1980s Trivia: Fun Facts From The Decade

Trivia from the 1980s, all of it dateable and checkable.

Every fact below has its year in brackets, so you can read the fact out, hide the year and use it as a quiz round - or leave the year in and use it for a birthday card or a reminiscence session.

For the same decade laid out year by year, use the 1980s calendar linked at the bottom.

Years covered in the 1980s

• 1980 - The decade opened with the SAS on live television and John Lennon's death in December. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1980
• 1981 - A royal wedding, riots in several cities and the first London Marathon. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1981
• 1982 - The Falklands, the launch of Channel 4 and the arrival of the Spectrum. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1982
• 1983 - Breakfast television, the pound coin and a general election landslide. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1983
• 1984 - The miners' strike, the Brighton bombing and Band Aid at Christmas. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1984
• 1985 - Live Aid, the first EastEnders and a very bad year in football. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1985
• 1986 - The Hand of God, Chernobyl and Neighbours arriving on daytime television. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1986
• 1987 - The great storm, Black Monday and a third election win. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1987
• 1988 - Acid house, Kylie's first number one and a grim run of disasters. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1988
• 1989 - Hillsborough, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the decade. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1989
• That is every 1980s year we have written up so far: 1980 to 1989.

News facts from the 1980s

• The Iranian Embassy siege in London ended with an SAS assault on 5 May, broadcast live while the snooker was on BBC Two. (1980)
• Charles, Prince of Wales, married Lady Diana Spencer at St Paul's Cathedral on 29 July, and the day was a public holiday. (1981)
• Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands on 2 April; the conflict ended with the Argentine surrender on 14 June. (1982)
• Margaret Thatcher won the June general election with a large majority. (1983)
• The miners' strike began in March and ran for a year. (1984)
• The miners' strike ended in March. (1985)
• The Chernobyl nuclear accident occurred on 26 April; rainfall carried fallout to parts of Britain. (1986)
• The great storm struck southern England overnight on 15-16 October. (1987)
• The Piper Alpha oil platform explosion on 6 July killed 167 people. (1988)
• The Hillsborough disaster on 15 April killed 97 Liverpool supporters. (1989)

More from the news

• John Lennon was shot and killed in New York on 8 December. (1980)
• There were riots in Brixton in April and Toxteth in July. (1981)
• Channel 4 launched on 2 November, opening with Countdown. (1982)
• Wearing a seatbelt in the front of a car became compulsory on 31 January. (1983)
• The IRA bombed the Grand Hotel in Brighton during the Conservative Party conference on 12 October. (1984)
• The Bradford City stadium fire on 11 May killed 56 people; the Heysel disaster followed on 29 May. (1985)
• The Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart shortly after launch on 28 January. (1986)
• Black Monday, 19 October, saw the biggest one-day fall in the London market. (1987)
• Pan Am Flight 103 was destroyed over Lockerbie on 21 December. (1988)
• The Berlin Wall was opened on 9 November. (1989)

Television and film in the 1980s

• The Empire Strikes Back was the film of the year. (1980)
• Only Fools and Horses began in September, quietly, to small audiences. (1981)
• E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial was the film of the year. (1982)
• BBC Breakfast Time launched on 17 January, with TV-am following on ITV in February. (1983)
• Ghostbusters and Gremlins filled the cinemas. (1984)
• EastEnders began on 19 February; the Christmas Day episode drew an enormous audience. (1985)
• Neighbours began on BBC One and became a daytime and teatime fixture. (1986)
• Dirty Dancing and Fatal Attraction filled the cinemas. (1987)
• Red Dwarf and Home and Away both began on British screens. (1988)
• Batman was the film of the year; Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was close behind. (1989)

Music in the 1980s

• The Police, Blondie and Abba all had number ones during the year. (1980)
• Adam and the Ants were the biggest chart act of the year, with 'Stand and Deliver' and 'Prince Charming' both reaching number one. (1981)
• Dexys Midnight Runners' 'Come On Eileen' was the best-selling single of the year. (1982)
• Culture Club, Spandau Ballet and Duran Duran were the chart acts of the year. (1983)
• Frankie Goes to Hollywood had 'Relax' and 'Two Tribes' at number one in the same year. (1984)
• 'The Power of Love' by Jennifer Rush was the year's best-selling single. (1985)
• 'Don't Leave Me This Way' by the Communards was the year's best-selling single. (1986)
• 'Never Gonna Give You Up' by Rick Astley was the year's best-selling single. (1987)
• Kylie Minogue's 'I Should Be So Lucky' reached number one in February. (1988)
• 'Ride on Time' by Black Box was the year's best-selling single. (1989)

Sport in the 1980s

• The Moscow Olympics were held under a partial boycott; Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett famously won each other's expected events. (1980)
• The first London Marathon was run on 29 March. (1981)
• England reached the second group stage of the World Cup in Spain without losing a match. (1982)
• Manchester United beat Brighton in an FA Cup final replay. (1983)
• Torvill and Dean scored a perfect set of sixes for Bolero at the Sarajevo Winter Olympics in February. (1984)
• English clubs were banned from European competition after Heysel. (1985)
• Diego Maradona scored both the Hand of God and the goal of the century against England in the World Cup quarter-final on 22 June. (1986)
• Coventry City beat Tottenham Hotspur to win the FA Cup. (1987)
• Wimbledon beat Liverpool 1-0 in the FA Cup final. (1988)
• Arsenal won the league at Anfield in the last minute of the final match on 26 May. (1989)

Everyday life in the 1980s

• The Rubik's Cube was everywhere and almost nobody could finish it. (1980)
• The ZX81 home computer went on sale and sold in enormous numbers by the standards of the time. (1981)
• The Sinclair ZX Spectrum and the Commodore 64 both arrived, and games loaded from cassette with a screech. (1982)
• Home computers became a normal Christmas present rather than a curiosity. (1983)
• The Apple Macintosh was launched, though almost nobody in Britain had one. (1984)
• Coca-Cola changed its recipe and changed it back within months. (1985)
• Halley's Comet returned and was largely invisible from a cloudy Britain. (1986)
• The compact disc began to overtake vinyl in the shops. (1987)
• The Amiga 500 arrived in bedrooms; the Game Boy was still a year away. (1988)
• The Nintendo Game Boy launched in Japan and America, reaching Britain the following year. (1989)

How to use these as a quiz round

• Read the fact without the year and ask for the year - closest answer wins the point.
• Ten facts makes a round. Mix news with television and music so nobody sweeps it.
• For a care home or reminiscence session, use the everyday life facts first - they get the most talk.
• Anyone born in 1980 turns 50 in 2030, 60 in 2040 and 70 in 2050.

Shop birthday cards

How to write it so it lands

• Hide the bracketed year and you have a guess-the-year round ready to go.
• For a card, use the year they were born rather than the decade.
• In a reminiscence session, stop on whatever gets a reaction rather than finishing the list.

Where to shop next

• Look back to 1980
• Look back to 1981
• Look back to 1982
• Look back to 1983
• Look back to 1984
• Look back to 1985
• Look back to 1986
• Look back to 1987
• Look back to 1988
• Look back to 1989
• 1980s calendar: year by year
• The 1980s: the whole decade
• Retro gift guide: the 1980s
• 1980s party playlist
• 80s kids' TV shows
• 80s quiz questions
• Toys of the 80s and 90s
• Computers and consoles we grew up with
• Saturday morning TV
• Cassette tapes and taping the charts
• Decade history: key events, politics and culture by era
• Decade books: best novels, authors and reading trends
• Decade calendar: every year from 1920
• Decade trivia: fun facts by era
• Decade trivia game: play for points
• Decade guides: books, films and TV by era
• Decade recipes: dishes and food trends by era
• Music by decade: albums, artists and songs
• Decade fashion: clothes, hair and accessories by era
• Nostalgia gift shop
• Retro party supplies
• Guess the year quiz
• Care home reminiscence quiz
• Milestone birthday cards
• Planning the party? Birthday party ideas
• How to make a balloon arch
• Photo booth prop ideas
• Wedding cards
• Wedding cards guide
• Pin badges
• All guides

Frequently asked questions

What are some fun facts about the 1980s?

The decade opened with the SAS on live television and John Lennon's death in December. The lists above give the news, television, music, sport and everyday facts for every year from 1980 to 1989, each with its date.

What good 1980s quiz questions are there?

Any fact on this page works as a question if you read it out and ask for the year. Ten of them makes a round, and the answers are already in the brackets.

Where do these facts come from?

They are the same checked facts used on our year pages - real, dateable events only. The official UK singles chart begins in November 1952, so earlier years list popular songs rather than chart positions.

Do you sell anything to do with this decade?

We make greeting cards, art prints and pin badges in the UK, including milestone birthday cards. This page is free to read and free to copy.