The first Remington electric razor emerged in 1939.
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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!
It recorded an answer I mistakenly touch. I knew the books was THE G****S OF WRATH.
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