In 1948, Cadillac bolted a strange new feature onto its rear fenders — small upright fins that would grow into the towering chrome wings of the late 1950s. What inspired America's tailfin craze? A rocket exhibit at the World's Fair The P-38 Lightning fighter plane The dorsal fin of a sailfish A designer's doodle on a diner napkin None By the summer of 1958, the drive-in movie theater had hit its all-time peak in America — glowing screens rising over cornfields and highway junctions from coast to coast. Roughly how many drive-ins were operating at the height of the craze? About 900 About 1,800 About 4,000 About 12,000 None On January 19, 1953, America stopped everything to watch Lucy Ricardo head to the hospital to have little Ricky on "I Love Lucy." The very next day, Dwight D. Eisenhower's presidential inauguration drew 29 million television viewers. How many watched Lucy? 12 million 29 million — a dead tie 44 million 8 million None On September 9, 1956, a 21-year-old truck driver's son from Memphis appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show" for the first time, and the country's living rooms lit up. What share of America's TV audience tuned in to see Elvis Presley that night? About 25 percent About 40 percent About 60 percent Nearly 83 percent None On October 4, 1957, Americans walked outside at dusk, looked up, and listened to radios crackle with a steady beep-beep-beep from space. The Soviet satellite Sputnik had beaten us into orbit — but the thing itself was surprisingly small. About how big was it? The size of a school bus The size of a Volkswagen Beetle The size of a beach ball The size of a refrigerator None Stumper. In August 1952, Memphis builder Kemmons Wilson opened a clean, family-friendly motel on Summer Avenue — the first of a chain that would change American road trips forever. How did Holiday Inn get its name? It opened over the Fourth of July holiday weekend A draftsman borrowed it from a Bing Crosby movie as a joke It was Wilson's wife's maiden name A newspaper naming contest picked it None Time's up
