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1970s... or 1980s?

Do you even retro? Guess whether these events happened in the 1970s or the 1980s.
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: July 27, 2021
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First submittedJuly 27, 2021
Times taken28,619
Average score73.3%
Rating4.59
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1. "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" debuts in theaters
1982
1970s
1980s
2. Ronald Reagan serves as President of the U.S.
Reagan served from 1981–1989
1970s
1980s
3. "Disco Inferno" hits the radio
1976
1970s
1980s
4. Fall of the Berlin Wall
1989
1970s
1980s
5. Invention of Tetris
1984
1970s
1980s
6. "The Godfather" debuts in theaters
1972
1970s
1980s
7. Michael Jackson popularizes the Moonwalk
MJ first performed the moonwalk in 1983
1970s
1980s
8. Apple Computer founded
1977
1970s
1980s
9. The Vietnam War comes to an end
Saigon fell to the Communists in 1975
1970s
1980s
10. Ali beats Foreman at "The Rumble in the Jungle"
1974
1970s
1980s
11. Tiananmen Square massacre
1989
1970s
1980s
12. First commercially-available cell phone
1984
1970s
1980s
13. First visit by a U.S. President to communist China
1972. "Only Nixon could go to China"
1970s
1980s
14. The Sex Pistols record "Anarchy in the U.K."
1977
1970s
1980s
15. Musical super-group Band Aid is formed to raise money for Ethiopian famine relief
1984. Some of the money raised was used by the Communist regime in Ethiopia to purchase weapons.
1970s
1980s
32 Comments
+6
Level 86
Jul 28, 2021
Burn baby, burn!
+1
Level 91
Jul 28, 2021
Still fond of the infamous Disco Demolition Night at the White Sox game in Chicago. I can't really ever support riots and vandalism, but a nation under the disco yoke yearning to breathe free can't be totally condemned.
+5
Level 69
Aug 2, 2021
Disco Demolition Night can, and should, be condemned for being the violent, ugly, racist event that it was.
+10
Level 67
Aug 2, 2021
Serious question: what was racist about it? I always understood it to be a bunch of drunks who got carried away by their hatred of disco.
+2
Level 80
Jun 24, 2024
I don't know if it's accurate to say that the event was explicitly racist. The guy who organized it was Steve Dahl, a shock jock (radio DJ who said wild things to build an audience), and he often criticized disco. He did imply that disco was full of effeminate men, though, on numerous occassions. There were undoubtably many racists/homophobes who hated the music and emphasized the link that gay and black culture had with disco culture who attended, though. I think the historical consensus is that there was definitely homophobia and racism involved in the disco backlash in general, but this event is open to debate. FYI, interesting evidence I found of the general homophobia of the anti-disco backlash: the 1979 issue of New York "Punk" magazine (an influential publication in the rock scene) titled "Disco Maniac", has blatantly racist and homophobic connotations.
+8
Level 82
Aug 2, 2021
This is the first time I've heard the claim that it was somehow racist and I think it's totally without merit. I went looking for any proof and all I can find is a couple people who say the popularity of disco somehow threatened white males and that was the reason for the event. Occam's razor applies though; baseball used to do crazy promotions like this all the time (and lots of minor league teams still do). By far the easiest explanation, even in our current climate of blaming everything on racism.
+5
Level ∞
Aug 2, 2021
@JohnK. Using slurs like "redneck" to describe people you disagree with is not acceptable on JetPunk. Consider this a warning.
+3
Level 69
Aug 2, 2021
Apologies - it's not considered particularly offensive where I live. I've deleted the comment and will repost without it. Feel free to delete this comment if you wish.
+4
Level 69
Aug 2, 2021
In a time and place where racism and homophobia were rampant, you can't spot the racism in an event devoted to destroying black, gay-friendly music that turned into a riot? Ask yourself why not.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/jul/19/disco-demolition-the-night-they-tried-to-crush-black-music

+7
Level 67
Aug 2, 2021
This article and your insinuation are preposterous. There is so much oversimplification, conjecture, and empty hand-wringing that it's hard to know where to start. And as for your ad hominem suggestion that I am somehow deficient or complicit in racism because I don't buy into your cockamamie position...well, Quizmaster doesn't permit profanity. But it was totally uncalled for.
+1
Level 80
Aug 3, 2021
What have you against disco? 🙄
+1
Level 91
Jan 18, 2022
Apparently the little boy wore a white leisure suit and platform shoes while he went around crying wolf.
+1
Level 66
Jun 24, 2024
Those kids and their darn music.
+3
Level 69
Aug 2, 2021
For the people who go the cell phone question wrong, cell phones were invented in the 1970s but were made commercially available in the 1980s.
+1
Level 45
Aug 5, 2021
I suppose cellular phones weren't in use. But thousands Mobile phones were available as "car phones" in the 1970 in USA and Europe. Seems to me to be splitting hairs, mobile verses cell. Kind of like a cell phone is now obsolete giving way to the smartphone.
+3
Level 68
Aug 2, 2021
Just missed the tetris question :)
+1
Level 66
Aug 2, 2021
Yeah me too, I could have sworn it was earlier than that
+1
Level 68
Jun 24, 2024
Me, too. I figured it was one of those things that got invented earlier and became popular later. Almost like I thought it wa sa trick question.
+4
Level 69
Aug 2, 2021
Don't know whether to be happy with getting 100% in 30 seconds, or just feel really, really old.
+1
Level 65
Aug 2, 2021
I must be older because it took me 3 seconds longer to ace it
+1
Level 82
Aug 2, 2021
Love this quiz!

I was all set to correct QM on "Band Aid", telling him that it was "Live Aid" and not really a supergroup, but I learned something today. :-) I guess that was the actual name given to all the stars who recorded "Do they know it's Christmas?"

+1
Level 81
Aug 2, 2021
100%. Child of the 80s status confirmed. But how the heck did so many people get Tetris wrong?
+1
Level 50
Jun 24, 2024
I got it wrong because I thought it was the 70's. which is srsly when ET came out....
+2
Level 74
Aug 3, 2021
Interesting to see Tetris as the lowest
+1
Level 81
Aug 3, 2021
I know, right? The 70s did have video games.. Pong, Computer Space, Space Invaders, Asteroids, Breakout... but Tetris is planted firmly in the 80s in my brain.
+1
Level 74
Aug 3, 2021
Only got 10 but I was born in the 2000s so I don't feel too bad
+1
Level 50
Jun 24, 2024
this is hard to believe because I am certain I saw ET IN THE 1970's... I almost don't even want to bring it up because it could be thought of as dumb... but I know it came out in the 70's....
+1
Level 66
Jun 24, 2024
it didn't bud. 100%.
+1
Level 66
Jun 24, 2024
Great quiz. A sequel please?
+1
Level 68
Jun 24, 2024
Man really was really obsessed with the commies on this one
+1
Level 48
Jun 24, 2024
This was my era. 15/15. The only one that gave me pause was the Tetris one, because of the word "invention"
+1
Level 79
Jun 24, 2024
I was in East Germany (DDR) on the night the Berlin Wall came down, sadly I was in Liepzig and not Berlin.