1980 Trivia Quiz Questions With Answers From the 80s
Changes to the Swedish Act of Succession make Princess
Victoria of Sweden what?
A: First in line to the throne ("heir apparent") and therefore Crown Princess,
ahead of her younger brother.
President Carter proclaims a grain embargo against what
country?
A: The USSR with the support of the European Commission.
Who kills the president of Sicily, Piersanti Mattarella?
A: He is killed by the
Mafia.
In Saudi Arabia, what happens to 63
Islamist insurgents for
their part in the siege of the Great Mosque in Mecca in November, 1979?
A: They are beheaded.
Nigel Short, 14, becomes the youngest chess player to be
awarded what?
A: The degree of International Master.
Six United States diplomats, posing as Canadians, manage to
escape from where as they board a flight to Zürich, Switzerland?
A: Tehran, Iran.
Where are the 1980 Winter Olympics held?
A: In Lake Placid, New York.
The United States Olympic Hockey Team defeats who in the
semifinals of the Winter Olympics?
A: The Soviet Union.
The Voyager 1 probe confirms the existence of what?
A: Janus, a moon of Saturn.
Who is elected Prime Minister of Zimbabwe?
A: Robert Mugabe.
President Carter announces that the United States will do
what?
A: Boycott the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.
The United States severs diplomatic relations with what
country?
A: Iran and imposes economic sanctions.
Rosie Ruiz wins the Boston Marathon, but is later exposed
as a what?
A: A fraud and stripped of her award.
Queen Juliana of the Netherlands abdicates, and her
daughter Beatrix does what?
A: Accedes to the throne.
The eruption of Mount St. Helens kills how many people?
A: 57 and causes US$3 billion in damage.
What episode of Star Wars is released?
A: Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.
The New York Islanders win their first Stanley Cup, from a
goal by whom in overtime of game six of the Stanley Cup playoffs's final round?
A: Bobby Nystrom.
Johnny Rutherford wins the Indianapolis 500 for a third
time in whose revolutionary ground effect Chaparral car?
A: Jim Hall's.
What 24-hour news channel is launched?
A: Cable News Network (CNN)
In Los Angeles, comedian Richard Pryor is badly burned
while trying to do what?
A: Freebase cocaine.
A Unabomber bomb injures whom?
A: United Airlines president Percy Wood in Lake Forest,
Illinois.
Pope John Paul II visits Brazil and 7 people are what?
A: Crushed to death in a crowd meeting him.
Where are the 1980 Summer Olympics held?
A: In Moscow, Soviet Union.
What album is released by the Australian band AC/DC?
A: Back in Black.
Where does Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, deposed Shah of Iran,
die?
A: In Cairo.
Lech Wałęsa leads the first of many what?
A: Strikes at the Gdańsk Shipyard.
British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher delivers her
famous what?
A: "The lady's not for turning" speech.
Republican challenger and former Governor Ronald Reagan of
California defeats who?
A: Incumbent Democratic President Jimmy Carter.
What happens to former Beatles member
John Lennon?
A: He is shot dead outside his home in New York.
Led Zeppelin issues a press release announcing their
break-up due to what?
A: The death of their drummer John Bonham.
