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1970s Decade Quiz

Do you have what it takes to guess these facts about the 1970s?
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: January 1, 2020
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First submittedFebruary 8, 2015
Times taken49,482
Average score60.0%
Rating4.16
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Answer
Country that replaced its shah with an ayatollah
Iran
Scandal that took down Richard Nixon
Watergate
Asian city that hosted a "thrilla" between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier
Manila
Organization that banned oil sales to the U.S. in 1973–74
OPEC
The first commercially successful video game, it featured a ball bouncing
back and forth across the screen
Pong
Brutal dictator who seized power in Cambodia
Pol Pot
City which fell to communists on April 30, 1975
Saigon
City that hosted the 1972 Summer Olympics, marred by a terrorist attack
against Israeli athletes
Munich
Country that became a democracy after the death of Generalísimo Franco
Spain
In 1973, it became the world's tallest building
Sears Tower
1972 novel about submissive, zombie-like wives
The Stepford Wives
Beverage which followers of cult leader Jim Jones used to commit mass suicide
Flavor-Ade
British disco group which had the most #1 hits in the decade
The Bee Gees
Country in which Augusto Pinochet seized power
Chile
Phrase which often accompanied a yellow smiley face
Have a Nice Day
New York City's most famous nightclub
Studio 54
Country that became independent from Pakistan
Bangladesh
Presidential retreat where Israel and Egypt signed a peace accord
Camp David
Type of futuristic building which Buckminster Fuller promoted
Geodesic Dome
Author of "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas"
Hunter S. Thompson
69 Comments
+6
Level 76
Mar 5, 2017
World Trade Center (aka Twin Towers) would also be a correct answer, because it/they became the world's tallest buildings for a few months when they were completed earlier in 1973. (You could argue for 1971, because I remember looking across from the top of Empire State Building late that year, as an 11-year old, one of the twin towers already at full height, with the other nearing completion).
+1
Level 50
Apr 22, 2022
And the CN tower only missed being the correct answer by two years as well.
+2
Level 65
Apr 27, 2022
The CN Tower is a structure, not a building, so it wouldn’t work as an answer
+11
Level 66
Mar 6, 2017
The Bee Gees are Australian.
+3
Level ∞
Mar 6, 2017
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee_Gees
+2
Level 63
Apr 23, 2022
Mahalo. Live and learn.

I always looked on the Bee Gees as Aussies. But they're Manx!

+1
Level 67
Sep 25, 2024
Same!
+7
Level 85
Mar 9, 2017
Manx-British-Australian
+3
Level 74
Jun 20, 2017
Wherever they're from they're bloody awful
+9
Level 82
Jan 2, 2018
Bloody awfully successful for being bloody awful.
+6
Level 66
Jan 3, 2018
Talent and success have no correlation one way or the other in the music business.
+11
Level 72
Feb 12, 2018
As a 1970's teenager I thought they were the coolest and the best ever. Their continuing popularity and use of their music in modern movies, television, and advertising says that a lot of people still enjoy their talent. I know that some hold the opinion that anything from the disco era was cheesy, awful, and decadent, but we had a great time. In all of the interviews from that period the BeeGees and brother Andy always claimed to be Australian. For the lucky few of us who lived through that time without any permanent scars, "Stayin' Alive" will always be an anthem of our time in the sun.
+1
Level 75
Apr 24, 2020
I couldn't stand disco, but they had some great songs in the late '60s - To Love Somebody, I Started a Joke, I've Gotta Get a Message to You, etc.
+2
Level 80
Nov 29, 2021
Bloody awful? Have you heard of 'How Deep Is Your Love' or 'Too Much Heaven'? They're one of my favourite vocal groups.
+1
Level 80
Nov 29, 2021
I love disco, as well as several other genres, such as swing, big band, rock n' roll, doo-wop, blues, jazz, country...
+1
Level 36
Apr 20, 2018
No the Beegees are not Australian. They were born in England and then their family moved to Australia!
+3
Level 81
May 1, 2018
Well they were born on the Isle of Man to English parents. So no the members were not Australian, but the band did form in Australia and they had their first commercial success in Australia.
+7
Level 72
Apr 23, 2020
I didn't realize the Bee Gees were born in, and relocated back to England. I've always associated them with Australia. Honestly this question might be more straight-forward simply by removing the word "British" altogether.
+2
Level 84
Dec 23, 2021
They weren't born in England. The Isle of Man is not part of England, or even of the UK.
+2
Level 61
Apr 27, 2020
POOCH is right -- they're great! I like their late 60s songs, too, and I'm a 90s teenager. Only missed geodesic dome -- I see that it's that Epcot thing. Sigh, I always wished I had experienced the 70s.
+1
Level 58
Apr 23, 2022
Same difference.
+4
Level 71
Mar 6, 2017
Anybody watching the CNN series specials on the 60s, 70s and 80s? They certainly help with these quizzes.
+4
Level 61
Mar 8, 2017
I'm not a fan of the Olympic-hosting-cities questions that seem to keep popping up in these quizzes. It's such disposable and fruitless information (in my opinion).

The other questions represent much more interesting and/or useful trivia - about war, government, culture, etc.

+7
Level 85
Mar 9, 2017
Depends which olympics. Two that appeared in two quizzes I just took are quite important politically, well beyond just sports. I.e. Munich massacre and the cold war boycott of Moscow olympics.
+2
Level 58
Mar 9, 2017
And the retaliatory Cold War boycott of the Los Angeles Olympics.
+3
Level 77
Jan 2, 2018
The boycott of the Montreal Olympics was more interesting.
+1
Level 50
Jan 4, 2018
Don't forget "the best games ever" in Sydney.

Those awesome Australians! Is there anything they're not the best at?

On a related topic, what's the point of continuing the Olympic Games if the best one EVER has already taken place? What compliments can be given to others- "they were ok" "what a waste of two weeks" "congratulations, not as good as Sydney but you tried hard"

+12
Level 65
Dec 20, 2017
Your complaint is that quizzes are based on "trivia". I thought that's what quizzes are for?
+4
Level 87
Jan 2, 2018
I'd argue that Munich is different - but I wish that the terrorist attack had been the focus. 1936 Berlin/Jesse Owens, Munich 1972 terrorist attack, Moscow 1980 - boycott by US, Los Angeles 1984 - boycott by USSR, Atlanta 1996 - Centennial Olympic park bombing. Someone could do a quiz just on world events related to the Olympics.
+4
Level 76
Jan 2, 2018
Football related questions are worse. I often see questions like "Who won the World Cup in 1968?".
+1
Level 76
Jan 2, 2018
However the olympic cities is also geography and history and "fun" memory game trying to remember them all, there aren't so many afterall.
+14
Level 51
Jan 2, 2018
You've never seen that question in your life.

The World Cup was not held in 1968.

+6
Level 65
Jan 2, 2018
Give him/her a break. Said questions "LIKE".
+7
Level 67
Jan 2, 2018
I know very little about football/soccer, but the World Cup questions I recall seeing all regard significant World Cup events. For example, I know that Uruguay both hosted and won the first World Cup (1930, I think). England hosted and won in 1966 (which is its only win, notable because the country is absolutely obsessed with football and always seems to underperform in the Cup). Argentina won in 1986 with Maradona after the infamous "hand of God" play against England...that's about all I know. I recall the winners of the last five tournaments or so, but only because the event itself is such a huge deal all over the world and I was by then old enough to remember it when it happened. I don't recall seeing any questions asking for a winner in a random year in which the tournament didn't particularly stick out.
+1
Level 50
Jan 4, 2018
I think there'd be more people in the world that think football is more important than politics, so who can say which questions should take priority? But there should be a lot more about Australia- the main topic on everyone's mind. What an awesome country!
+1
Level 73
Mar 11, 2020
you could say the same things about government, after someone has been president/minister, what is the point of remembering them, unless they have done great world altering things.

I agree though that perhaps there are more interesting or educational questions. (when, how, why or by whom certain things were invented and famous firsts). but I have no problem with olympic hosts questions. (Definitely not with all the american footbal questions around) asking for the city is general enough (not like who became first in twirling in 1968..) and it is a worldwide thing.

+1
Level 36
Mar 12, 2020
The 1972 Olympics venue sticks in your mind because of the massacre of Olympic bound athletes by factions of the Black September movement. I guess you have to have through it to recognize its significance.
+8
Level 65
Jan 2, 2018
Apparent definition of "bad" questions = ones I don't know the answer to.
+2
Level 60
Jan 2, 2018
Hopefully the Ayatollah will be replaced with a Shah again.
+7
Level 78
Jan 3, 2018
Do you also wish an unelected corrupt king to rule in your country? Would you also want it with the banning of political parties and persecution of the opposition?
+8
Level 81
Jan 4, 2018
Would probably be better than a theocracy. Especially if the corrupt king in question was one that supported education and rights for women, positive relations with the Western world, democratic reforms in his own country, and liberal secular values as the Shah did. He was corrupt. He did enrich himself at the expense of the Iranian people. Few monarchs haven't. But the forces that overthrew him were not clamoring to usher in a democratic liberal utopia like confused people think. They were, Mossadegh and his political party that tried to usurp power in the 50s included, a mix of staunch nationalists/protectionists/isolationists/jingoists a la Trump, anti-Semitic bigots, misogynists, and religious nuts. Maybe a handful of student protesters in Tehran hated the Shah for suppressing full democracy in the country or his treatment of political prisoners, but the mob that gave the revolution its power? They hated the Shah for very different, less noble reasons.
+3
Level 66
Jan 3, 2018
@Salz, if you're wondering what they're all talking about, look up Operation Ajax. It was a coup during the Eisenhower administration in which the CIA overthrew a democratic government in Iran to prop up the shah as a US puppet
+5
Level 81
Jan 4, 2018
Misleading oversimplification. Operation Ajax was 1953. The Shah had ruled Iran since 1941. His family had been in power since the 1920s. The monarchy in Iran had been in place in some form for 2500 years. The CIA had no hand in this. (they were not around in 550 BC) Iran under the Shah was a progressive and liberal country that had recently introduced many reforms such a secularization and liberalization of female education, among other things (e.g. in 1922 women made up 16% of enrolled students. By 1977 before the Islamic revolution they were 40%.). The country also has happy to have friendly and positive trade relations with the outside world and Western countries including the US, UK, and Israel. British Petroleum had come to the relatively impoverished and undeveloped country in 1908. They legally acquired exploration and drilling rights from the legitimate non-puppet government of Iran. They then spent millions of pounds building up the oil infrastructure of Iran from scratch.
+1
Level 81
Jan 4, 2018
Untold amounts of British resources (money, capital, expertise, technology, know-how, manpower, equipment, men lost to disease climate accidents and bandits) were poured into Iran to develop its oil industry and create profit for both Iran (16%), which did nothing but exist, and the company which had put up 100% of the resources needed to create this profit. In 1925 Iran demanded more money. In return for doing nothing of any value, their share of the profit was upped to 25% and they were granted other various concessions. But that wasn't enough and they continued to threaten to cancel the deals they had previously made. In 1933, with approval and oversight from the Hague, another new deal was struck giving Iran even more (again for doing nothing). Again this didn't seem to be enough.

During WW2 Iran, which was seen as friendly to the Nazis and Axis powers, was occupied by the British and Soviets. They pressured the Shah to abdicate in favor of his son, who was more Western friendl

+1
Level 81
Jan 4, 2018
Notice up to this point the USA hasn't been mentioned because they had nothing at all to do with any of this. When did they become involved? When their *extremely* generous deal with the Saudis became known to the Iranians. Americans went to and explored for oil in Saudi Arabia same as British companies had in Iran. Americans spent millions of dollars, lives, resources, allocating their technology and experience and expertise to develop the Saudi oil infrastructure and greatly enrich the country. And after doing so their thanks? The Saudis threatened to steal everything that the Americans built and had invested. I used to teach corporate history of Saudi Aramco in the country, this is according to their own in-house text books so don't think I'm being biased. The Saudis consider themselves to be very clever thieves here. To stop this from happening the US government stepped in, gave the Saudis 50% of all Aramco profits, and tax subsidies to the oil companies to cover their losses.
+1
Level 81
Jan 4, 2018
Iran caught wind of this and, as usual, without doing or offering anything, became greedy and wanted more money. AIOC (British Petroleum) didn't want to give up even *more* of their profits, *again*, after deals had been negotiated and renegotiated over and over. Nationalist forces in Iran were gaining power and popularity. Reasonable prime minister Razmara was assassinated by an Islamist group. Ultra nationalist PM Mosaddegh was elected. Negotiations between the Nationalists in Iran and the British were not fruitful. A power struggle in Iran ensued, with Western powers obviously backing the Western-friendly Shah against the Nationalist PM who wished to steal their assets.

At this point, the US finally became nominally involved. The USA was fighting the Korean War at the time and the Cold War and needed British support in both. They were worried about Iran being taken over by Communists and wished the Shah to remain in power (he had been since '41 remember).

+2
Level 81
Jan 4, 2018
To this end the CIA staged a riot in Tehran that gave the Shah an excuse to remove Mosaddegh. That's it. One American intelligence agency staged an event of civil unrest to give a reigning monarch an political excuse to exercise his constitutional authority and remove a PM he had already been dueling with, but was reluctant to remove because he was popular. But to hear others tell the story you would believe that the 2500 year old Iranian monarchy was invented by the USA, that the PM of Iran held absolute power instead of governing at the pleasure of the Shah, and that democracy had been flourishing in Iran. What the USA did was about equivalent to Russian interference in the American presidential election of 2016. They did not invade and set up a puppet government.

My own version is also very simplified (and still probably overlong).. it wasn't exactly BP in '08 for example but APOC, etc, but not as bad as your version.

+1
Level 81
Jan 4, 2018
TL;DR: there was an internal power struggle in Iran. Millenia-old Western-friendly monarchy vs. year-old ultra nationalist Western-hostile prime minister who wanted to steal millions/billions in foreign (British) infrastructure and resources, among other things. The US backed the monarch in this internal power struggle, lending him nominal aid in the 1950s.
+2
Level ∞
Jan 1, 2020
My guess is that very little of what happened in Iran had to do with outside influence. The CIA certainly couldn't do anything to stop the revolution when it came. People seem to believe that the CIA is malevolent and all-powerful. In reality, they are neither. They would be more accurately depicted as bumbling bureaucrats.
+2
Level 75
Apr 24, 2020
I know nothing about the causes and background. All I know is that when I was in college in the early '70s, there were many Iranian students on campus, and the US was very friendly with Iran. Education for women was being promoted in Iraq. A family member who worked for McDonnell-Douglas occasionally went to Iran to fix the helicopters we sold them. I think the idea then was to keep a balance of power between Iran and Iraq but mainly to keep the Soviet Union's hands off the oil.
+1
Level 71
Oct 9, 2024
Im iranian, never been there but i have grandparents and extended family who lived there pre and post revolution. They're strongly of the opinion that while Reza Shah Pahlavi was brutal, he was the best thing that could have happened to the country. He built roads between towns, an ID system, forced everyone to take last names, put in place a mandatory education system for boys and girls. And more importantly, he was a soldier who worked his way up in ranks, so there was a level of respect there.

His son was a different story. His son (Muhammad reza shah) was weaker, born into power and less experienced. He tried to be like his father but a lot of the decisions he made were harsh but not calculated. Among other things he refused to nationalize the oil due to pressures from other countries like the US which was insulting to the increasing number of people living in poverty. Neither shah was particularly welcoming to the fundamentalists, so altogether the populace was very dissatisfied

+4
Level 59
Jan 4, 2018
Can Ho Chi Minh be accepted ?
+2
Level 71
Oct 9, 2024
It was when I tried it
+3
Level 49
Mar 12, 2019
Bee gees are British when their music is good. When it isn't they are Australian.
+1
Level 74
Apr 5, 2019
So they're Australian then
+4
Level ∞
Jan 1, 2020
Reminds me of all the Australians trying to say Mel Gibson is American when before they were proudly claiming him.
+2
Level 47
May 3, 2019
Bee Gees are Australian
+1
Level 84
Dec 23, 2021
They really aren't.
+3
Level 81
Oct 1, 2019
Please accept Ho Chi Minh City as well as its old name of Saigon.
+2
Level 73
Mar 11, 2020
great, good, awesome...I could not get the right kind of day..
+1
Level 56
Apr 22, 2022
Apparently I can't spell geodesic. Oh well.
+1
Level 67
Apr 22, 2022
That moment when you get the least guessed and miss the most guessed 🤷🏻‍♀️
+2
Level 60
Apr 29, 2022
I wonder if calling Spain "democratic" is correct. It's actually a constitutional monarchy.
+1
Level 83
Aug 12, 2022
When the Smiley was first created the slogan was "Have a Happy Day" so you might want to accept that too, see Smiley and Who Really Invented the Smiley Face?
+1
Level 58
Sep 25, 2022
Please accept Ho Chi Minh for Saigon!
+1
Level 68
Aug 9, 2024
Would be nice to specify which President is being referred to for the Israel/Egypt peace accord question. Someone could infer that it would probably be the US president, but for a full 5-6 seconds there I was trying to remember the name of Israeli presidents.
+1
Level 67
Oct 16, 2024
The question asks for the site of the peace accord though. It doesn't matter if you know which president's retreat it was. The accord was only signed in one place. That's the answer.
+1
Level 72
Oct 18, 2024
And there I am, not reading the questions properly and trying to figure out what brutal dictator seized power in CANADA
+1
Level 74
Nov 29, 2024
I got 54 by accident because I was typing numbers one by one and I was on 5 and unintentionally hit 4 right after