Q 01/05

Which Sony portable cassette player, launched in Japan in July 1979, let people carry music anywhere on headphones?

A) Discman

B) Walkman

C) Watchman

D) Pressman

Answer · why

B) Walkman

The Walkman began with Sony co-founder Masaru Ibuka, who wanted music on business trips. Engineers built it by modifying the Pressman, a small recorde...

Q 02/05

What kind of animal swam at President Jimmy Carter's fishing boat in Georgia in April 1979, making front-page news?

A) A rabbit

B) A beaver

C) An alligator

D) A water snake

Answer · why

A) A rabbit

A rabbit, hissing as it paddled toward his johnboat, was shooed off when Carter splashed at it with a paddle. Newspapers dubbed the episode the killer...

Q 03/05

Which politician became Britain's first woman prime minister after winning the general election of May 1979?

A) Shirley Williams

B) Virginia Bottomley

C) Barbara Castle

D) Margaret Thatcher

Answer · why

D) Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Thatcher had worked as a research chemist before turning to law and politics. She went on to become the longest-serving British prime ministe...

Q 04/05

Which McDonald's product went on sale across the United States in June 1979 after a 1977 trial in Kansas City?

A) McFlurry

B) Egg McMuffin

C) Happy Meal

D) Filet-O-Fish

Answer · why

C) Happy Meal

The Happy Meal grew out of a children's menu devised by Yolanda Fernández de Cofiño, who ran McDonald's restaurants in Guatemala. An advertising man t...

Q 05/05

At which nuclear power plant did a stuck valve lead to a partial meltdown in March 1979, prompting thousands to flee?

A) Three Mile Island

B) Fukushima Daiichi

C) Chernobyl

D) Windscale

Answer · why

A) Three Mile Island

Three Mile Island's accident came less than two weeks after the premiere of The China Syndrome, a thriller about a reactor emergency. Within days, 140...