The Ultimate 1970s Quiz

Shrinky Dinks, the plastic toys that shrunk to about one-third of their size when baked, were invented in 1973 by two women who were crafting projects for their sons' Boy Scout troop. After creating the original shrinking polymer product, the women knew they had a hit and quickly formed a company. Within a year, people across the U.S. were baking plastic charms, clips, and tags of all shapes and designs.

The "world's first indoor ball" was introduced in 1969 and quickly became one of the most popular toys of the 1970s. Nerf advertised the ball as utterly harmless, saying, "Throw it indoors; you can't damage lamps or break windows. You can't hurt babies or old people." After the success of its first ball, Nerf went on to make more cushy playthings, including a football, basketball, baseball, and even an archery set.

In the early 1970s, an entrepreneur named H.P. Hood created a low-fat frozen yogurt named “Frogurt.” The concept was further developed in 1978 when Boston’s Brigham’s ice cream shop introduced a prepackaged version of the treat. By the 1980s, frozen yogurt stores began opening in malls across the nation.

In the late 1970s, drink manufacturers set out to create “healthy” fruit-flavored sodas. Pepsi created Aspen soda, which was flavored with “just a snap of apple.” Unfortunately, the drink was not very popular and the soft drink was abandoned in 1982.

“SNL” debuted in 1975, and the original cast included comedians Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Garrett Morris, Laraine Newman, and Jane Curtain. Bill Murray joined the cast in its second season.

Bill Backer was the creative director for Coca-Cola in 1971, with the McCann Erickson advertising agency. After a flight to London diverted in Ireland due to fog, he noticed previously angry passengers bonding and telling stories over Cokes, and it inspired him to come up with the jingle, “I’d like to buy the world a Coke.” He worked with songwriters Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway to complete the concept, and a band called the New Seekers recorded a version that became a Top 10 hit.

The 1970s were the decade of all things Jell-O, and nothing encapsulated this more than poke cakes. The simple recipe involved baking a cake with a standard cake mix, then stabbing holes in the top and filling them with fruity Jell-O. When the cake was sliced, guests were impressed with the brightly colored hidden filling.

At its completion, the Sears Tower stood at 1,454 feet tall with 110 stories and accommodated 15,000 of Sears’ Chicago workers. It held the record for the tallest building until 1996, when the Petronas twin towers in Kuala Lumpur passed it by a mere 29 feet. In 2009, the tower was renamed the Willis Tower after Sears sold it to Willis Group Holdings.

Though it evolved to be associated with the credit card in general, the slogan “Don’t leave home without it” was specifically written for American Express travelers’ checks. The ad firm Ogilvy & Mather created the campaign in the mid-1970s, with a series of commercials starring actor Karl Malden. Since then, many famous faces have starred in the campaign, including author Stephen King, The Who frontman Roger Daltrey, and the entire Cleveland baseball team from the movie “Major League.”

Two years after “Happy Days” debuted in 1974, its first spinoff aired: the hit show “Laverne & Shirley.” “Mork & Mindy” (1978) and “Joanie Loves Chachi” (1982) came later.

In 1970, Toni Morrison published her debut novel, “The Bluest Eye,” a tragic portrayal of the social and psychological impacts of racism and poverty in the United States. Though it initially received a lukewarm reception, the book is now considered a classic, and marked the beginning of Morrison’s hugely influential literary career. She went on to win the Nobel Prize in literature in 1993 for her novel “Beloved.”

Although Steven Spielberg’s “Jaws” is set on the fictional Amity Island, it’s heavily based on the real island of Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts. The latter’s picturesque clapboard cottages, peaceful island lifestyle, and rich maritime history make the perfect setting for a killer shark to disturb the peace. If you visit, you’ll definitely need a bigger boat.

Richard Nixon’s 1972 visit to the People’s Republic of China marked the first time a sitting U.S. President visited the country while in office. The trip was the first political contact between the U.S. and China in 22 years, and set the stage for the reestablishment of diplomatic relations between the two nations seven years later.

Perhaps one of the funniest films ever made, 1974’s spoof cowboy comedy “Blazing Saddles” was directed by Hollywood legend Mel Brooks, and starred Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder as a pair of Wild West gunslingers with a habit of breaking the fourth wall. Wilder’s character was called Jim, but went by “the Waco Kid” — presumably because it sounded far more fitting for a cowboy.

In 1976’s “Rocky,” Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) is out for a jog in the Italian neighborhood of Philadelphia when he gets an orange hurled at him, and he deftly turns to catch the vitamin C-packed snack. Believe it or not, this scene was reportedly improvised: The person who threw the orange was the owner of a local market stall, who had no idea a movie was being made.

In 1975, Bill Gates and his childhood friend Paul Allen created Microsoft. Their original goal was to create software for the Altair 8800, an early personal computer. The company’s first home was Albuquerque, New Mexico, where the maker of the Altair 8800 was headquartered, but the company went on to grow to its tech-giant status in Washington state.

Let’s do the time warp again, and again, and again. “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” holds the record for the longest run in movie theaters, as it has been played almost continually since its release in 1975. The record run is thanks in part to an old 20th Century Fox policy making archival movies available to cinemas at any time. Theaters continue to show the film since midnight screenings attended in wacky costumes have made the movie a cult classic.

The children’s book character, which was made into a popular stuffed animal, was named after the bustling Central London train station.

Known as P-Funk, George Clinton's most famous production formed from two individual bands named Parliament and Funkadelic. At its peak, P-Funk's live performances featured more than 40 artists on stage, including the tremendously talented Bootsy Collins on bass. Clinton not only produced the act, but wrote and sang as well.

One year after entering the competition in 1973 and finishing in fifth place with the song "Ring Ring," ABBA topped the rest of the field with their performance of "Waterloo" at the 1974 Eurovision competition. The group reworked the song's lyrics from Swedish to English in an effort to broaden its appeal, and it worked. "Waterloo" topped charts all across Europe and reached No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the U.S.

When Beverly Johnson made the cover of "Vogue," she had to contend with prevalent industry-wide racism and stylists who didn’t know what to do with her hair. Nevertheless, in 1974, at age 21, she made history as the first Black woman to grace the cover. Since then, Johnson has appeared in several films, written two books, and was named one of 2008’s most influential people by "The New York Times."

Milton Bradley introduced the strategic guessing game at the end of the 1960s.

Roger Daltrey was the lead singer of the British rock band The Who, credited as one of the most influential rock acts of the 1960s and '70s. The band was unparalleled at the time, with songs and lyrics that embraced the teenage experience for what it often is: lonely and moody. Thanks to their prolific contributions, the band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.

Swanson introduced TV dinners in the 1950s and initially marketed them to busy housewives. By the 1970s, Swanson realized it needed to target the growing demographic of bachelors, and introduced the Hungry-Man brand, which provided large meat-based meals for men who didn’t like to cook.

Actress Mary Tyler Moore starred in the eponymous series as the character Mary Richards, who finds a job at WJM-TV, Minneapolis’ lowest-rated TV news station.

Bobby Fischer became the youngest-ever U.S. chess champion when he was just 14, and earned the title of grandmaster the next year. In 1972, the "Match of the Century" took place between Fischer and the reigning world champion at the time, Soviet player Boris Spassky. Fischer won the match with enough flair that it justified all the media attention, making him the first U.S.-born world champion.

As the song goes, “My bologna has a first name, it’s O-S-C-A-R, my bologna has a second name it’s M-A-Y-E-R.” The song was written by Jerry Ringlien, Oscar Mayer’s vice president of marketing, who was responsible for bringing back the Wienermobile. In 1973, the first commercial with this jingle aired with 4-year-old actor Andy Lambros singing while fishing.

Like many inventions, the comb-over was born out of necessity. When Frank Smith and his son Donald were trying to find solutions for Frank's baldness, they realized that by growing his hair long on one side, he could push it over the top, giving the effect of a fuller head of hair. The patent, complete with instructional diagrams on how to achieve the look, was filed soon after, with the intent to develop a spray that would keep the loose-flowing “side locks” in place.

Carly Simon’s biggest hit, “You’re So Vain,” was released in 1972 and immediately caused a sensation as listeners tried to figure out who she had written the song about. Simon has always refused to confirm or deny who inspired the song, but her past romantic relationships with Warren Beatty, Kris Kristofferson, Jack Nicholson, John Travolta, and James Taylor have provided plenty of fodder for speculation.

In 1974, McDonald’s tried its first hip-hop jingle, with an ingredient-by-ingredient breakdown of its Big Mac: “Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun.” The slogan first appeared in print in newspapers, before being set to music by musical artist Mark Vieha.

The soundtrack to the disco dance classic “Saturday Night Fever” sold an astonishing 25 million copies between 1977 and 1980. The record produced four No. 1 hits, including three for the Bee Gees — “How Deep Is Your Love,” “Stayin’ Alive,” and “Night Fever” — and Yvonne Elliman’s “If I Can’t Have You,” which was also composed by the Bee Gees. It remains the second-bestselling film soundtrack of all time, behind 1992’s “The Bodyguard.”

When Hungry Hungry Hippos debuted in 1978, the four ball-chomping ungulates were all given names. Lizzie Hippo was purple, Henry Hippo was orange, Homer Hippo was green, and Harry Hippo was yellow. During play, the four mammalian characters would compete to see which could swallow the most of the 20 plastic balls in the center of the game, which is still produced today.

Fondue was first introduced in the U.S. in the 1960s at the New York World’s Fair. Soon after, at-home fondue kits hit shelves to satisfy the growing demand for the cheesy trend. By the 1970s, fondue became a popular choice for dinner parties, where guests could dip a variety of breads, meats, and vegetables into pots of various cheeses, such as Swiss, Appenzeller, and Emmenthaler.

Conceived in conjunction with Bowie's 1972 album, "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars," the character Ziggy Stardust was an omnisexual alien rock star sent to Earth as a messenger. Ziggy's look was highlighted by a striking orange mullet and glam rock-inspired outfits, and the name "Ziggy" was taken from a local tailor shop that Bowie passed while riding the train.

In 1971, State Farm recorded a jingle containing a slogan that would be used actively in advertisements for over 50 years: “Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.” Like so many iconic jingles of the ’70s, this one was written by Barry Manilow. The catchy song was also recorded by Weezer and released in 2010.

On August 9, 1974, Richard Nixon made history by becoming the first (and, to date, only) U.S. President to resign from the role, the result of his involvement in the infamous Watergate scandal. His replacement wasn't his original second-in-command; Spiro Agnew, Nixon's first Vice President, had resigned from his post in 1973, due to unrelated circumstances. Agnew's successor was House Minority Leader Gerald Ford — who then went on to be Nixon's successor as well. To date, Ford is the only person to become POTUS without winning the general election for President or Vice President.

Come to the cabaret, and you’ll see stage and screen star Liza Minnelli strutting her stuff in a pair of suspenders as the extroverted American performer Sally Bowles. The movie takes place in pre-World War II Berlin, exploring Sally’s freewheeling lifestyle and personal dramas before her world comes crashing down around her.

“M*A*S*H” is set in the early 1950s during the Korean War, and follows the lives of the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital.

Released in 1978, the song “September” by Earth, Wind & Fire is one of the most joyous tunes of the ’70s. Though people have long wondered about the meaning behind the specific date chosen in the lyrics, co-writer Maurice White said that the 21st of September was selected because it fit well phonetically.

In the opening credits of “Taxi,” the character Tony Banta — played by actor Tony Danza — is seen driving over New York City’s 59th Street Bridge (now named the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge).

The Battle of the Sexes was an exhibition tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs. It was the most-watched tennis match in history, and King’s victory helped establish her as a voice for gender equality. She spent the rest of her career as an outspoken advocate for the equal treatment of women and LGBTQ+ competitors in professional sports.