Quizmo

Quiz on The Manhattan Project

20 questions · June 28, 2026

Below is the full Quizmo quiz devoted to the theme "The Manhattan Project": each question, its four options, the correct answer highlighted and, where available, its source. A chance to brush up on your general knowledge and then test what you know.

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Question 1

Easy

The Manhattan Project was the secret program to develop what kind of weapon?

Source: The project's whole purpose was to beat Nazi Germany to a working atomic bomb.

Question 2

Easy

During which global conflict was the Manhattan Project carried out?

Source: It ran from 1942 to 1945, racing to finish before World War II ended.

Question 3

Easy

Which country led the Manhattan Project?

Source: The U.S. led it, with key help from Britain and Canada.

Question 4

Easy

Which two Japanese cities were struck by atomic bombs in 1945?

Source: Hiroshima and Nagasaki remain the only two cities ever struck by atomic weapons.

Question 5

Easy

In which year were the atomic bombs dropped on Japan?

Source: Both bombs fell within three days of each other in August 1945.

Question 6

Easy

What was the nickname of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima?

Source: The slim uranium bomb's shape earned it the nickname 'Little Boy.'

Question 7

Easy

Who directed the acclaimed 2023 film dramatizing the bomb's creation?

Source: Christopher Nolan recreated the test blast for the film without using any CGI.

Question 8

Easy

Which scientist is commonly called the 'father of the atomic bomb'?

Source: Oppenheimer ran the lab and forever wore the 'father of the atomic bomb' title.

Question 9

Easy

Which New Mexico desert site hosted the project's secret weapons laboratory?

Source: Los Alamos didn't appear on maps; mail went to a single P.O. box in Santa Fe.

Question 10

Easy

The world's first nuclear weapon test was given what code name?

Source: Fittingly ominous, the world's first nuclear blast was code-named 'Trinity.'

Question 11

Medium

What was the nickname of the heavier bomb dropped on Nagasaki?

Source: The round plutonium bomb dropped on Nagasaki was nicknamed 'Fat Man.'

Question 12

Medium

Which man-made element fueled the Nagasaki bomb?

Source: Nagasaki's bomb used plutonium, an element created inside reactors.

Question 13

Medium

Which physicist achieved the first controlled nuclear chain reaction in 1942?

Source: Fermi's reactor under a Chicago squash court started the first chain reaction.

Question 14

Medium

Which secret Tennessee boomtown was built mainly to enrich uranium?

Source: Oak Ridge, Tennessee secretly housed 75,000 people to enrich uranium.

Question 15

Medium

Oppenheimer's famous 'Now I am become Death' line comes from which sacred text?

Source: He quoted Hindu scripture: 'Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.'

Question 16

Medium

Which U.S. Army general directed the military side of the project?

Source: General Leslie Groves, who had just overseen building the Pentagon, ran the military side.

Question 17

Medium

Aided by espionage, the Soviet Union detonated its first atomic bomb in which year?

Source: Soviet spies sped things up, and the USSR tested its own bomb by 1949.

Question 18

Hard

What term describes the minimum amount of fuel needed for an explosive chain reaction?

Source: A bomb only explodes once enough fuel reaches its 'critical mass.'

Question 19

Hard

Roughly how much explosive energy did the Hiroshima bomb release?

Source: About 15 kilotons of TNT leveled most of Hiroshima in a single instant.

Question 20

Hard

Roughly what did the entire Manhattan Project cost in 1940s dollars?

Source: The project cost about $2 billion, roughly $30 billion in today's money.

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