1981 Trivia Quiz Questions With Answers
Where was the subterranean Sarawak Chamber discovered?
A: In Borneo.
Pope John Paul II receives a delegation led by whom?
A: Solidarity leader Lech Wałęsa at the
Vatican.
Iran releases the 52 Americans held for 444 days within
minutes of what?
A: Ronald Reagan succeeding Jimmy Carter as the 40th President of the United
States.
Production begins on what new automobile?
A: DeLorean DMC-12.
A powerful, magnitude 6.7 earthquake hits what city?
A: Athens, killing 22 people, injuring 400 people.
Bobby Sands, a Provisional Irish Republican
Army member,
begins a what?
A: A hunger strike for political status in Long Kesh prison and dies May 5.
Who is sworn in as President of Chile for another 8-year
term?
A: Chilean military dictator Augusto Pinochet.
Three workers are killed and 5 injured during a what?
A: Test of the Space Shuttle Columbia.
The first London Marathon starts with how many runners?
A: 7,500.
President Reagan is shot in the chest outside a Washington,
D.C. hotel by whom?
A: John Hinckley, Jr.
Who wins the Eurovision Song Contest 1981 with the song,
"Making Your Mind Up"?
A: The UK pop group Bucks Fizz.
First launch of what?
A: Space Shuttle: Columbia.
The first Coca-Cola bottling plant in what country is
opened?
A: China.
A Minor League Baseball game between the Rochester Red
Wings and the Pawtucket Red Sox at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket,
Rhode Island,
becomes the what?
A: The longest professional baseball game in history: 8 hours and 25 minutes/33.
The new Chilean "what", based on private pension funds,
begins?
A: Pension system
A jury of architects and sculptors unanimously selects Maya
Lin's design for the what?
A: Vietnam Veterans Memorial from 1,421 other entries.
Who dies at the age of 36 from cancer.
A: Bob Marley.
Pope John Paul II is shot and nearly killed by whom?
A: Mehmet Ali Ağca, a Turkish gunman.
Donna Payant is murdered by what
serial killer?
A: Lemuel Smith.
In France, who becomes President?
A: Socialist François Mitterrand.
Peter Sutcliffe is found guilty of being the what?
A: Yorkshire Ripper. He is sentenced to life
The Israeli Air Force destroys Iraq's what?
A: Osirak nuclear reactor.
The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk Stealth
Fighter makes its
first what?
A: Flight at Groom Lake (Area 51), NV.
The first game of what is played in Henniker,
New
Hampshire?
A: paintball.
President Reagan nominates the first woman, Sandra Day
O'Connor, to the what?
A: Supreme Court of the United States.
Irish Republican Joe McDonnell dies at the Long Kesh
Internment Camp after a what?
A: A 61-day hunger strike.
What smash hit game developed by Nintendo is released?
A: Donkey Kong
Who becomes the 4th Prime Minister of Malaysia?
A: Mahathir bin Mohamad.
Two skywalks filled with people at what Hotel in
Kansas
City, Missouri collapse into a crowded atrium lobby, killing 114?
A: Hyatt Regency.
Tohui The Panda is born where?
A: In Chapultepec Zoo in Mexico City.
A worldwide television audience of over 700 million people
watch what wedding?
A: Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer at
St Paul's Cathedral in
London.
The first 24-hour video music channel is launched. What is
its name?
A: MTV (Music Television)
Mark David Chapman is sentenced to 20 years to life in
prison, after pleading guilty to what?
A: Murdering John Lennon in Manhattan 8 months earlier.
France abolishes what?
A: Capital punishment.
Belize gains independence from whom?
A: United Kingdom.
Sandra Day O'Connor takes her seat as the first what?
A: Female justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
What happens to Egyptian president Anwar Sadat?
A: He is assassinated.
Who is elected President of Egypt 1 week after Anwar
Sadat's assassination?
A: Vice President Hosni Mubarak.
Who becomes Prime Minister of Greece?
A: Andreas Papandreou.
The Church of England General Synod votes to do what?
A: Admit women to holy orders.
Who gets married on the U.S. soap opera General Hospital?
A: Luke and Laura.