Making Headlines 1980-89 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Beatle Murdered in Manhattan

The 80s got off to a turbulent start. John Lennon was shot four times in the back outside his Manhattan apartment by crazed fan Mark Chapman. Ronald Reagan and the Polish Pontiff John Paul II survived their 1981 assassination attempts.

Answer: Shuttle Orbits Earth

When Space Shuttle Columbia touched down at Edwards Airforce Base, space travel had changed forever. It was the first of the re-usable Spacecraft to orbit the Earth. Columbia was the name of one of the first U.S. Navy ships to circumnavigate the globe. It was also the name of the Command Module for the Apollo 11 moon landing.

Answer: Jacko Sets New Record With Record

Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' with its 7 top ten songs, sold over 40 million albums during its initial chart run. 'Thriller' also chimed in when the MTV phenomena was starting to peak. Jackson was the first black artist to become a regular star on the show.

Answer: Hitler Diaries Found Fraudulent

West German memorabilia dealer Konrad Kujau fraudulently wrote 62 volumes of so called Hitler Diaries and sold them to "Stern" magazine for the price of 9.9 million marks. It took little time for experts to expose the diaries as fake.

Answer: Soviets Swerve LA Olympics

1984 was the third Summer Games to be affected by boycotting nations. 13 Communist countries snubbed the Games in the United States in an obvious payback for the West's snubbing of the Soviet Games in 1980.

Answer: Piano Man and Supermodel Tie the Tune

The marriages of Charles to Diana, Arnold and Maria Shriver and Demi Moore to Bruce Willis, all happened in the 1980s. Billy Joel and model Christie Brinkley was the only marriage listed that happened in 1985, giving some hope to all us men less fortunate in the looks department.

Answer: Leaky Lake Kills 1700

Lake Nyos is actually the crater of a volcano. In August 1986, a huge cloud of carbon dioxide released from the volcano, bubbled out from the lake, and being more dense than air, flowed quickly down valleys and ravines suffocating everything in its wake, humans, animals and vegetation. 1,700 people died almost instantly and a further 845 were hospitalised.

Answer: Final Solution for Klaus

Fugitive Nazi SS Officer Klaus Barbie's four-year trial was bought to an end with Barbie being sentenced to life imprisonment. Barbie had been head of the Gestapo in Lyon, France, between 1942 and 1944, and was responsible for murder, torture, and thousands of civilian deaths. 1987 also saw the end of another Nazi. Rudolph Hess, who had been sentenced to life imprisonment at the Nuremberg Trials over 40 years earlier, strangled himself in his Spandau Prison cell.

He was the only inmate.

Answer: Nobel Peace Prize for Blue Hats

The 1988 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to all peacekeeping soldiers under the command of the United Nations. UN Peacekeepers have been dispatched to hot spots all around the globe since 1948.

Answer: Penniless Pan Am Files for Chapter 11

The 80s were unkind to the world famous airline. Deregulation and poor acquisitions left Pan America vulnerable. The Lockerbie disaster in 1988 was the straw that broke the camel's back, and Pan Am filed for bankruptcy (chapter 11) by 1989.