In which year did the Berlin Wall fall?
Answer : 1989
On the night of 9 November 1989, the crossing points between East and West Berlin were opened, paving the way for German reunification in October 1990.
Questions and answers: The 80s & 90s
Revise The 80s & 90s: here is a selection of questions of every level, with the answer and an explanation. To test yourself without seeing the answers, play the quizzes.
Play the The 80s & 90s quizzesVery easy
Which Nintendo handheld console, released in 1989, used interchangeable cartridges and a monochrome screen?
Answer : Game Boy
Released in Japan in 1989, the Game Boy won over millions of players thanks to its affordable price, its sturdiness and its long battery life.
Which singer released the album Thriller in 1982?
Answer : Michael Jackson
Released at the end of 1982, the album includes Billie Jean and Beat It; the long-form Thriller video, in 1983, became a landmark in MTV history.
Which team won the football World Cup in 1998?
Answer : France
France beat Brazil 3-0 in the final at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis on 12 July 1998, winning its first world title.
Which video game character, a mustachioed plumber dressed in red and blue, is Nintendo's mascot?
Answer : Mario
Mario first appeared in 1981 in Donkey Kong, originally under the name Jumpman, before becoming Nintendo's mascot.
In which 1985 film does a teenager travel through time in a DeLorean?
Answer : Back to the Future
Directed by Robert Zemeckis, Back to the Future came out in 1985; the real DeLorean DMC-12, with its gull-wing doors, was turned into a time machine.
Which James Cameron film, released in 1997, tells the love story of Jack and Rose aboard a doomed ocean liner?
Answer : Titanic
Titanic won 11 Academy Awards at the 1998 ceremony, including Best Picture, and became a worldwide box-office phenomenon.
Which portable device launched by Sony in 1979 let people listen to audio cassettes through headphones while on the move?
Answer : Walkman
The Walkman TPS-L2 was launched by Sony in Japan in July 1979, and it made listening to music on the move an everyday habit.
Easy
Which small French terminal with a screen and keyboard, rolled out from the early 1980s, was first used to look up phone numbers?
Answer : Minitel
Rolled out by the French phone administration from 1982, the Minitel first replaced the paper phone book before offering messaging, bookings and banking; it was switched off in 2012.
Which Sega mascot, a fast blue hedgehog, first appeared on the Mega Drive in 1991?
Answer : Sonic
Sonic the Hedgehog launched in June 1991 on the Mega Drive (Genesis in North America); Sega wanted a fast-moving mascot to rival Nintendo's Mario.
Which director made both E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) and Jurassic Park (1993)?
Answer : Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg directed E.T. in 1982, then Jurassic Park in 1993, adapted from Michael Crichton's novel; he also made Schindler's List later that same year.
Which American rock band, led by Kurt Cobain, released the album Nevermind in 1991?
Answer : Nirvana
Nirvana, formed in Aberdeen, Washington, brought grunge to a mass audience with Nevermind, which includes Smells Like Teen Spirit.
Which Soviet nuclear power plant was the site of a major accident on 26 April 1986?
Answer : Chernobyl
Reactor 4 at Chernobyl, in what was then the Soviet Ukraine, exploded during a test; the nearby town of Pripyat was evacuated and fallout spread across much of Europe.
Which actor plays the lead role in the sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, launched in 1990?
Answer : Will Smith
In this sitcom, which ran from 1990 to 1996, Will Smith plays a teenager from Philadelphia sent to live with his uncle's family in Bel-Air, California.
Which puzzle game of falling blocks, designed in 1984 by the Soviet Alexey Pajitnov, was bundled with the Game Boy?
Answer : Tetris
Pajitnov created Tetris in Moscow in 1984; bundled with the Game Boy from 1989, the game sold tens of millions of copies.
Which Swiss brand launched colourful, affordable plastic watches in 1983 that became collector's items?
Answer : Swatch
Launched in 1983 by the Swiss group ETA, Swatch offered plastic quartz watches with few parts and constantly renewed designs, which made them a fashion phenomenon.
Medium
At which European research organisation did Tim Berners-Lee propose, in 1989, the system that became the World Wide Web?
Answer : CERN
Berners-Lee worked at CERN, near Geneva, when he proposed a hypertext system in March 1989; the Web software was placed in the public domain in 1993.
Who led the Soviet Union from 1985 until its dissolution in 1991?
Answer : Mikhail Gorbachev
General Secretary of the Communist Party from March 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev launched far-reaching reforms before resigning as Soviet president on 25 December 1991.
Which 1982 science-fiction film, based on a 1968 novel about androids, is set in Los Angeles in 2019?
Answer : Blade Runner
Blade Runner, directed by Ridley Scott, is loosely based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?; it did poorly at first before becoming a cult classic.
Which Irish band released the album The Joshua Tree in 1987?
Answer : U2
U2, fronted by Bono, recorded The Joshua Tree in 1986-1987; it includes With or Without You and Where the Streets Have No Name, and draws on the American landscape and culture.
Which Nintendo console, released in Japan in 1996, came with a three-pronged controller featuring an analogue stick?
Answer : Nintendo 64
The Nintendo 64 launched in Japan in June 1996; Super Mario 64, released alongside it, laid the foundations of 3D platform games using an analogue stick.
Which digital audio format, launched in 1982 by Philips and Sony, gradually replaced vinyl and cassettes?
Answer : Compact disc (CD)
The 12 cm compact disc went on sale in Japan in 1982, then in Europe and the United States in 1983; it became the dominant format in the 1990s.
Which treaty, signed in 1992 in a Dutch city, created the European Union?
Answer : Treaty of Maastricht
Signed on 7 February 1992 and in force from 1993, the Maastricht Treaty established the European Union and laid the groundwork for a single currency.
Which 1990 American TV series, created by David Lynch and Mark Frost, centres on the investigation into the death of Laura Palmer?
Answer : Twin Peaks
Aired from April 1990 on ABC, Twin Peaks blends a police investigation with a supernatural atmosphere in a small fictional town in Washington State.
Hard
In which year was Super Mario Bros. released on the Famicom in Japan?
Answer : 1985
Super Mario Bros. came out in Japan on 13 September 1985 on the Famicom; it popularised the side-scrolling platform game and helped launch the NES outside Japan.
Which Russian word, linked to the reforms launched in the USSR in the mid-1980s, means openness or transparency?
Answer : Glasnost
Glasnost refers to the policy of openness and freedom of expression launched from 1985-1986; it went hand in hand with perestroika, the restructuring of the economy.
Which British synth-pop band released the album Violator in 1990?
Answer : Depeche Mode
Violator, released in March 1990, includes Personal Jesus and Enjoy the Silence; the band from Basildon refined a darker synth-pop sound there.
Which 1991 film won the five major Academy Awards (picture, director, actor, actress, adapted screenplay) in 1992?
Answer : The Silence of the Lambs
Jonathan Demme's film swept the top five Oscars in 1992; it was only the third film ever to do so, after It Happened One Night (1934) and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975).
Which web browser, released in 1993 by the NCSA at the University of Illinois, popularised the Web before Netscape?
Answer : Mosaic
Mosaic, developed notably by Marc Andreessen, showed text and images on the same page; Andreessen then co-founded Netscape, whose browser launched in 1994.
In which country were the 1988 Winter Olympics held?
Answer : Canada
Calgary hosted the 1988 Winter Games; Sarajevo had hosted those of 1984, Albertville those of 1992 and Lillehammer those of 1994.
Which Japanese company created the fighting game Street Fighter II, released in arcades in 1991?
Answer : Capcom
Street Fighter II, released in 1991, revived the arcades and popularised one-on-one fighting games, with characters known for their distinctive special moves.
Which French pay-TV channel was launched on 4 November 1984?
Answer : Canal+
Canal+ was the first subscription channel in France, ahead of La Cinq (1986) and M6 (1987) in the landscape of private television.
Expert
Which Nintendo engineer, creator of the Game & Watch, led the design of the Game Boy released in 1989?
Answer : Gunpei Yokoi
Gunpei Yokoi also came up with the directional pad for the Game & Watch; he favoured simple, proven components, an approach that explains the Game Boy's long battery life.
Which East German Politburo member and regime spokesman unintentionally triggered the fall of the Wall by announcing new travel rules on 9 November 1989?
Answer : Günter Schabowski
Schabowski read out a note on travel abroad and, asked when it took effect, said it was immediate; thousands of Berliners then headed for the border crossings.
Which British 8-bit home computer of 1982, with a rubber-keyed keyboard, launched a generation of game programmers in the UK?
Answer : ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum, sold by Sinclair Research from April 1982, was compact and affordable; it spawned a huge scene of games written in teenagers' bedrooms.
Who created the game Prince of Persia, released in 1989 on the Apple II?
Answer : Jordan Mechner
Jordan Mechner, previously the author of Karateka, animated his hero by rotoscoping footage of his brother running and jumping; the game was published by Brøderbund.
Which French director made Diva (1981) and Betty Blue (1986)?
Answer : Jean-Jacques Beineix
Beineix is grouped with Luc Besson and Leos Carax under the label cinéma du look: very stylised images and a music-video look that was prominent in 1980s French film.
Which composer wrote the music for the film Back to the Future (1985)?
Answer : Alan Silvestri
Alan Silvestri wrote the orchestral score for Robert Zemeckis's film and worked with him again on Who Framed Roger Rabbit in 1988 and Forrest Gump in 1994.
Which arms-control treaty, signed in Washington in December 1987, eliminated American and Soviet intermediate-range missiles?
Answer : INF Treaty
The INF Treaty, signed by Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev on 8 December 1987, led to the destruction of ground-launched missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 km.
Which team, called up at the last minute to replace Yugoslavia, won the 1992 European football championship?
Answer : Denmark
The Danes, invited just days before the tournament after Yugoslavia was excluded, beat Germany 2-0 in the final in Gothenburg.
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