The Tuesday Trivia: 20 Questions From 1965 to 1985

Twenty questions, four choices each, from the decades when gas was cheap and the TV had three channels. Write your letters down the side of a page, then check the answers at the bottom.

Scoring: 18 to 20, you were paying attention the first time. 14 to 17, solid. 10 to 13, you remember the big stuff. Under 10, you were busy living it.

Sports

1. The first AFL-NFL championship game, January 1967, later called Super Bowl I, was won by: A) Kansas City Chiefs B) Green Bay Packers C) Oakland Raiders D) New York Jets
2. Which horse won the 1973 Triple Crown, taking the Belmont by 31 lengths? A) Seattle Slew B) Affirmed C) Secretariat D) Northern Dancer
3. Billie Jean King beat Bobby Riggs in the 1973 Battle of the Sexes. Where? A) Madison Square Garden B) Houston Astrodome C) Forest Hills D) Rose Bowl
4. Hank Aaron hit home run 715 in April 1974 to pass Babe Ruth. His team? A) Milwaukee Brewers B) Cincinnati Reds C) Los Angeles Dodgers D) Atlanta Braves
5. The 1980 Miracle on Ice, when U.S. hockey beat the Soviets, happened at the Winter Olympics in: A) Squaw Valley B) Innsbruck C) Lake Placid D) Sarajevo

Music and movies

6. The Beatles played their last paid concert in August 1966 at: A) Shea Stadium B) Candlestick Park C) Comiskey Park D) Dodger Stadium
7. The 1975 summer blockbuster Jaws was directed by: A) George Lucas B) Francis Ford Coppola C) Steven Spielberg D) Martin Scorsese
8. Star Wars opened in theaters in May of which year? A) 1975 B) 1977 C) 1979 D) 1980
9. Elvis Presley died in August 1977 at his home in which city? A) Tupelo, Mississippi B) Las Vegas, Nevada C) Nashville, Tennessee D) Memphis, Tennessee
10. MTV signed on in August 1981 with Video Killed the Radio Star, by: A) The Buggles B) The Cars C) Blondie D) The Police

Television

11. Sesame Street first aired in November of which year? A) 1967 B) 1969 C) 1971 D) 1973
12. Who played Archie Bunker on All in the Family, which debuted in 1971? A) Jackie Gleason B) Redd Foxx C) Carroll O’Connor D) Ed Asner
13. Which channel signed on in June 1980 as the first 24-hour TV news network? A) ESPN B) CNN C) HBO D) C-SPAN
14. Which series ended in February 1983 with the most-watched scripted TV broadcast in U.S. history to that point? A) Dallas B) The Mary Tyler Moore Show C) M*A*S*H D) Happy Days

Headlines

15. The first Earth Day was held on April 22 of which year? A) 1968 B) 1970 C) 1972 D) 1975
16. Who was sworn in as president on August 9, 1974, after Nixon resigned? A) Spiro Agnew B) Nelson Rockefeller C) Gerald Ford D) Hubert Humphrey
17. The 52 American hostages in Iran were freed on January 20, 1981, Reagan’s inauguration day. How many days were they held? A) 100 B) 222 C) 444 D) 666
18. Who became the first woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court in 1981? A) Ruth Bader Ginsburg B) Sandra Day O’Connor C) Janet Reno D) Geraldine Ferraro

Prices then and now

19. In January 1981 the federal minimum wage rose to a figure that held for the rest of the decade. What was it? A) $2.65 B) $3.35 C) $4.25 D) $5.15
20. After the February 1985 increase, a first-class U.S. stamp cost: A) 13 cents B) 18 cents C) 22 cents D) 29 cents

Trivia is for fun and a friendly check-in with your memory, not a medical test or treatment. Argue with your spouse about number 6.

Answers

1. B. Green Bay Packers. Lombardi’s Packers beat the Chiefs 35-10 in Los Angeles.
2. C. Secretariat. His Belmont time of 2:24 is still the race record.
3. B. Houston Astrodome. King won in straight sets before more than 30,000 fans.
4. D. Atlanta Braves. Off Al Downing of the Dodgers, in Atlanta, April 8, 1974.
5. C. Lake Placid. The college kids won 4-3, then beat Finland for the gold.
6. B. Candlestick Park. San Francisco, August 29, 1966. They never toured again.
7. C. Steven Spielberg. He was 27, and the mechanical shark barely worked.
8. B. 1977. It opened May 25 in a handful of theaters and grew from there.
9. D. Memphis, Tennessee. At Graceland, August 16, 1977, age 42.
10. A. The Buggles. MTV launched at 12:01 a.m. on August 1, 1981.
11. B. 1969. Big Bird and company debuted on public TV November 10.
12. C. Carroll O’Connor. The show was TV’s top-rated program for five straight seasons.
13. B. CNN. Ted Turner’s network went on the air June 1, 1980, from Atlanta.
14. C. M*A*S*H. Goodbye, Farewell and Amen drew well over 100 million viewers.
15. B. 1970. An estimated 20 million Americans took part.
16. C. Gerald Ford. The only president never elected to either office.
17. C. 444 days. The Tehran embassy was seized November 4, 1979.
18. B. Sandra Day O’Connor. Appointed by Reagan, confirmed 99 to 0.
19. B. $3.35. Unchanged until April 1990. Today the federal floor is $7.25; many states set theirs higher.
20. C. 22 cents. Today a stamp runs north of 70 cents, more than triple that.