These 20 vintage trivia questions cover four decades, from the opening of Disneyland to the arrival of the NES. Anyone who lived through them will get most of the answers straight away; anyone who didn't will be guessing. Ask them at the dinner table, on a family video call or at a trivia night, and let the people who were there do the talking.
The answers come straight after each question, so cover the screen if you want to play along. Then try the game above: it is a trivia game where knowing older things is an advantage.
The 1950s
1. Which theme park opened in Anaheim, California, in July 1955?
Answer: Disneyland. Walt Disney's first park opened on July 17, 1955.
2. Which sitcom starred Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz from 1951 to 1957?
Answer: I Love Lucy. It was one of the first TV hits filmed in front of a live audience.
3. What was the name of the first artificial satellite, launched by the Soviet Union in 1957?
Answer: Sputnik 1. Its launch on October 4, 1957 started the Space Race.
4. Which toy, sold by Wham-O from 1958, had millions of people swinging it around their hips?
Answer: The Hula Hoop. Wham-O sold millions in its first months on sale.
5. Which fashion doll did Mattel introduce at the New York Toy Fair in 1959?
Answer: Barbie. The first Barbie wore a black-and-white striped swimsuit.
The 1960s
6. Which toy, first sold by the Ohio Art Company in 1960, let you draw by turning two knobs?
Answer: The Etch A Sketch. Shake it and the picture disappears.
7. Which band played on The Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964, watched by about 73 million Americans?
Answer: The Beatles. The broadcast is often called the start of the British Invasion.
8. Which Ford, launched in April 1964, gave its name to the "pony car"?
Answer: The Ford Mustang. It was unveiled at the New York World's Fair.
9. Who was the first person to walk on the Moon, in July 1969?
Answer: Neil Armstrong. He stepped out of Apollo 11's lunar module on July 20, 1969 (July 21 in UTC).
10. Which music festival took place on a dairy farm in Bethel, New York, in August 1969?
Answer: Woodstock. The farm belonged to Max Yasgur.
The 1970s
11. Which Atari arcade game of 1972 was a simple version of table tennis?
Answer: Pong. Two paddles, one ball, and the start of the video game industry.
12. Which US president resigned from office in August 1974?
Answer: Richard Nixon. He is the only US president to have resigned.
13. What was the 1975 Christmas gift craze that came in a cardboard box with breathing holes?
Answer: The Pet Rock. Its inventor, Gary Dahl, sold more than a million.
14. Which 1977 film introduced Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia and Darth Vader?
Answer: Star Wars. It was later retitled Episode IV – A New Hope.
15. Which Sony gadget of 1979 let people carry their cassette tapes and listen on headphones?
Answer: The Walkman. It made music personal and portable.
The 1980s
16. Which TV channel launched on August 1, 1981 with the video for "Video Killed the Radio Star"?
Answer: MTV. The song is by the Buggles.
17. Which Hungarian puzzle, invented in 1974, became a worldwide craze after it went on sale abroad in 1980?
Answer: The Rubik's Cube. Its inventor, Ernő Rubik, was an architecture professor.
18. Which 1982 Michael Jackson album is often called the best-selling album of all time?
Answer: Thriller. Seven of its nine tracks became US top-10 singles.
19. Which dolls caused shoppers to fight in stores at Christmas 1983, each one sold with its own adoption papers?
Answer: Cabbage Patch Kids. Every doll was a little different and came with a name.
20. Which Nintendo console came to North America in 1985 together with Super Mario Bros.?
Answer: The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). It revived home video games after the crash of 1983.
How did you score?
- 16 to 20: You were there, or you listened carefully to someone who was.
- 10 to 15: A solid family effort. The 1980s questions probably carried you.
- Under 10: Time to ask your parents and grandparents some questions of your own.
Why older players win at rare-answer trivia
In most quizzes, every right answer is worth the same. In Rarest, the game above, a right answer is worth more the fewer people would think of it, and that is where long memories pay off. A few examples from the game's own answer lists:
| Prompt | What most people say | What older players remember |
|---|---|---|
| Name an official James Bond film | Skyfall, Casino Royale | Thunderball, You Only Live Twice |
| Name a song by the Beatles | Hey Jude, Let It Be | I Call Your Name, Slow Down |
| Name a Vice President of the United States | Joe Biden | Schuyler Colfax, Thomas R. Marshall |
| Name a horse that won the Kentucky Derby | Secretariat | Clyde Van Dusen |
The answers on the right land in the top tiers, worth up to twenty times the common ones. That makes Rarest one of the few trivia games where a grandparent and a grandchild can play the same round and both have a real chance.
Playing Rarest with your parents or grandparents
- Switch on No timer under Options. The clock disappears, so nobody has to type against 25 seconds.
- Pick a category they know. The history, music and movies and TV editions are full of prompts where older answers score high.
- Play the same daily round. Everyone gets the same seven prompts each day, so you can each play on your own device and compare scores afterwards with the share button.
- Look at the reveal together. After each prompt the game shows the best-known answers and a few of the rarest, which is often where the stories start.
For more prompts and the answers that score highest, see the rarest answers to all 320 prompts.