• 120 questions

1980's Trivia Questions and Answers in Six Rounds of 20

Six rounds of 20 on the 1980s: one tap checks the table's choice.

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How many different men led the Soviet Union during the 1980s?

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Unofficial practice questions, not affiliated with any league, team, event, award or format named in a question, or any quiz show. Bank checked September 20, 2026.

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All 120 questions with answers

World news of the 1980s 20

  • The 1988 Nobel Peace Prize did not go to a person. Who received it? Answer: United Nations peacekeeping forces. Source: Wikipedia: United Nations peacekeeping
  • Belize became independent in September 1981. From which country? Answer: The United Kingdom. Source: Wikipedia: Belize
  • Glasnost was a Soviet policy of the late 1980s. What does the Russian word mean? Answer: Openness. Source: Wikipedia: Glasnost
  • How many different men led the Soviet Union during the 1980s? Answer: Four. Source: Wikipedia: List of leaders of the Soviet Union
  • In 1982 which country brought its constitution home, so that it no longer needed the British Parliament to change it? Answer: Canada. Source: Wikipedia: Patriation
  • In December 1989 the US and Soviet leaders met aboard a ship during a storm. Off which island country? Answer: Malta. Source: Wikipedia: Malta Summit
  • In June 1987 a US president stood at which Berlin landmark and called on the Soviet leader to tear down the Wall? Answer: The Brandenburg Gate. Source: Wikipedia: Tear down this wall!
  • In October 1986 the US and Soviet leaders held a summit in a house called Hofdi. In which capital city? Answer: Reykjavik. Source: Wikipedia: Reykjavík Summit
  • In which month of 1989 did the Berlin Wall open? Answer: November. Source: Wikipedia: Fall of the Berlin Wall
  • On August 23, 1989 about two million people joined hands in a chain across which three Soviet republics? Answer: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Source: Wikipedia: Baltic Way
  • On the evening the Berlin Wall opened, an East German spokesman was asked when new travel rules would begin. What did he answer? Answer: Immediately, without delay. Source: Wikipedia: Fall of the Berlin Wall
  • The Pan-European Picnic of August 1989 briefly opened a border gate between Austria and which country? Answer: Hungary. Source: Wikipedia: Pan-European Picnic
  • The People Power Revolution of February 1986 was a peaceful uprising in which country? Answer: The Philippines. Source: Wikipedia: People Power Revolution
  • Solidarity, the independent trade union founded in 1980, grew out of a strike at a shipyard in Gdansk. After whom was the shipyard then named? Answer: Lenin. Source: Wikipedia: Solidarity (Polish trade union)
  • Upper Volta took a new name in August 1984. What is the country called now? Answer: Burkina Faso. Source: Wikipedia: Burkina Faso
  • The Velvet Revolution of late 1989 ended one-party rule in which country? Answer: Czechoslovakia. Source: Wikipedia: Velvet Revolution
  • Which Asian sultanate became fully independent from Britain on January 1, 1984? Answer: Brunei. Source: Wikipedia: Brunei
  • Which two countries joined the European Community on January 1, 1986? Answer: Spain and Portugal. Source: Wikipedia: Enlargement of the European Union
  • Which US president served two full terms that covered most of the 1980s? Answer: Ronald Reagan. Source: Wikipedia: Ronald Reagan
  • Who was prime minister of the United Kingdom for the whole of the 1980s? Answer: Margaret Thatcher. Source: Wikipedia: Margaret Thatcher

Space and science 20

  • A ball-shaped carbon molecule discovered in 1985 was named after an architect of domes. How many carbon atoms does it have? Answer: 60. Source: Wikipedia: Buckminsterfullerene
  • A camp where children train like astronauts opened in 1982 beside a rocket center in which US state? Answer: Alabama. Source: Wikipedia: Space Camp
  • A famous comet returned to the inner Solar System in 1986. Whose name does it carry? Answer: Edmond Halley. Source: Wikipedia: Halley's Comet
  • A probe found ten new moons at Uranus in 1986. After whose characters are most moons of Uranus named? Answer: William Shakespeare. Source: Wikipedia: Moons of Uranus
  • DNA fingerprinting was worked out in 1984 at a university in which English city? Answer: Leicester. Source: Wikipedia: DNA profiling
  • The first module of a Soviet space station was launched in February 1986. What does its name, Mir, mean? Answer: Peace or world. Source: Wikipedia: Mir
  • The first shuttle launched on April 12, 1981. That was 20 years to the day after what? Answer: The first human spaceflight. Source: Wikipedia: STS-1
  • Five probes met a famous comet in March 1986. Which agency sent Giotto, the one that flew closest? Answer: The European Space Agency. Source: Wikipedia: Giotto (spacecraft)
  • In 1985 scientists reported a hole in the ozone layer above which continent? Answer: Antarctica. Source: Wikipedia: Ozone depletion
  • In December 1986 an aircraft called Voyager flew around the world in nine days without doing what? Answer: Stopping or refueling. Source: Wikipedia: Rutan Voyager
  • In February 1984 a shuttle astronaut made the first spacewalk without what? Answer: A safety tether. Source: Wikipedia: STS-41-B
  • In June 1983 the first American woman in space flew on which shuttle? Answer: Challenger. Source: Wikipedia: STS-7
  • In June 1983, what did Pioneer 10 become the first spacecraft to do? Answer: Travel beyond the orbit of Neptune. Source: Wikipedia: Pioneer 10
  • The Soviet shuttle Buran made its only orbital flight in November 1988. How many people were aboard? Answer: None. Source: Wikipedia: Buran (spacecraft)
  • Supernova 1987A was the closest seen since 1604. In which nearby galaxy did it appear? Answer: The Large Magellanic Cloud. Source: Wikipedia: SN 1987A
  • The Very Large Array, opened in 1980, is a group of radio telescope dishes laid out in a Y shape. In which US state? Answer: New Mexico. Source: Wikipedia: Very Large Array
  • What did a passing probe photograph on Neptune in 1989? Answer: A storm called the Great Dark Spot. Source: Wikipedia: Great Dark Spot
  • Which orbiter made the first space shuttle flight, in April 1981? Answer: Columbia. Source: Wikipedia: STS-1
  • Which planet did Voyager 1 fly past in November 1980, along with its big moon Titan? Answer: Saturn. Source: Wikipedia: Voyager 1
  • Which probe flew past Uranus in 1986 and Neptune in 1989? Answer: Voyager 2. Source: Wikipedia: Voyager 2

New at home: tech of the 1980s 20

  • A cable channel that started on June 1, 1980 was the first to show what for 24 hours a day? Answer: News. Source: Wikipedia: CNN
  • A research paper of 1984 gave a lasting name to programs that copy themselves into other programs. What name? Answer: Computer virus. Source: Wikipedia: Computer virus
  • A US news magazine picks a Person of the Year. For 1982 it named a Machine of the Year instead. Which machine? Answer: The computer. Source: Wikipedia: Time Person of the Year
  • The first compact disc players went on sale in October 1982. In which country? Answer: Japan. Source: Wikipedia: Compact disc
  • From the 1986 model year, every new car sold in the United States had to have a third what? Answer: Brake light. Source: Wikipedia: Automotive lighting
  • The hard-cased 3.5-inch floppy disk became the usual computer disk of the late 1980s. How much did the high-density kind hold? Answer: 1.44 megabytes. Source: Wikipedia: Floppy disk
  • In 1981 a mobile phone network opened that let callers roam between countries for the first time. Where? Answer: The Nordic countries. Source: Wikipedia: Nordic Mobile Telephone
  • In 1982 which country launched Minitel, a small home terminal for looking up phone numbers and booking train tickets over the phone line? Answer: France. Source: Wikipedia: Minitel
  • In 1983 North American sales of one kind of home gadget began a two-year collapse of about 97 percent. Which gadget? Answer: Home video game consoles. Source: Wikipedia: Video game crash of 1983
  • In 1988, for the first time, more compact discs were sold than what? Answer: Vinyl records. Source: Wikipedia: Phonograph record
  • In which year was the first .com domain name registered? Answer: 1985. Source: Wikipedia: .com
  • Internet Relay Chat, an early way to chat live in text online, was created in 1988. In which country? Answer: Finland. Source: Wikipedia: IRC
  • Introduced in 1983, DNS turns names that people can read into the numbers that computers use. What does DNS stand for? Answer: Domain Name System. Source: Wikipedia: Domain Name System
  • On January 1, 1983 the ARPANET switched to the set of rules that the internet still runs on. What is it called? Answer: TCP/IP. Source: Wikipedia: ARPANET
  • On January 1, 1984 the US telephone monopoly was broken up. How many regional phone companies did that create? Answer: Seven. Source: Wikipedia: Breakup of the Bell System
  • TAT-8 entered service in December 1988. It was the first telephone cable across the Atlantic to use what? Answer: Optical fiber. Source: Wikipedia: TAT-8
  • US regulators approved the first handheld mobile phone in 1983. About how much talk time did one charge give? Answer: 30 minutes. Source: Wikipedia: DynaTAC
  • The usual home video tape of the 1980s grew up alongside which new kind of shop? Answer: Video rental shops. Source: Wikipedia: VHS
  • What did a camcorder, new in 1983, put together in one unit? Answer: A video camera and a video recorder. Source: Wikipedia: Camcorder
  • What does a compact disc player use to read the disc? Answer: A laser beam. Source: Wikipedia: Compact disc

Sports, 1980 to 1989 20

  • During the opening ceremony of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, how did one performer arrive on the stadium track? Answer: He flew in wearing a jet pack. Source: Wikipedia: 1984 Summer Olympics opening ceremony
  • The first Rugby World Cup was played in 1987. Which team won it? Answer: New Zealand. Source: Wikipedia: 1987 Rugby World Cup
  • In 1983 a yacht from which country won the America's Cup, ending a United States winning run of 132 years? Answer: Australia. Source: Wikipedia: 1983 America's Cup
  • In 1985 a 22-year-old became the youngest world champion up to that time in which game? Answer: Chess. Source: Wikipedia: World Chess Championship 1985
  • In 1985 a woman won Alaska's long sled dog race from Anchorage to Nome for the first time. About how long is the route? Answer: About 1,000 miles. Source: Wikipedia: Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race
  • In 1985 the Wimbledon men's singles title was won by an unseeded player. How old was he? Answer: 17. Source: Wikipedia: 1985 Wimbledon Championships – Men's singles
  • In 1986 the Tour de France was won for the first time by a rider from an English-speaking country. Which country? Answer: The United States. Source: Wikipedia: 1986 Tour de France
  • In August 1980 a climber reached the summit of Mount Everest in a way nobody had before. How? Answer: Alone and without bottled oxygen. Source: Wikipedia: Timeline of Mount Everest expeditions
  • In Chicago, the last major league ballpark without lights held its first night game in which year? Answer: 1988. Source: Wikipedia: Wrigley Field
  • In the "Miracle on Ice" of February 1980, a young United States team beat the Soviet Union at which sport? Answer: Ice hockey. Source: Wikipedia: Miracle on Ice
  • The NBA added a new line to its courts for the 1979 to 1980 season. What did it mark? Answer: Three-point shots. Source: Wikipedia: Three-point field goal
  • Starting in 1980, one New York club won ice hockey's top North American trophy for how many years in a row? Answer: Four. Source: Wikipedia: New York Islanders
  • Which Caribbean country sent a bobsled team to the Winter Olympics for the first time in 1988? Answer: Jamaica. Source: Wikipedia: Jamaica national bobsleigh team
  • Which city held the first of its now famous annual marathons on March 29, 1981? Answer: London. Source: Wikipedia: London Marathon and 1981 London Marathon
  • Which city hosted the Summer Olympics of 1980? Answer: Moscow. Source: Wikipedia: 1980 Summer Olympics
  • Which city hosted the Winter Olympics of 1984? Answer: Sarajevo. Source: Wikipedia: 1984 Winter Olympics
  • Which country hosted the men's soccer World Cup of 1986, becoming the first to host it twice? Answer: Mexico. Source: Wikipedia: 1986 FIFA World Cup
  • Which country won the Cricket World Cup in 1983, beating the West Indies in the final at Lord's? Answer: India. Source: Wikipedia: 1983 Cricket World Cup and Cricket World Cup
  • Which indoor sport made its Olympic debut at Seoul in 1988? Answer: Table tennis. Source: Wikipedia: Table tennis at the 1988 Summer Olympics and Tennis at the 1988 Summer Olympics
  • Which race did women run at the Olympics for the first time in 1984? Answer: The marathon. Source: Wikipedia: Athletics at the 1984 Summer Olympics – Women's marathon

Everyday life, fads and prices 20

  • A royal wedding was held in London in July 1981. In which building? Answer: St Paul's Cathedral. Source: Wikipedia: Wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer
  • BMX bikes were a playground favorite in the 1980s. What does BMX stand for? Answer: Bicycle motocross. Source: Wikipedia: BMX
  • Breaking, or breakdancing, spread around the world in the early 1980s. In which borough of New York City did it begin? Answer: The Bronx. Source: Wikipedia: Breakdancing
  • Canada brought in a one dollar coin in 1987. Which bird on its back gave the coin its nickname? Answer: A loon. Source: Wikipedia: Loonie
  • In 1983 the United Kingdom brought in a coin to replace which banknote? Answer: The one pound note. Source: Wikipedia: One pound coin
  • In 1988 smoking was banned on US domestic flights of what length? Answer: Less than two hours. Source: Wikipedia: Inflight smoking
  • Leg warmers were a street fashion of the early 1980s. Who wore them first, to keep muscles warm? Answer: Dancers. Source: Wikipedia: Leg warmer
  • Martin Luther King Jr. Day was signed into US law in 1983. In which year was it first observed as a federal holiday? Answer: 1986. Source: Wikipedia: Martin Luther King Jr. Day
  • On Black Monday, October 19, 1987, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had its largest one-day percentage fall up to that time. About how far did it drop? Answer: 22 percent. Source: Wikipedia: Black Monday (1987)
  • On July 11, 1987 the United Nations marked the day the world's population reached what figure? Answer: Five billion. Source: Wikipedia: World population milestones and World Population Day
  • On May 25, 1986 millions of people held hands in a line meant to cross the United States. What was the event called? Answer: Hands Across America. Source: Wikipedia: Hands Across America
  • "Power dressing" in the 1980s gave jackets a broad, square outline with the help of what? Answer: Shoulder pads. Source: Wikipedia: Power dressing and Shoulder pad (fashion)
  • The twisting cube puzzle of the early 1980s was invented by a professor of architecture in which country? Answer: Hungary. Source: Wikipedia: Rubik's Cube
  • The twisting cube puzzle that was a craze in 1980 and 1981 has how many colored squares on each face? Answer: Nine. Source: Wikipedia: Rubik's Cube
  • The US federal minimum wage rose in January 1981 and then did not change for the rest of the decade. What was it? Answer: $3.35 an hour. Source: Wikipedia: Minimum wage in the United States
  • What did it cost to mail a first-class letter in the United States at the start of 1980? Answer: 15 cents. Source: Wikipedia: History of United States postage rates
  • Which Canadian city hosted the world's fair of 1986? Answer: Vancouver. Source: Wikipedia: Expo 86
  • Which new kind of family vehicle, with a sliding side door and three rows of seats, went on sale in the United States for the 1984 model year? Answer: The minivan. Source: Wikipedia: Minivan
  • Which New York landmark reopened in July 1986 after a restoration for its 100th birthday? Answer: The Statue of Liberty. Source: Wikipedia: Statue of Liberty
  • "Yuppie" was a new word of the early 1980s. What is it short for? Answer: Young urban professional. Source: Wikipedia: Yuppie

Arts and culture 20

  • A glass pyramid opened in 1989 as the new main entrance to which museum? Answer: The Louvre in Paris. Source: Wikipedia: Louvre Pyramid
  • A US cable channel that went on air on August 1, 1981 showed what around the clock? Answer: Music videos. Source: Wikipedia: MTV
  • At the Grammy Awards of February 1984 one artist set a record, up to that time, for wins in a single night. How many? Answer: Eight. Source: Wikipedia: 26th Annual Grammy Awards
  • For a film released in 1981, Katharine Hepburn won the Academy Award for Best Actress. No one had won it so many times. How many was that for her? Answer: Four. Source: Wikipedia: Katharine Hepburn
  • The foundation of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was set up in 1983. In which year did it name its first members? Answer: 1986. Source: Wikipedia: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
  • In 1981 a huge mural painted in 1937 as a protest against the bombing of a town was moved from New York to which country? Answer: Spain. Source: Wikipedia: Guernica (Picasso)
  • In 1989 builders in London uncovered the remains of the Rose. What was the Rose? Answer: A playhouse from Shakespeare's time. Source: Wikipedia: The Rose (theatre)
  • In July 1984 the United States gained a new film rating that cautions parents about children under a certain age. What age? Answer: 13. Source: Wikipedia: Motion Picture Association film rating system
  • In March 1980 US television networks began regular broadcasts with which aid for deaf viewers? Answer: Closed captions. Source: Wikipedia: Closed captioning
  • In November 1987 a painting of irises sold for $53.9 million, the most paid for any painting up to that time. Who painted it? Answer: Vincent van Gogh. Source: Wikipedia: Irises (painting)
  • In October 1982 the Mary Rose was lifted from the seabed off the south coast of England. What is the Mary Rose? Answer: A Tudor warship. Source: Wikipedia: Mary Rose
  • Lascaux II opened in France in 1983. What is it? Answer: An exact copy of part of a painted Stone Age cave. Source: Wikipedia: Lascaux
  • MIDI, a standard published in 1983, lets which things talk to each other? Answer: Electronic musical instruments and computers. Source: Wikipedia: MIDI
  • The Musee d'Orsay in Paris opened in December 1986. What had the building been before? Answer: A railway station. Source: Wikipedia: Musée d'Orsay
  • Music lovers marked the 300th birthdays of two German-born composers in 1985. Bach was one. Who was the other? Answer: Handel. Source: Wikipedia: George Frideric Handel and Johann Sebastian Bach
  • The Nobel Prize in Literature for 1982 went to Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Which country was he from? Answer: Colombia. Source: Wikipedia: Gabriel García Márquez
  • On July 13, 1985 a famine relief concert was staged in two cities at once. London was one. Which was the other? Answer: Philadelphia. Source: Wikipedia: Live Aid
  • Restorers began cleaning the Sistine Chapel frescoes by Michelangelo in 1980. What had darkened them? Answer: Candle wax and soot. Source: Wikipedia: Restoration of the Sistine Chapel frescoes
  • Which backward-gliding dance step became famous after a television performance in 1983? Answer: The moonwalk. Source: Wikipedia: Moonwalk (dance)
  • Which landmark was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1987? Answer: The Great Wall of China. Source: Wikipedia: Great Wall of China

How it works

These 1980's trivia questions and answers run from the first shuttle launch in 1981 to the opening of the Berlin Wall in 1989: 120 multiple-choice questions in six rounds of 20. Every answer gives its reason and names its source.

Read the full guide

1980's trivia questions and answers printable by round

Pick a round under Start from, play it, and Print on the score card lists its questions: remove any, add more. A tick on With answer key adds each reason and source. With no printer, Host a round shows each question in large type and tallies up to six teams.

What the six rounds of 1980s trivia questions ask

World news of the 1980s runs from a shipyard strike in 1980 to a summit held aboard a ship in a storm. New at home covers the compact disc, the camcorder and the first .com name. The other four cover space, sports, the arts and what a stamp cost.

  • Everyone lived through the decade? The Hard questions choice under Show only keeps 31, such as what Lascaux II is.
  • Tied at the end? Ask a hard number question, such as the 1987 market fall, and take the closest guess.
  • Records that were broken later say "up to that time", so the 1984 Grammy question still has one right answer.

Questions and answers

Do the printable 80s trivia questions and answers show the right answer?

No. The question sheet prints each question with four lettered choices and a line for a name, a date and a score. The right letters print only on the answer key, so every team can hold a sheet while the host keeps the key.

Is there a set of generation x trivia questions and answers?

Partly. Set Show only to Gen X mix for 40 questions, all from the 1980s, that someone born from 1965 to 1980 is likely to remember first hand, such as the cube craze and leg warmers. The 1970s and 1990s are not in this pack.

Why is my favorite 80s show or song missing?

On purpose: no question asks you to name a show, a song or a film, so no point hangs on a lyric. Pop culture still turns up in the arts round, as in which dance step a 1983 television performance made famous.

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