20th Century History Trivia Word Search

The 1947 division of British India into two independent nations is known as the '_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.'

This Balkan region saw brutal ethnic conflict and a notorious genocide during the 1990s.

This Tennessee city on the Mississippi River was where Dr. King was assassinated in 1968, sparking riots nationwide.

This US president ordered the atomic bombings of Japan and later issued a Cold War doctrine bearing his name.

This Beijing square was the site of major pro-democracy protests violently suppressed in 1989.

Polish trade union leader Lech '_ _ _ _ _ _' helped end communist rule in Poland.

The 1941 Japanese attack that drew the US into WWII targeted this naval base: Pearl '_ _ _ _ _ _.'

The devastating 1918 global pandemic is commonly (if inaccurately) called the Spanish '_ _ _.'

This East African country experienced a horrific genocide against the Tutsi minority in 1994.

This British Prime Minister led the UK through WWII, famous for his wartime speeches.

This US president faced down the Soviet Union during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

This 1970s political scandal, involving a break-in and cover-up, led to a US president's resignation.

This US president was in office when the 1929 stock market crash struck, and his name became synonymous with the economic crisis that followed.

This Indian independence leader championed nonviolent resistance against British rule.

Egypt's 1956 nationalization of a key canal triggered the Suez '_ _ _ _ _ _.'

South Africa's system of institutionalized racial segregation, ended in the early 1990s, was called this.

The early-20th-century movement fighting for women's right to vote is known as this.

Iraq's 1990 invasion of this small, oil-rich neighbor triggered the Gulf War.

Churchill described the Cold War divide between East and West as an Iron '_ _ _ _ _ _ _.'

The 1991 US-led conflict to expel Iraqi forces from Kuwait is known as the Gulf '_ _ _.'

This 1968 Los Angeles assassination claimed a presidential candidate and younger brother of a slain former president; he shared his brother's surname but is often distinguished by this first name.

Soviet missiles discovered on this Caribbean island in 1962 nearly triggered nuclear war.

President Kennedy was assassinated in 1963 in this Texas city.

Illegally trafficked alcohol during the 1920s US ban on liquor was known as '_ _ _ _ _ _ _' booze.

Cambodia's brutal 1970s regime, responsible for a genocide, was called the Khmer '_ _ _ _ _.'

This man was accused of assassinating President Kennedy in 1963.

The Bosnian city where a 1914 assassination triggered World War I was this.

The UK and Argentina fought a 1982 war over these South Atlantic islands.

This landmark 1964 US law banning discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin is known as the Civil Rights '_ _ _.'

Britain handed this territory back to China in 1997 after over 150 years of colonial rule.

A second major 1945 Allied conference, dividing occupied Germany, was held in this German city.

In 1948–49 the US and allies supplied West Berlin entirely by air during the Berlin '_ _ _ _ _ _ _.'

The secret US program that developed the atomic bomb was called the '_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _' Project.

This Western military alliance, formed in 1949, opposed Soviet expansion during the Cold War.

This prominent feminist activist co-founded Ms. magazine in the 1970s.

NASA's program that landed astronauts on the Moon between 1969 and 1972 was called this.

Germany's fast-moving invasion tactic, combining tanks and air power, was called Blitz'_ _ _ _ _' (German for "war").

Germany's WWI emperor held this title, German for "emperor."

Germany, Italy, and Japan formed this WWII alliance, opposing the Allies.

This British Prime Minister, a contemporary of Reagan, was known as the "Iron Lady."

This international peace organization, established in San Francisco in 1945, succeeded the failed League of Nations.

Roosevelt's program of relief and reform to combat the Depression was called the New '_ _ _ _.'

This civil rights leader delivered the "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963.

Three days after the first atomic bombing, this second Japanese city was struck.

This US president resigned in 1974 over the Watergate scandal.

Soviet leader Mikhail '_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _' introduced glasnost and perestroika in the 1980s.

American hostages were held for 444 days after the 1979 seizure of this US diplomatic building in Tehran.

This "unsinkable" ocean liner struck an iceberg and sank on its maiden voyage in 1912.

Nine Black students integrated a high school in this Arkansas city in 1957, becoming a landmark desegregation crisis: Little '_ _ _ _.'

This American astronaut became the first person to walk on the Moon in 1969.

The failed precursor to the United Nations, formed after WWI, was called the '_ _ _ _ _ _' of Nations.

This Japanese city was the target of the first atomic bomb used in warfare, in August 1945.

This four-letter abbreviation for the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991.

This Soviet leader ruled the USSR throughout WWII and into the early Cold War.

The systematic killing of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire beginning in 1915 is referred to as this.

This South African leader, imprisoned for 27 years, became the country's first Black president in 1994.

This activist's 1955 refusal to give up her bus seat sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott: Rosa '_ _ _ _ _.'

This German dictator led the Nazi Party and started WWII in Europe.

A quarter-million people rallied in the US capital in 1963 to hear a famous "I Have a Dream" speech, in what's remembered as the '_ _ _ _ _' on Washington.

The 1914 assassination of Archduke Franz '_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _' in Sarajevo triggered World War I.

This Soviet cosmonaut became the first human in space in 1961.

Allied leaders met at this Crimean resort in February 1945 to plan postwar Europe.

The '_ _ _ _ _ _' brothers achieved the first sustained powered flight in 1903.

The post-WWII trials of Nazi war criminals were held in this German city.

This massive 1969 music festival in upstate New York became a symbol of 1960s counterculture.

The systematic genocide of six million Jews by Nazi Germany is known as this.

This South Asian country gained independence from Britain in 1947.

This US president and former WWII general was widely known by the nickname '_ _ _.'

This British ocean liner, sunk by a German U-boat in 1915, helped draw the US toward WWI.

Gavrilo '_ _ _ _ _ _ _,' the assassin whose 1914 act sparked WWI, was a Bosnian Serb nationalist.

The Cold War-era fear that one nation's fall to communism would trigger neighboring collapses was the '_ _ _ _ _ _' theory.

Britain, France, and Russia (later joined by the US) formed this WWI coalition, opposing the Central Powers.

This Chinese Communist leader founded the People's Republic of China in 1949.

The 1919 treaty ending WWI was signed in a famous Hall of '_ _ _ _ _ _ _' at a French palace.

The concrete barrier dividing East and West Berlin from 1961 to 1989 was called the Berlin '_ _ _ _.'

The November 11, 1918 agreement that halted fighting in WWI is called the '_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.'

This 1965 US law banned discriminatory voting practices used to disenfranchise Black voters.

The June 6, 1944 Allied invasion of Normandy is known simply as '_-_ _ _.'

WWI's Western Front became infamous for miles of dug-in '_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _' warfare.

Gorbachev's policy of political openness in the 1980s was called this Russian term.

The 1944 Allied invasion of France began on the beaches of this French region.

The USSR's 1957 launch of this satellite, the first in space, shocked the United States.

This South Vietnamese capital fell to North Vietnamese forces in 1975, ending the Vietnam War.

The US military network that became a precursor to the modern internet was called this.

This 1986 nuclear disaster in Soviet Ukraine remains the worst in history.

The most notorious Nazi concentration and extermination camp, in occupied Poland, was this.

This US president, elected to four terms, led America through the Depression and most of WWII.

This Cambodian dictator led the Khmer Rouge regime during its genocidal rule.

This long, divisive Southeast Asian war involved the US from the 1950s to 1975.

The US program to rebuild Western Europe's economy after WWII was called the Marshall '_ _ _ _.'

This Italian fascist dictator ruled alongside Hitler as an Axis leader.

This 1979 revolution overthrew the Shah of Iran and established an Islamic republic.

This Argentine-born revolutionary fought alongside Castro before spreading revolution elsewhere.

This British mathematician led the team that cracked Germany's wartime codes.

This US president is closely associated with the final years of the Cold War alongside Gorbachev.