Music
What musical group, who’s last Billboard Top 100 hit in the United States came in 1986, won the Grammy for Best New Artist in 1984?
Culture Club
As a response to films such as Gremlins and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, the Motion Picture Association of America instituted what movie rating on July 1, 1984?
PG-13
According to Nielsen ratings, what television show was the most-watched show of the 1983-1984 season, a title it also earned in 1981 and 1982?
Dallas
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Which two schools combined for half of college football’s Associated Press National Championships during the 1980s?
Miami (Fla.) and Penn State
On November 8, 1983, she defeated Jim Bunning to become the first, and to date only, female Governor of Kentucky.
Martha Layne Collins
This Prince song, released on May 16, 1984, spent five weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and was ranked number one on the Billboard 1984 Year-End Chart of Pop Singles.
When Doves Cry
Released on December 5, 1984, this movie spent 13 consecutive weeks at number one in the box office and won a Grammy in 1986 for Best Score Soundtrack.
Beverly Hills Cop
After finishing third in 1980 and second in 1981, what CBS news magazine was the most-watched show of the 1981-1982 season, according to the Nielsen ratings?
60 Minutes
OLYMPICS
In the 1980 Winter Olympics, the United States men’s hockey team pulled off one of the bigger upsets in sports history when it beat the Soviet Union 4-3 in the semifinals. Which nation did the United States defeat in the gold medal match?
Finland
What tech company released the DynaTAC 8000X in 1983, the first commercial mobile phone, capable of storing up to 30 phone numbers and costing more than $3,000?
Motorola
Only two songs spent multiple weeks atop the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in 1983; To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before by Julio Iglesias and Willie Nelson and this song by Eastern Kentucky duo, The Judds.
Why Not Me
What movie, starring Jack Nicholson and Shirley MacLaine, won five Academy Awards, including Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Picture, in 1984?
Terms of Endearment
Author Margaret Kent appeared on the very first episode of this long-time television show on September 8, 1986, to discuss her book How to Marry the Man of Your Choice.
The Oprah Winfrey Show
NBA
The Los Angeles Lakers represented the Western Conference in eight of the 10 NBA Finals in the 1980s. What is the only other team to represent the Western Conference during that time, doing so in 1981 and 1986?
Houston Rockets
Accused of constructing facilities to aid a Soviet Union military buildup in the Caribbean, which nation did the United States invade on October 25, 1983?
Grenada
DAILY DOUBLE!
This female singer has produced two Billboard Hot 100 number one hits and is a two-time Grammy Award winner, once for Best New Artist in 1985 and again in 2014 for Best Musical Theater Album for Kinky Boots.
Cyndi Lauper
Can you keep a secret? In the next 72 hours, this desperate, unemployed actor will secretly audition for the lead of a soap opera and become America’s hottest new actress, is a tagline for what 1982 movie starring Dustin Hoffman?
Tootsie
What television show, which debuted on September 30, 1984, was led by four-time Golden Globe award-winner for Best Performance by an Actress in a TV series, Angela Lansbury?
Murder, She Wrote
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
During the 1980s, two teams produced three consecutive Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award winners; the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1980-1982, and this team later in the decade with players Walt Weiss, Mark McGwire, and Jose Conseco.
Oakland Athletics
Although invented in 1974, approximately 200 million copies of this geometric toy were sold between 1980 and 1983, and a world record time of 3.13 seconds for solving it was set in June of 2023.
Rubik's Cube
This male performer is one of only 19 individuals to win a Tony Award, Emmy Award, Oscar Award, and a Grammy Award, the last of which he won in 1987 for the song That’s What Friends Are For, one of 11 songs to reach number one in the United States, but the only one in the 1980s.
Sir Elton John
What 1980 Academy Award-nominated movie won two Grammy Awards for Best Country Song and Best Country Female Vocal Performance?
9 to 5
From 1983 to 1988, the television show Cagney and Lacey won six consecutive Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. Sharon Gless won two of the six awards. Which actress won the other four?
Tyne Daly
NFL
What team won four Super Bowls during the 1980s, winning in 1981, 1984, 1988, and 1989?
San Francisco 49ers
Introduced in 1982, these dolls originated in Cleveland, Georgia at Babyland General Hospital.
Cabbage Patch Kids