1980s Trivia Quiz
Thriller, Pac-Man, Live Aid, Margaret Thatcher: 15 questions on the music, movies, TV and news of the 1980s.
Which 1982 Michael Jackson album became the best-selling album of all time?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Thriller
Thriller, released in November 1982, has sold well over 60 million copies worldwide and produced seven top ten singles in the United States, including Billie Jean and Beat It.
The 14-minute Thriller music video, directed by John Landis, was the first music video ever added to the US National Film Registry.
In which 1985 film does Marty McFly travel back to 1955 in a modified DeLorean?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Back to the Future
Back to the Future, directed by Robert Zemeckis and produced by Steven Spielberg, sent Michael J. Fox's Marty McFly back 30 years in Doc Brown's time machine. It was the top grossing film of 1985.
Eric Stoltz originally played Marty and shot for several weeks before being replaced by Michael J. Fox.
Who became British prime minister in 1979 and led the country through the entire 1980s?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher won the 1979 election and stayed in Downing Street until November 1990, the longest tenure of any British prime minister in the 20th century.
She was nicknamed the Iron Lady by a Soviet newspaper in 1976, a label she happily adopted.
Which 1980 arcade game features a yellow character eating dots while being chased around a maze?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Pac-Man
Pac-Man was released by Namco in Japan in 1980 and became the highest-earning arcade game of all time. Designer Toru Iwatani wanted a game that would appeal to women as well as men.
The four ghosts have names: Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde, and each one has its own distinct chasing behaviour.
Which space shuttle broke apart 73 seconds after launch in January 1986?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Challenger
Challenger disintegrated on 28 January 1986 after a seal on one of its solid rocket boosters failed in cold weather, killing all seven crew members, including teacher Christa McAuliffe.
Columbia was lost on re-entry in February 2003, the second fatal shuttle accident, and the programme was retired in 2011.
Which 1980s TV series starred David Hasselhoff alongside a talking car called KITT?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Knight Rider
Knight Rider ran from 1982 to 1986, with Hasselhoff as Michael Knight and a modified Pontiac Trans Am as the artificially intelligent KITT, voiced by William Daniels.
KITT stands for Knight Industries Two Thousand, and its evil counterpart in the show was called KARR.
The Rubik's Cube, the defining toy craze of the early 1980s, was invented by a professor from which country?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Hungary
Ernő Rubik, an architecture professor in Budapest, built the cube in 1974 as a teaching tool. It reached the wider world under the Rubik's Cube name in 1980 and sold tens of millions of units within two years.
Rubik himself needed about a month to solve his own cube the first time, while today's speedcubers finish it in well under five seconds.
Which musician organised the Live Aid concerts held in London and Philadelphia in July 1985?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Bob Geldof
Bob Geldof, with Midge Ure, organised Live Aid on 13 July 1985 to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia. The concerts were watched by an estimated 1.5 billion people worldwide.
Phil Collins played at Wembley, then flew to Philadelphia on Concorde to perform at the American concert the same day.
Which computer was launched with a famous commercial, directed by Ridley Scott, that aired during the 1984 Super Bowl?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Apple Macintosh
Apple's 1984 commercial showed an athlete smashing a screen in front of grey, Orwellian masses and promised that 1984 would not be like 1984. The Macintosh went on sale two days later.
The advert was shown nationally only once, during the third quarter of Super Bowl XVIII.
The 1980 cliffhanger "Who shot J.R.?" came from which television series?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Dallas
Dallas ended its third season in March 1980 with oil baron J.R. Ewing shot by an unseen attacker. The answer, his sister-in-law Kristin, drew around 83 million US viewers in November 1980.
Larry Hagman, who played J.R., used the suspense to negotiate one of the biggest pay rises in television at the time.
The 1984 advertising catchphrase "Where's the beef?" was used by which fast food chain?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Wendy's
Wendy's ran the commercial in 1984 with 81-year-old actress Clara Peller peering at a tiny burger patty on a giant bun. The line became so famous it was used in that year's presidential campaign.
Walter Mondale borrowed the phrase to attack rival Gary Hart's policies during the 1984 Democratic primaries.
In which year did the Chernobyl nuclear disaster take place?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
1986
Reactor number four at the Chernobyl plant in Soviet Ukraine exploded during a safety test on 26 April 1986, spreading radioactive fallout across much of Europe.
The nearby city of Pripyat was evacuated the following day and remains abandoned inside a 30-kilometre (19-mile) exclusion zone.
Which games console arrived in North America in 1985 and revived the video game industry after the crash of 1983?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System launched in New York in October 1985, bundled with Super Mario Bros. the following year, and sold more than 60 million units worldwide.
The console had launched in Japan in 1983 as the Famicom, short for Family Computer.
Which song's video was the first ever played on MTV when the channel launched in August 1981?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Video Killed the Radio Star
MTV opened at 12:01 a.m. on 1 August 1981 with Video Killed the Radio Star by The Buggles, a pointed choice for a channel built entirely on music videos.
Pat Benatar's You Better Run was the second video shown, and the channel initially reached only a few thousand cable homes in New Jersey.
The final episode of which series, broadcast in February 1983, remains the most watched single episode of a scripted TV show in US history?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
M*A*S*H
Goodbye, Farewell and Amen, the two-and-a-half-hour M*A*S*H finale, aired on 28 February 1983 and drew close to 106 million viewers, a record for a scripted episode that still stands.
M*A*S*H ran for 11 seasons, nearly four times longer than the Korean War it depicted.
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All General Knowledge quizzes →About the 1980s Trivia Quiz
Big hair, bigger shoulder pads and the best-selling album of all time. The 1980s gave us Thriller, a time-travelling DeLorean, a talking car named KITT and a music channel that opened with a song about video killing the radio star. It also delivered history: the Challenger disaster, Chernobyl and the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
These 15 questions cover the music, films, television, news, toys and technology of the decade, starting with the hits everyone remembers and finishing with the record-setting television finale that still has not been beaten. Whether you lived through the 1980s or just love the era, this is your chance to prove it.
You will find 15 multiple choice questions here, each with four options. Difficulty: Medium. Most people finish in about 6 minutes, and every answer comes with a short explanation and one extra fact worth keeping.
How to play
Read the question and pick one of the four answers. The correct answer is revealed straight away with a short explanation, then press Next question to keep going. At the end you get your score out of 15 and a full review of your round. Play again any time and the questions arrive in a fresh order. There is no timer and no account.
Good to know before you play
What does the 1980s Trivia Quiz cover?
Music, film, television, world news, toys, video games and technology from 1980 to 1989, including Thriller, Pac-Man, Live Aid, the Macintosh and Margaret Thatcher.
How hard is the quiz?
It is rated Medium. Anyone who grew up in the decade will fly through the early questions, while the final few about TV and tech firsts are tougher.
Do the answers come with explanations?
Yes. Each answer includes an instant explanation plus an extra fact about the decade, so you can settle arguments with friends.
Answer key: all 15 questions with explanations
- Which 1982 Michael Jackson album became the best-selling album of all time?
Thriller Thriller, released in November 1982, has sold well over 60 million copies worldwide and produced seven top ten singles in the United States, including Billie Jean and Beat It. The 14-minute Thriller music video, directed by John Landis, was the first music video ever added to the US National Film Registry. - In which 1985 film does Marty McFly travel back to 1955 in a modified DeLorean?
Back to the Future Back to the Future, directed by Robert Zemeckis and produced by Steven Spielberg, sent Michael J. Fox's Marty McFly back 30 years in Doc Brown's time machine. It was the top grossing film of 1985. Eric Stoltz originally played Marty and shot for several weeks before being replaced by Michael J. Fox. - Who became British prime minister in 1979 and led the country through the entire 1980s?
Margaret Thatcher Margaret Thatcher won the 1979 election and stayed in Downing Street until November 1990, the longest tenure of any British prime minister in the 20th century. She was nicknamed the Iron Lady by a Soviet newspaper in 1976, a label she happily adopted. - Which 1980 arcade game features a yellow character eating dots while being chased around a maze?
Pac-Man Pac-Man was released by Namco in Japan in 1980 and became the highest-earning arcade game of all time. Designer Toru Iwatani wanted a game that would appeal to women as well as men. The four ghosts have names: Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde, and each one has its own distinct chasing behaviour. - Which space shuttle broke apart 73 seconds after launch in January 1986?
Challenger Challenger disintegrated on 28 January 1986 after a seal on one of its solid rocket boosters failed in cold weather, killing all seven crew members, including teacher Christa McAuliffe. Columbia was lost on re-entry in February 2003, the second fatal shuttle accident, and the programme was retired in 2011. - Which 1980s TV series starred David Hasselhoff alongside a talking car called KITT?
Knight Rider Knight Rider ran from 1982 to 1986, with Hasselhoff as Michael Knight and a modified Pontiac Trans Am as the artificially intelligent KITT, voiced by William Daniels. KITT stands for Knight Industries Two Thousand, and its evil counterpart in the show was called KARR. - The Rubik's Cube, the defining toy craze of the early 1980s, was invented by a professor from which country?
Hungary Ernő Rubik, an architecture professor in Budapest, built the cube in 1974 as a teaching tool. It reached the wider world under the Rubik's Cube name in 1980 and sold tens of millions of units within two years. Rubik himself needed about a month to solve his own cube the first time, while today's speedcubers finish it in well under five seconds. - Which musician organised the Live Aid concerts held in London and Philadelphia in July 1985?
Bob Geldof Bob Geldof, with Midge Ure, organised Live Aid on 13 July 1985 to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia. The concerts were watched by an estimated 1.5 billion people worldwide. Phil Collins played at Wembley, then flew to Philadelphia on Concorde to perform at the American concert the same day. - Which computer was launched with a famous commercial, directed by Ridley Scott, that aired during the 1984 Super Bowl?
Apple Macintosh Apple's 1984 commercial showed an athlete smashing a screen in front of grey, Orwellian masses and promised that 1984 would not be like 1984. The Macintosh went on sale two days later. The advert was shown nationally only once, during the third quarter of Super Bowl XVIII. - The 1980 cliffhanger "Who shot J.R.?" came from which television series?
Dallas Dallas ended its third season in March 1980 with oil baron J.R. Ewing shot by an unseen attacker. The answer, his sister-in-law Kristin, drew around 83 million US viewers in November 1980. Larry Hagman, who played J.R., used the suspense to negotiate one of the biggest pay rises in television at the time. - The 1984 advertising catchphrase "Where's the beef?" was used by which fast food chain?
Wendy's Wendy's ran the commercial in 1984 with 81-year-old actress Clara Peller peering at a tiny burger patty on a giant bun. The line became so famous it was used in that year's presidential campaign. Walter Mondale borrowed the phrase to attack rival Gary Hart's policies during the 1984 Democratic primaries. - In which year did the Chernobyl nuclear disaster take place?
1986 Reactor number four at the Chernobyl plant in Soviet Ukraine exploded during a safety test on 26 April 1986, spreading radioactive fallout across much of Europe. The nearby city of Pripyat was evacuated the following day and remains abandoned inside a 30-kilometre (19-mile) exclusion zone. - Which games console arrived in North America in 1985 and revived the video game industry after the crash of 1983?
Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System launched in New York in October 1985, bundled with Super Mario Bros. the following year, and sold more than 60 million units worldwide. The console had launched in Japan in 1983 as the Famicom, short for Family Computer. - Which song's video was the first ever played on MTV when the channel launched in August 1981?
Video Killed the Radio Star MTV opened at 12:01 a.m. on 1 August 1981 with Video Killed the Radio Star by The Buggles, a pointed choice for a channel built entirely on music videos. Pat Benatar's You Better Run was the second video shown, and the channel initially reached only a few thousand cable homes in New Jersey. - The final episode of which series, broadcast in February 1983, remains the most watched single episode of a scripted TV show in US history?
M*A*S*H Goodbye, Farewell and Amen, the two-and-a-half-hour M*A*S*H finale, aired on 28 February 1983 and drew close to 106 million viewers, a record for a scripted episode that still stands. M*A*S*H ran for 11 seasons, nearly four times longer than the Korean War it depicted.
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