Can You Rock This Quiz on the Woodstock Music Festival?

One of Joni Mitchell’s most famous songs is “Woodstock,” from her 1970 album, “Ladies of the Canyon.” But the legendary singer-songwriter didn’t actually attend the festival, because she had a scheduled appearance on “The Dick Cavett Show” that Monday. Mitchell based the song on the experience of her then-boyfriend Graham Nash of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, who performed at the festival in the early hours on Monday morning.

In 1969, The Who was one of the biggest names on Woodstock’s lineup, and the band was riding high with the release of the album “Tommy” just one month prior. Delayed because of rain, The Who didn’t take the stage until 5 a.m. on Sunday, but they still played nearly the entire album. By 6:30 a.m., the band closed things out with “My Generation” as the sun rose on the festival’s third day. The 1975 movie “Tommy,” about a “psychosomatically blind, deaf, and mute” pinball champion, was based on the album.

Martin Scorsese traveled to Bethel, New York, to get Woodstock footage with an unprecedented level of access. “We had 14 to 18 cameras at Woodstock… and when those three days were over, we came back with 50 miles of film — 120 hours of film,” Scorsese once told Roger Ebert. The resulting documentary, “Woodstock” (1970), launched Scorsese’s career and helped the festival become the legend that it is today.

Although Woodstock was originally scheduled for three days, it was actually extended to four because of the incessant rain that continuously delayed performances. This pushed back Jimi Hendrix’s closing performance until 8 a.m. on Monday. Undeterred, Hendrix gave one of the most legendary performances of his short career, which included a blazing guitar solo to the tune of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

Despite more than 400,000 people attending Woodstock, the weekend was remarkably peaceful. One rare moment of contention was when White Panther activist Abbie Hoffman stormed the stage after The Who finished their hit song “Pinball Wizard.” (The White Panther Party was a group of white activists who supported the Black Panther Party.) Bringing attention to the imprisonment of White Panther leader John Sinclair, Hoffman was escorted offstage, but not before Pete Townshend hit him with his guitar.

One of the most famous performances at Woodstock was Janis Joplin playing covers such as George Gershwin’s “Summertime” and Big Mama Thornton’s “Ball and Chain,” as well as originals such as “Kozmic Blues.” Joplin was one of only three female performers at the festival, along with Joan Baez and Melanie Safka.

The “Age of Aquarius” in astrology is believed to bring an era of increased spirituality and harmony throughout the world, so it makes sense that the astronomical sign was closely entwined with Woodstock and its “three days of peace and music.” In fact, the festival’s famous poster even refers to the event as “an Aquarian exposition.”

The summer of ’69 played host to two seismic events in American history — Woodstock and the Apollo 11 moon landing. Some argue that the events displayed a nation at odds with itself. The moon landing was a major accomplishment of the U.S. government — not only in science and technology, but in its ongoing Cold War with the Soviet Union. Woodstock was the ultimate expression of a counterculture in opposition to the very status quo that made Apollo 11 possible.

To put on a show like Woodstock, event organizers needed a lot of space. Luckily, dairy farmer Max Yasgur had a gently sloping alfalfa field that was perfect for hosting the event. A month after the famous “three days of peace and love,” garbage was still strewn everywhere, hindering the regrowth of the alfalfa.

Probably the most surprising no-show of the entire festival was folk legend Bob Dylan, who lived nearby in Ulster County, New York. Dylan’s official reason for not joining the festivities was that one of his kids was sick, but some think that by 1969, Dylan was annoyed with the hippie culture that hung around his house in Woodstock.

Woodstock was many things, but a weekend of nice weather it was not. On Sunday, August 17, just after legendary rocker Joe Cocker finished his famous cover of the Beatles' “With a Little Help From My Friends,” the clouds opened up and turned Woodstock into a mud pit, which postponed the festival for hours.

Contrary to popular belief, Woodstock took place not in Woodstock, New York, but rather 70 miles southwest in the town of Bethel. The festival, which ran from August 15 to 18, 1969, was named after the town where the festival was originally meant to take place.

The most iconic symbol of Woodstock is a white bird perched on the neck of an acoustic guitar. The design comes from Massachusetts designer Arnold Skolnick, who said he used a catbird instead of a dove to evoke peace, because “a dove is like a pigeon. It has no shape whatsoever.” In 1970, “Peanuts” creator Charles Schulz named Snoopy’s yellow bird friend “Woodstock” in honor of the festival and its avian mascot.