60 Fun Facts About Decades

In the 1950s, which comic strip made its debut and went on to run until its creator's death in 2000?

Charles Schulz hated the name Peanuts, which United Feature Syndicate imposed on him, and grumbled about it for the rest of his life.

Which company's brand of frozen 'TV Dinner', launched in 1953, came in a compartmented aluminum tray?

The first one was a Thanksgiving plate of turkey, cornbread stuffing, peas and sweet potatoes, sold for 98 cents.

A 1954-55 Disney TV serial set off a nationwide craze for coonskin caps. Which frontiersman did it dramatize?

By the end of 1955 Americans had bought more than $300 million of tie-in merchandise, and Fess Parker became a star.

'Rock Around the Clock' became a hit after opening which 1955 film?

The record had first come out in 1954 as a B-side to 'Thirteen Women' and was regarded as a commercial disappointment.

Who hosted Elvis Presley's first Ed Sullivan Show appearance in 1956 in Sullivan's absence?

Sullivan was recovering from a car accident, so the British actor introduced Elvis from New York while Presley performed from Los Angeles.

Wham-O's Frisbee got its name in 1957 from college students tossing pie tins made by whom?

The disc had been sold as the Pluto Platter; Yale students had been flinging the Connecticut bakery's tins around campus for years.

How long did Sputnik 1 transmit its radio signal after the Soviet launch of October 1957?

The 58 cm sphere kept beeping until its silver-zinc batteries died, and it burned up in January 1958 after 1,440 orbits.

How many plastic hula hoops did Wham-O sell in the first four months of the 1958 craze?

Sales passed 100 million within two years. Georgia Gibbs even sang 'The Hula Hoop Song' on Ed Sullivan that September.

Barbie, launched in March 1959, was based on a doll from which country?

Ruth Handler bought three Bild Lilli dolls on a 1956 Swiss trip; the doll was named after her daughter Barbara, who hated the association.

Chubby Checker's 'The Twist' set a record by reaching number one in 1960 and again in which later year?

No song topped the Hot 100 in two separate chart runs again until Mariah Carey's Christmas hit did it in 2019 and 2020.

The Beatles' first Ed Sullivan Show appearance in February 1964 drew about how many US viewers?

It was the biggest US TV audience to that date, beaten three years later by the series finale of The Fugitive.

How many Mustangs sold in the first year after the 1964 launch, against 100,000 expected?

The millionth Mustang rolled out within two years, making it Ford's biggest launch since the 1927 Model A.

Which 1965 film was the highest-grossing movie of the entire 1960s?

It opened as a limited roadshow release in March 1965 to mixed reviews and won five Academy Awards anyway.

Twister took off in 1966 after Johnny Carson played it on The Tonight Show with which actress?

Rivals accused Milton Bradley of selling 'sex in a box'; it was the first popular US game to use human bodies as playing pieces.

Gene Roddenberry's first-draft pitch described Star Trek as which existing TV show 'to the stars'?

NBC's ratings for the show were low and it was cancelled after three seasons and 79 episodes.

The world's first automatic teller machine opened in 1967 at a branch of which bank?

It was in London, the same year PAL and SECAM colour television began broadcasting in Europe.

Roughly how many people watched Neil Armstrong's July 1969 moonwalk live on television?

That was about a fifth of the world's population, and it remains one of the most-watched broadcasts in history.

Roughly how big was the crowd left when Jimi Hendrix closed Woodstock on Monday morning?

The peak crowd was around 450,000; rain delays pushed his set to 8:30 a.m., and many people left during it.

What did HBO show in 1975 when it became the first network to deliver a signal by satellite?

The Ali-Frazier fight was beamed continuously via satellite on September 30, 1975.

What nickname did editor Howard Simons give the secret Watergate source later revealed as the FBI's Mark Felt?

The FBI's Mark Felt met Bob Woodward at 2 a.m. in a Virginia parking garage; the name riffed on his 'deep background' status.

Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon (1973) stayed on the Billboard 200 for how many weeks?

That is more than 14 years on the chart. It was the best-selling album of the decade.

Where did Gary Dahl source the rocks for his 1975 Pet Rock fad?

They cost him under a penny each; he sold nearly 1.5 million at just under $4 and cleared 95 cents on every one.

What made a 1975 mood ring change colour?

The stone held thermochromic liquid crystals; sales hit $15 million by December 1975 before the market collapsed mid-month.

Which 1975 flop became the longest-running theatrical release ever as a midnight movie?

It was still in limited release decades after its premiere.

How much did the Apple II cost at its June 1977 launch with 4 KB of RAM?

The maxed-out 48 KB model was $2,638. It beat the Commodore PET and Atari 400 to market by five months.

Kenner could not make Star Wars toys fast enough in 1977, so what did it sell for Christmas instead?

The 'Early Bird Certificate Package' could be redeemed for four action figures between February and June 1978.

Sony's Walkman was originally sold under a different name in the United States in 1980. What was it?

Overseas sales teams disliked the made-in-Japan English of 'Walkman'; the UK got 'Stowaway' and Australia 'Freestyle' before the name went global.

Pac-Man was called Puck Man in Japan. Why was the name changed for its 1980 US release?

Designer Toru Iwatani said the character was partly inspired by a pizza with a slice missing and partly by the Japanese character for mouth.

Before settling on Rubik's Cube for the 1980 launch, Ideal Toy considered which name?

'Inca Gold' was another candidate. About 500 million cubes had sold by 2024, making it the best-selling toy ever.

MTV went on air on August 1, 1981. What was the first clip it played?

The Buggles clip followed a network ID built around NASA moon-landing footage with an MTV flag on the lunar surface.

Which candy company turned down product placement in E.T. (1982)?

Mars thought E.T. would frighten children; Hershey's profits rose 65% on the back of the film.

Which horror-film actor recorded the spoken-word section of Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' in two takes?

Rod Temperton wrote the monologue in a taxi on the way to the studio; he had nearly called the song 'Starlight'.

Which car maker's founder was arrested in a 1982 cocaine sting while trying to save his company?

John DeLorean was acquitted in 1984, too late: the Northern Ireland factory had closed in 1983.

Which performer played both Live Aid shows, Wembley and Philadelphia, by flying Concorde?

He also drummed for Eric Clapton and the reunited Led Zeppelin at JFK, and quipped, 'I was in England this afternoon.'

How many seconds into its flight did the Space Shuttle Challenger break apart on January 28, 1986?

Record-low temperatures had stiffened the O-rings; the program stopped for 32 months afterwards.

How many Cabbage Patch Kids did Coleco ship in 1983, the year of the Christmas 'riots'?

The company had cancelled all its advertising to keep up with demand; the line generated $2 billion in retail sales in 1984.

Nirvana's Nevermind hit number one on the Billboard 200 in January 1992 by knocking off which album?

Cobain said the underwater-baby cover idea came from a TV programme about water births.

How much did the first Beanie Babies sell for when they reached Chicago stores in 1994?

Ty Warner later 'retired' characters on purpose, turning under-stuffed plush toys into a speculative market.

Microsoft's Windows 95 launch ads used which Rolling Stones song as a nod to a new button on the taskbar?

Reports put the licence at somewhere between $8 million and $14 million.

The Bayside Boys remix of 'Macarena' spent how many weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1996?

Los del Río first recorded it in 1993; VH1 later crowned it the greatest one-hit wonder of all time.

The Tamagotchi's two creators shared which award in 1997?

The tongue-in-cheek economics prize dubbed them the father and mother of the digital pet.

How many hardbacks were in Bloomsbury's first print run of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone?

Three hundred of them went to libraries. Rowling's advance was £2,500.

Which band sued Napster in April 2000 after a demo of its song 'I Disappear' leaked onto the service?

Dr. Dre followed a month later. Napster peaked at about 80 million registered users before shutting in 2001.

In 2000, Blockbuster turned down the chance to buy Netflix for how much?

By 2004 Blockbuster ran 9,094 stores; it filed for bankruptcy in 2010.

Which comedian was originally cast as Shrek and recorded most of the dialogue before dying in 1997?

Mike Myers replaced him and gave the ogre his Scottish accent.

Apple's iPod got its name from a copywriter who was reminded of a line in which film?

Vinnie Chieco thought of 'Open the pod bay doors, Hal'. Jobs sold it as '1,000 songs in your pocket'.

Crocs debuted its first shoe, the Beach, in 2002 at what kind of event, where all 200 pairs sold out?

The foam clog was originally designed in Quebec by Foam Creations before three Colorado founders bought the rights.

YouTube's first video, uploaded on April 23, 2005, showed co-founder Jawed Karim where?

'Me at the zoo' can still be watched on the site; Google bought the company for $1.65 billion the following year.

Nintendo's Wii console was developed under which codename?

Satoru Iwata unveiled the name at E3 2004; Wii Sports, the pack-in game, became its killer app.

The original iPhone went on sale on June 29, 2007. What did the 4 GB model cost?

The 8 GB version was $599, and both required a two-year contract with Cingular, later AT&T.

A 2009 Facebook campaign sent which 1992 track to the UK Christmas number one?

Jon and Tracy Morter of South Woodham Ferrers started it; Zack de la Rocha thanked fans for toppling 'this very sterile pop monopoly'.

'Gangnam Style' became the first YouTube video to hit one billion views on which date?

Psy's song peaked at number two on the Hot 100 and topped charts in more than 30 countries that year.

How much did the 2014 Ice Bucket Challenge raise worldwide for ALS research in that year alone?

A 2015 relaunch tried to make it annual and never matched the original's virality.

Pokémon Go passed how many downloads in 2016, its launch year?

It crossed a billion downloads by early 2019 and had earned over $6 billion by 2020.

TikTok went global in 2018 after merging with which lip-sync platform ByteDance had bought?

The merge happened on 2 August 2018; by October TikTok was the most-downloaded app in the US.

How many episodes of Game of Thrones aired between its 2011 premiere and its 2019 finale?

That covered eight seasons on HBO, adapting George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire.

Which book was the best-selling title of the 2010s in the United States?

It sold 15.2 million US copies; its two sequels took the next two spots, ahead of The Hunger Games and The Help.

Avengers: Endgame (2019) reached $2 billion worldwide in how many days, a record?

Avatar had taken 47 days to get there. Endgame briefly held the all-time record before Avatar's Chinese re-release.

Which Philadelphia department store hosted the first Slinky demonstration in 1945?

Naval engineer Richard James had knocked a spring off a shelf and watched it 'walk'; the first 400 Slinkys sold out in 90 minutes.

Which US body reportedly banned Furbies from its premises in January 1999?

The fear was that the owl-like toy might record and repeat classified conversations, a myth born of the way it seemed to learn words.