Trivia › Decades › 70s Trivia Questions
70s Trivia Questions
Flares, Star Wars, the first home consoles and a decade of political upheaval. Play the round, then read every question and answer below.
Keys 1-4 pick an answer, Enter moves on. Nothing is saved to an account.
The 1970s pack an unusual amount into ten years. Disco and punk arrived within a couple of years of each other, cinema went through one of its strongest runs, home video games appeared, and the political map shifted repeatedly. That density is good news for a quiz, because almost every year of the decade has something instantly recognisable attached to it. Music questions here lean on album titles and release years rather than chart trivia that varies by country. Film questions use directors and awards, which are matters of record. The technology questions cover firsts that are properly documented, from Pong to the founding of Apple. Politics is limited to events with clear dates: a resignation, a treaty, an election. Nothing in the set depends on a ranking that could change later.
Music: 70s trivia questions
Bohemian Rhapsody, released in 1975, was recorded by which band?
Answer: Queen EasyIt spent nine weeks at number one in the UK on first release.
Which Swedish group won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974?
Answer: ABBA EasyTheir winning entry was named after a Napoleonic battle.
Which band officially broke up in 1970?
Answer: The Beatles EasyTheir final released album appeared in the same year.
Pink Floyd released The Dark Side of the Moon in which year?
Answer: 1973 MediumIt stayed on the US album chart for well over a decade.
Stairway to Heaven appeared on a 1971 album by which band?
Answer: Led Zeppelin MediumThe album itself was released with no title printed on the sleeve.
Songs in the Key of Life, released in 1976, was recorded by whom?
Answer: Stevie Wonder MediumIt was his third consecutive album to win the Grammy for Album of the Year.
The 1974 album Autobahn was released by which German group?
Answer: Kraftwerk HardIts long title track was edited down for a surprise hit single.
Never Mind the Bollocks, released in 1977, was whose only studio album?
Answer: Sex Pistols HardThe band had split within about a year of its release.
Which 1977 David Bowie album was recorded largely in Berlin?
Answer: Low HardBrian Eno collaborated on its instrumental second half.
Film: 70s trivia questions
Which 1977 space adventure was directed by George Lucas?
Answer: Star Wars EasyIts special effects work led to the founding of Industrial Light and Magic.
Which 1975 Steven Spielberg film centred on a great white shark?
Answer: Jaws EasyThe mechanical shark broke down so often that it barely appears on screen.
Which 1972 crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola won Best Picture?
Answer: The Godfather EasyMarlon Brando refused the Best Actor award he won for it.
Which 1979 science fiction horror film was directed by Ridley Scott?
Answer: Alien EasySigourney Weaver's role was originally written for a man.
Which 1978 film musical starred John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John?
Answer: Grease MediumIt was adapted from a stage musical of the same name.
Which 1977 film made John Travolta a disco-era star?
Answer: Saturday Night Fever MediumIts soundtrack was largely written and performed by the Bee Gees.
Which 1976 boxing film won the Best Picture Oscar?
Answer: Rocky MediumSylvester Stallone wrote the screenplay and starred in it.
Which film won Best Picture for 1975 and starred Jack Nicholson?
Answer: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest HardIt swept all five of the Academy's top categories.
Which 1976 Martin Scorsese film starred Robert De Niro as a New York cab driver?
Answer: Taxi Driver HardIt won the Palme d'Or at Cannes that year.
Television, fashion and fads: 70s trivia questions
Which dance music style dominated late-1970s nightclubs?
Answer: Disco EasyIts four-on-the-floor beat was built for continuous dancing.
Which puzzle toy was invented by a Hungarian architect in 1974?
Answer: Rubik's Cube EasyIt reached international shops at the start of the following decade.
Which trouser style, narrow at the thigh and wide below the knee, defined 1970s fashion?
Answer: Bell-bottoms EasyThey were often paired with platform shoes.
The sitcom Happy Days, set in Milwaukee, premiered in which year?
Answer: 1974 MediumIt began as a segment on an anthology series.
Which late-night sketch show debuted on NBC in 1975?
Answer: Saturday Night Live MediumIts first cast was billed as the Not Ready for Prime Time Players.
Science, space and technology: 70s trivia questions
Which Apollo mission suffered an oxygen tank explosion on the way to the Moon?
Answer: Apollo 13 EasyThe crew used the lunar module as a lifeboat and returned safely.
Which company released the arcade game Pong in 1972?
Answer: Atari EasyIt was one of the first commercially successful video games.
Apple Computer was founded in which year?
Answer: 1976 MediumSteve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne signed the founding papers.
Which pair of NASA probes launched in 1977 to survey the outer planets?
Answer: Voyager 1 and 2 MediumBoth carried a gold-plated record of sounds and images.
Which US space station was launched in 1973?
Answer: Skylab MediumIt fell back to Earth over Australia in 1979.
Concorde began scheduled passenger service in which year?
Answer: 1976 HardAir France and British Airways started services on the same day.
Which home console did Atari release in 1977?
Answer: Atari 2600 HardIt popularised swappable cartridges rather than built-in games.
The first baby conceived through IVF was born in 1978 in which country?
Answer: United Kingdom HardThe doctors involved later received a Nobel Prize for the work.
Which programming language did Dennis Ritchie develop in the early 1970s?
Answer: C HardIt was created at Bell Labs alongside the Unix operating system.
The 1975 Apollo-Soyuz mission was a joint flight between the US and which country?
Answer: The Soviet Union HardThe two spacecraft docked using a purpose-built adapter module.
News and events: 70s trivia questions
Which US president resigned from office in 1974?
Answer: Richard Nixon EasyHe remains the only American president to resign.
Which city hosted the 1972 Summer Olympics?
Answer: Munich EasyThe Games were overshadowed by an attack on the Israeli team.
The Vietnam War ended with the fall of which city in 1975?
Answer: Saigon MediumThe city was renamed Ho Chi Minh City afterwards.
The 1979 revolution that overthrew the Shah took place in which country?
Answer: Iran MediumAyatollah Khomeini returned from exile that February.
Who became British prime minister in 1979?
Answer: Margaret Thatcher MediumShe was the first woman to hold the office.
The Helsinki Accords were signed in which year?
Answer: 1975 HardThirty-five states signed the declaration on European security and cooperation.
The US Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade in which year?
Answer: 1973 HardThe ruling was later overturned by a subsequent Court.
Egypt signed the 1978 Camp David Accords with which country?
Answer: Israel HardThe talks were hosted by US president Jimmy Carter.
The 1973 oil crisis followed an embargo declared by which group of countries?
Answer: Arab members of OPEC HardFuel rationing and speed limits followed in several countries.
Answer key
- Queen
- Star Wars
- ABBA
- Richard Nixon
- Jaws
- Disco
- The Godfather
- The Beatles
- Rubik's Cube
- Apollo 13
- Bell-bottoms
- Atari
- Alien
- Munich
- 1973
- Grease
- 1976
- Saigon
- Saturday Night Fever
- Voyager 1 and 2
- Iran
- Led Zeppelin
- Skylab
- 1974
- Rocky
- Margaret Thatcher
- Stevie Wonder
- Saturday Night Live
- 1975
- 1976
- One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
- Kraftwerk
- Sex Pistols
- 1973
- Atari 2600
- United Kingdom
- Israel
- C
- Low
- Arab members of OPEC
- Taxi Driver
- The Soviet Union
How to play
- Pick a mode: multiple choice, true or false, a 60-second sprint, or the daily quiz.
- Answer with a tap, or press 1 to 4 on a keyboard. The right answer appears straight away with a line explaining it.
- Finish the round to see your score, copy the result grid, and step up a difficulty.
- Hosting a night? The full 70s list and a separate answer key are printed below, and the print layout drops the game and keeps the paper.
Tiebreaker questions
Closest guess wins. Read one out when two tables finish level.
In what year did Elvis Presley die?
Answer: 1977 He died at Graceland in Memphis on 16 August 1977, aged 42.
How many coloured stickers are there on a standard 3x3 Rubik's Cube?
Answer: 54 stickers Six faces of nine squares each.
In what year did Sony put the first Walkman cassette player on sale in Japan?
Answer: 1979 The TPS-L2 launched in July 1979 and reached other markets the following year.
Common mistakes in 70s trivia
- The Rubik's Cube was a 1980s toy.
Erno Rubik invented and patented it in Hungary in the mid-1970s. It only reached worldwide shops in 1980, which is why people place it a decade late.
- Star Wars was released in 1978.
It opened in the United States in May 1977. The UK release came in December 1977, and many other countries saw it in 1978.
- Apollo 13 landed on the Moon.
An oxygen tank exploded on the way out and the crew looped around the Moon without landing. All three astronauts returned safely.
- The Beatles broke up because of Yoko Ono.
Business disputes over management, creative differences and exhaustion all contributed. Paul McCartney announced his departure in April 1970 and the legal dissolution followed.
- Pong was the first video game.
Computer Space, also by Nolan Bushnell, reached arcades in 1971, and the Magnavox Odyssey home console came out earlier in 1972. Pong was the first commercially successful arcade hit.
Running this round at a quiz night
A 70s round rewards a broad mix, so pull two music, two film, one technology and one news question rather than leaning on any one strand. Release years are the big source of disputes: films and albums often reached the UK months after the US, so word the question around the year of first release and say so. Chart questions differ by country too; specify US or UK if a question depends on a chart position. Put the news questions in the middle of the round. For a tiebreaker use a fixed date such as the year Elvis died, or a fixed count like the stickers on a Rubik's Cube; both settle instantly and avoid any argument.
Frequently asked questions
Why does the 70s round include so much politics?
Because the decade's political events are among the easiest to date precisely. A resignation, a treaty signing or an election gives a single verifiable year, which makes for cleaner questions than cultural trends that faded in over several years.
Are the music questions based on UK or US charts?
Neither, mostly. The questions use release years, album titles and artists rather than chart positions, because chart data differs between countries and would make some answers ambiguous.
Is this set suitable for people born after the 1970s?
Yes. The easy and medium bands cover films, bands and events that stayed famous long after the decade ended. Only the hard band really rewards having lived through it.
Not in a quiz mood?
The question games are a different kind of round: no right answers, just prompts you read out and argue about. Would You RatherNever Have I EverTruth or DareThis or That