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Modern World: fun facts and quiz
The essentials in 7 ideas, with fun facts, an illustrated story and a quiz to see how much you know.
The essentials
The United Nations
The United Nations was founded in 1945, after the Second World War, to keep peace between countries. It started with 51 members; today it has 193.
Key fact
Its headquarters are in New York.
The Cold War
From about 1947 to 1991, the USA and the Soviet Union competed for power without fighting each other directly, racing to build nuclear weapons and to reach space.
Key fact
The Berlin Wall stood from 1961 to 1989.
Decolonisation
After the Second World War, dozens of colonies in Asia and Africa won independence. India became independent in 1947, and 17 African countries did in 1960 alone.
Key fact
1960 is known as the “Year of Africa”.
The Space Race
The Space Race was a Cold War contest: each superpower treated space firsts as proof its system was better, pouring money into science and education.
Key fact
In 1975, US and Soviet spacecraft docked together in orbit.
The European Union
After the Second World War, European countries joined their economies to make war between them unthinkable. That grew into the European Union, and the euro arrived in 1999.
Key fact
Euro notes and coins went into circulation in 2002.
The End of Apartheid
South Africa’s apartheid system separated people by race until the early 1990s. In 1994, Nelson Mandela became president after the country’s first all-race election.
Key fact
Mandela spent 27 years in prison before his release in 1990.
The Digital Age
Since the 1990s, the internet and smartphones have reshaped daily life. The iPhone launched in 2007, and today more than half the world uses a smartphone.
Key fact
More than 5 billion people are online.
Fun facts
The UN issues its own postage stamps, which can only be posted from its offices.
The Washington–Moscow hotline, set up in 1963, wasn’t a red phone: it was a teleprinter link.
In 1957, Ghana became one of the first colonies in sub-Saharan Africa to win independence.
In 1960, the dogs Belka and Strelka became the first living things to orbit Earth and come back alive.
The EU began in 1951 as the European Coal and Steel Community, pooling the very materials of war.
Nelson Mandela was only removed from a US terrorism watch list in 2008.
The first text message, sent in 1992, said “Merry Christmas”.
Story: Immediately, Without Delay
Immediately, Without Delay
9 November 1989. East Germany eases its travel rules. Spokesman Günter Schabowski announces it at a live press conference, from a note he’s barely read.
A reporter asks when it takes effect. Schabowski shuffles his papers: “As far as I know… immediately, without delay.”
Crowds rush to the Berlin Wall. Overwhelmed, the border guards open the gates that night. The Wall, up since 1961, had fallen.
True or false?
Tap your answer to see if you got it, and why.
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Question 1 of 10
The UN started with 51 member countries.
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True. Far fewer than today.
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Question 2 of 10
The Berlin Wall fell in 1989.
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True. Germany reunited the following year.
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Question 3 of 10
Many colonies in Asia and Africa gained independence after 1945.
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True. Dozens of new countries joined the UN.
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Question 4 of 10
The Space Race was part of the Cold War rivalry.
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True. Between the USA and the Soviet Union.
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Question 5 of 10
The euro was launched as a currency in 1999.
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True. Notes and coins followed in 2002.
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Question 6 of 10
Nelson Mandela became president of South Africa in 1994.
Show the answer
True. After the first election open to all races.
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Question 7 of 10
More than 5 billion people are online.
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True. Over half the world.
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Question 8 of 10
The UN’s headquarters are in Geneva.
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False. They’re in New York.
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Question 9 of 10
In the Cold War, the USA and the USSR fought many direct battles.
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False. They never fought each other directly; that’s why it was “cold”.
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Question 10 of 10
Decolonisation always happened peacefully.
Show the answer
False. Some countries won independence through long wars.
Keep going in the app
KnowSoda learns what you know and brings back what you’re about to forget. Modern World has 6 more ideas at the Advanced and Expert levels.
Sources
- United Nations — History of the UN
- Encyclopaedia Britannica — Cold War, decolonization, apartheid, European Union
- NASA — The Space Race and Apollo
- Nelson Mandela Foundation — Biography
- ITU — Facts and Figures 2024
- Encyclopaedia Britannica — Berlin blockade, Cuban missile crisis, collapse of the Soviet Union, Green Revolution
- UN Environment Programme — The Montreal Protocol
- World Bank — Poverty and shared prosperity
