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History Quiz / 20th Century History: May

Random History or Grab Bag Quiz

Can you answer these clues related to May events from each year in the 20th century?

 Plays Quiz Updated Jun 18, 2019

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YearAnswerClue
1901The Caste War of Yucatán officially ends with Mexico's victory over this indigenous people.
1902This Caribbean island country gains independence from the US.
1903King Edward VII visits this country, one of the first steps towards forming the Entente.
1904US army engineers begin work on this canal.
1905This Nevada city is founded.
1906The first elected Duma is opened by the Russian tsar in this city.
1907Ayub Khan, future president of this Asian country, is born.
1908The first major commercial oil discovery in the Middle East is made in this country.
1909This physicist accepts an offer to teach theoretical physics at the University of Zürich, giving up his job as a patent clerk.
1910This man becomes king of the UK after the death of Edward VII.
1911This Mexican revolutionary general launches an attack against Ciudad Juárez without consent from president Madero.
1912This branch of the British military is established.
1913In the aftermath of the First Balkan War, this country in southeastern Europe becomes independent.
1914This Nepalese mountaineer, who first reached the summit of Mt. Everest together with Edmund Hillary, is born.
1915This country joins the Entente by declaring war on Austria-Hungary.
1916The Battle of Jutland, World War I's biggest naval engagement, is fought in this sea.
1917Three children see the first Marian apparition, which would become known as Our Lady of Fátima, in this country.
1918Chevrolet is acquired by this American car company.
1919The Bavarian Soviet Republic is crushed when Weimar Republic and Freikorps troops occupy this city.
1920This French heroine of the Hundred Years' War is canonized by the Catholic Church.
1921This constituent country is created within the United Kingdom.
1922The memorial to this president is dedicated in Washington, D.C..
1923The civil war in this western European country ends.
1924This man becomes director of the US Bureau of Investigation, later renamed the FBI.
1925The Scopes Monkey Trial takes place in this US state.
1926This Norwegian explorer and his crew reach the north pole in an airship.
1927This man makes the first solo non-stop transatlantic flight.
1928This Egyptian president, overthrown in the Arab Spring, is born.
1929This Italian-American crime lord kills several 'traitor' gang members during a party supposedly in their honor.
1930Rafael Leónidas Trujillo is elected president of this country.
1931The Empire State Building is completed in this city.
1932The first of ca. 15,000 WWI veterans, the so-called Bonus Army, arrive in this city to demand immediate payment of their military bonus.
1933This Indian pacifist goes on a three week hunger strike.
1934This European country becomes fascist.
1935This British military officer and archaeologist, known for his work with Arab rebels in WWI, dies.
1936Italy annexes this African country.
1937This German airship bursts into flame in Lakehurst, New Jersey.
1938This country mobilizes to defend against a German attack because of false intelligence reports of German troop movements.
1939This man becomes foreign minister of the USSR.
1940This largest German-operated concentration camp opens.
1941The airborne invasion of this Greek island begins.
1942Japanese submarines infiltrate this Australian city's port.
1943German and Italian troops in this war theater surrender to Allied forces.
1944Russian forces finish liberating this peninsula from German occupation.
1945World War II ends in Europe with this country's surrender.
1946This Japanese electronics company is founded as Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering.
1947This US president implements the doctrine named after himself, in order to support other countries against communism.
1948This Middle Eastern country declares independence and is attacked by most of its neighbors the day after.
1949Rainier III becomes prince of this country.
1950L. Ron Hubbard publishes 'Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health', a canonical text of this religious movement.
YearAnswerClue
1951The Seventeen Points Agreement, granting China sovereignty over this country, is signed.
1952This man forms his first government in India.
1953This mountain's summit is first reached.
1954Alfredo Stroessner becomes this country's president in a coup.
1955Eight communist countries sign a defensive 'pact' in this city.
1956The 4th and 8th highest mountains, Lhotse and Manaslu, both located in this mountain range, are first ascended.
1957This country unsuccessfully tests its first hydrogen bomb.
1958Protesters in this French colony seize government offices.
1959The first two living beings, this type of animal, return from space.
1960Nazi criminal Adolf Eichmann is abducted from this country by Mossad agents.
1961In a military coup, Park Chung-hee becomes president of this country.
196212 East Germans escape the country through a tunnel under this recently built barrier.
1963The Organization of African Unity is established in this Ethiopian capital.
1964Two people are abducted and murdered by this American white supremacist group.
1965The navies of China and this country briefly engage each other in the battle of Dong-Yin.
1966The Cultural Revolution begins in this country.
1967This future leader of the USSR becomes KGB chief.
1968One million people march through this western European capital, following massive strikes throughout the country.
1969Soviet probes Venera 5 and 6 land on this planet.
1970US president Nixon orders US forces to cross into this neutral country.
197112,000 people are arrested in Washington, D.C. during a demonstration against this war.
1972The dominion of Ceylon becomes a republic under this name.
1973The Sears Tower, the new tallest building in the world, is completed in this city.
1974India becomes the sixth country to conduct a successful test of this technology.
1975The Economic Community of West African States is created in this Nigerian city.
1976This neighboring country intervenes in the Lebanese Civil War.
1977A coup attempt takes place in this southern African country, which is crushed with the aid of Cuban forces.
1978This longest-serving prime minister of Australia dies.
1979This woman becomes prime minister of the UK.
1980This president of Yugoslavia dies, followed by the largest state funeral in history.
1981This pope survives an assassination attempt.
1982This western European country becomes a NATO member, the first to join since 1955.
1983German magazine 'Stern' releases the supposed diaries of this German chancellor, which are later found to be forgeries.
1984This founder of Facebook is born.
1985The discovery of a depletion of this substance in the Earth's atmosphere, mainly caused by CFCs, is announced.
1986This African country's president, Siad Barre, is injured in a car crash and taken out of country for treatment, an event that would weaken his autocratic rule and lead to civil war.
1987A German amateur pilot evades Soviet air defenses and lands in the center of this city.
1988This French president is re-elected.
1989Following the Tiananmen Square protests, martial law is declared in this city.
1990This Asian country is reunified.
1991Voters in this country vote for secession from Yugoslavia.
1992UN peacekeeping forces withdraw from this Bosnian capital.
1993The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia is created in this city, seat of the International Court of Justice.
1994This man becomes South Africa's first black president.
1995This man is elected president of France.
1996This Russian president first meets with rebel leaders from Chechnya and negotiates a cease-fire.
1997IBM's 'Deep Blue' becomes the first computer to defeat a human world champion in this game.
1998Suharto resigns as this country's president.
1999Slobodan Milošević is indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in this country.
2000This country reaches a population of 1 billion.
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