'80s Movies
This classic Steven Spielberg film starring Drew Barrymore was the highest grossest film of the '80s
What is E.T.?
"Girls Just Want to Have Fun" was released in 1983 by this artist
Who is Cyndi Lauper?
This artist performed her hit song Like a Virgin wearing a wedding dress onstage at the MTV Music Video Awards in 1984
Who is Madonna?
This is history's worst nuclear accident which occurred in 1986 in the Soviet Union, in an area that is now the Ukraine
What is Chernobyl? The Chernobyl power station was located in Pryp'yat, about 65 miles north of the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. The area is still subject to an exclusion zone covering over a thousand square miles, largely devoid of human life.
Leading to a public uproar, the recipe for which popular soda/soft drink was famously altered in 1985?
What is Coca-Cola? In the mid-‘80s Pepsi was gaining traction in the soda market, and Coca-Cola changed their formula to mimic their rival’s sweeter taste. “Coke,” as it was marketed (“NEW!” appearing on the label), was a disaster. Within 77 days of its launch, the soft drink reverted to its old recipe and the name “Classic Coca-Cola.” New Coke, later Coke II, continued in small markets until 2002.
This is how many "Nightmare on Elm Street" movies were made in the '80s
"Total Eclipse of the Heart" was released in 1983 by this artist
This is the second-highest selling musical artist in Ireland's history (after U2). She has never gone on tour and never performed a live solo concert. She rose to fame as the flag-bearer for new-age music in the late 1980s with songs like "Only Time" and "Orinoco Flow."
Who is Enya?
This American city hosted the Olympics in 1984, marking the first time since 1932 that the city hosted the games... and they're already on the docket to host them again
What is Los Angeles?
This '80s gadget was originally marketed in the U.S. as "Soundabout"?
What is Walkman? Sony’s portable cassette tape player, Walkman, as well as knockoffs by competitors, helped cassettes outsell records for the first time in 1983. Ironically, that is the same year CDs, which would eventually supplant cassettes, were introduced.
Jason ends up at the bottom of a lake in this Friday the 13th Film released in the '80s
What is Friday the 13th Part IV? (1984)
This is the artist who wrote the song "Just a Friend"
Who is Biz Markie?
This is the star who played Veronica Sawyer in the 1988 dark comedy film Heathers
Who is Winona Ryder?
This massive object was put on display on the National Mall to commemorate victims of AIDS in October 1987
What is a quilt? Bigger than a football field when first displayed in 1987, the AIDS Memorial Quilt had 1,920 panels, each representing someone who died of the disease. Following a four-month 20-city tour of the U.S., the quilt had 8,288 panels. Today the quilt has more than 50,000 panels and weighs 54 tons.
Xavier Roberts created the original prototype of this toy in 1976. In 1983, by the end of the year almost 3 million of these toys have been adopted but demand has not been met. The toys go on record as the most successful new doll introduction in the history of the toy industry.
What are Cabbage Patch Kids? Not expecting Cabbage Patch dolls to be such a hit, toy manufacturer Coleco’s 1983 supply could not keep up with demand. Toy store owners rationed their dolls, at least one even fended off desperate parents with a baseball bat. By August 1986 Coleco had made $1.2 billion in revenue off Cabbage Patch dolls and accessories.
This is the special talent that Molly Ringwald has in The Breakfast Club
What is applying lipstick without using her hands?
This legendary artist had a 1983 tour called the "Serious Moonlight Tour." This was their most successful tour, lasting nine months and crossing fifteen countries.
Who is David Bowie? The "Serious Moonlight" tour was in support of his most successful album, Let’s Dance.
On New Year’s Eve in 1989, this ’80s TV star, a HUGE celebrity in Germany, was invited to perform his song “Looking for Freedom” on the remains of the Berlin Wall
Who is David Hasselhoff? While Knight Rider star David Hasselhoff’s music did not make much of an impact stateside, his albums were chart-toppers in Germany. He performed his single “Looking for Freedom” in a bucket crane above a massive crowd gathered on the remnants of the Berlin Wall just two months after its fall. Some Germans of a certain age still associate Hasselhoff’s music with the reunification of Germany.
This company’s tanker spilled 11 million gallons of crude oil across Alaskan waters in 1989
What is Exxon? The Exxon Valdez oil spill polluted more than 1,300 miles of Alaskan shore. Exxon (today ExxonMobil) paid some $2.1 billion in cleanup funds. However, studies done in 2018 show that there are still patches of Exxon Valdez oil lingering under the surface of the beaches in Prince William Sound, Alaska.
Aqua Net is a specific brand of this product that became very popular in the 1980s
What is hairspray?
In Gremlins (1984), Billy breaks two out of the three rules of caring for his gremlin pet. This is the rule he does NOT break.
What is "no bright lights"?
This was the first music video to be played on MTV
What is "Video Killed the Radio Star" (The Buggles)? Although it topped the charts elsewhere, British new wave band the Buggles reached only number 40 in the U.S with their 1979 song “Video Killed the Radio Star.” Two years later, just after midnight on August 1, 1981, MTV used the song to symbolically launch its television network dedicated to music videos.
While filming the movie Awakenings (released 1990), this versatile (but primarily comedic) actor shot a scene where he had to restrain Robert DeNiro while DeNiro's character is having a seizure. During the filming of this scene, this actor accidentally broke Robert DeNiro's nose
Who is Robin Williams?
This is the name of the President of the Soviet Union who presided over the fall of the Berlin Wall along with Ronald Reagan
Who is Mikhail Gorbachev?
This legendary ’80s band famously made venues remove brown M&Ms from their backstage snack tables.
What is Van Halen? Although it may seem like a pointless indulgence, lead singer David Lee Roth claimed that the brown M&Ms were a red flag. A venue that was lax on that point might also be lax on more important matters, like safely rigging the stage.
This is the name of the pub that David and Jack go to in "An American Werewolf in London"
What is The Slaughtered Lamb?
What are the names of the 2 band members in Wham!
Who are George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley?
This frequent sci-fi film star starred in the 1988 film "Gorillas in the Mist: The Story of Dian Fossey"
Who is Sigourney Weaver?
What is Grenada? President Ronald Reagan, citing the threat posed to American nationals on the Caribbean nation of Grenada by that nation’s Marxist regime, ordered U.S. forces to invade and secure their safety. There were approximately 1,000 Americans in Grenada at the time, many of them students at the island’s medical school. In little more than a week, Grenada’s government was overthrown.
By the late 1980s, Walmart had quickly risen to become more profitable that its two larger U.S. retail competitors, and by 1990 it had surpassed them as the largest U.S. retailer by revenue. One of these retailers was Kmart. This is the other.
What is Sears?