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?

Swanson's first TV Dinner was a Thanksgiving-style plate of turkey, cornbread stuffing, peas and sweet potatoes, sold for 98 cents.

The 1954-55 Disney serial that launched the coonskin-cap craze dramatized which frontiersman?

Disney's Davy Crockett, starring Fess Parker, drove an estimated $300 million in tie-in sales by the end of 1955, coonskin caps above all.

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

Blackboard Jungle ran the song over its opening credits; the 1954 record had been a B-side to 'Thirteen Women' and a commercial disappointment until then.

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

Charles Laughton stood in because Sullivan was recovering from a car crash; the British actor introduced Elvis from New York while Presley performed from Los Angeles.

Wham-O's Frisbee, launched in 1957, was a renamed version of which earlier flying disc?

Fred Morrison's Pluto Platter was bought by Wham-O in 1957 and renamed Frisbee, after the Connecticut pie tins that Yale students had been flinging around campus.

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

Sputnik 1 beeped for three weeks until its silver-zinc batteries died; the 58 cm sphere burned up in January 1958 after about 1,440 orbits.

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

Wham-O sold 25 million hoops in four months, and sales passed 100 million within two years; Georgia Gibbs sang 'The Hula Hoop Song' on Ed Sullivan that autumn.

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?

'The Twist' returned to number one in January 1962 after its first run in 1960; no song repeated the feat until Mariah Carey's Christmas hit in 2019 and 2020.

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

About 73 million Americans watched on 9 February 1964, the biggest US TV audience to that date; The Fugitive's 1967 finale later beat it.

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

Over 400,000 Mustangs sold in the first twelve months, about 418,000; the millionth came within two years, Ford's biggest launch since the 1927 Model A.

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

The Sound of Music opened as a roadshow release in March 1965 to mixed reviews, won five Academy Awards and out-grossed every other film of the decade.

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

Eva Gabor played it with Carson on 3 May 1966 and sales took off; rivals accused Milton Bradley of selling 'sex in a box'.

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

Roddenberry's 1964 pitch called it 'Wagon Train to the stars'; NBC's ratings were low and the series ended after three seasons and 79 episodes.

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

Barclays opened the first cash machine at its Enfield branch in north London on 27 June 1967; comedy actor Reg Varney made the first withdrawal.

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

An estimated 600 million people, roughly a sixth of the world's population, watched the 20 July 1969 moonwalk live.

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

Only about 30,000 remained of the roughly half-million who had come; delays pushed Hendrix's set to Monday morning, and many people left during it.

What did HBO show in 1975 when it began delivering programming by satellite?

The Thrilla in Manila, the third Ali-Frazier fight, was beamed live by satellite on 30 September 1975 US time, the first continuous satellite feed to cable systems.

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

Deep Throat was Simons's play on 'deep background' and a notorious 1972 film; Mark Felt met Bob Woodward at 2 a.m. in a Virginia parking garage.

How many consecutive weeks did Dark Side of the Moon (1973) spend on the Billboard 200?

The album logged 741 consecutive weeks on the Billboard 200 from 1973 until 1988, a record run at the time.

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 that shifted colour with finger temperature; warm hands gave blues and violets, cold ones black.

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

The Rocky Horror Picture Show flopped in September 1975, then found a midnight audience from 1976 and never left cinemas, the longest theatrical run in film history.

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

The 4 KB Apple II listed at $1,298 in June 1977, and the 48 KB version at $2,638; the Commodore PET and TRS-80 followed later that year.

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

Kenner sold boxed vouchers for future figures, the 'Early Bird Certificate Package': a display stand and a certificate redeemable for four action figures between February and June 1978.

Under what name was Sony's Walkman first sold in the United States in 1980?

In the US it launched as the Sound-about; Sony's overseas teams disliked the Japanese-English 'Walkman', but that original name went global by 1981.

Why was Japan's Puck Man renamed Pac-Man for its 1980 American release?

Midway feared vandals would alter the P on arcade cabinets into an F, so Puck Man became Pac-Man for America.

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

Ideal weighed 'The Gordian Knot' and 'Inca Gold' before choosing Rubik's Cube for the 1980 launch; the puzzle had sold in Hungary as the Magic Cube since 1977.

Which video did MTV play first when it went on air on 1 August 1981?

'Video Killed the Radio Star' by the Buggles followed a network ID built on NASA moon-landing footage with an MTV flag on the lunar surface.

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

Mars reportedly feared E.T. would frighten children and said no; Hershey's Reese's Pieces took the spot, and their sales rose about 65% after the film.

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

Vincent Price recorded the monologue in two takes; Rod Temperton wrote it in a taxi on the way to the studio and 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 on grounds of entrapment, too late to matter: the company had gone into receivership in February 1982 and the cars stopped that year.

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

Phil Collins played Wembley, flew Concorde, then played Philadelphia, also drumming for Eric Clapton and Led Zeppelin; he 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'?

Coleco shipped about 3.3 million dolls in 1983 and had pulled all its advertising because it could not meet demand; shoppers still fought over the last ones in December.

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

Nevermind displaced Dangerous by Michael Jackson at the top of the chart in January 1992; Cobain said the underwater-baby cover came from a TV programme about water births.

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

Beanie Babies retailed for about $5 each; Ty Warner later 'retired' characters on purpose, turning under-stuffed plush toys into a speculative market.

Which Rolling Stones song did Microsoft license for its Windows 95 launch campaign?

'Start Me Up' was chosen for the new Start button; the licence was widely reported at about $3 million, though rumours at the time ran as high as $14 million.

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

The remix held number one for 14 weeks from August 1996; Los del Río had first recorded the song in 1993, and VH1 later named it the greatest one-hit wonder.

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

Akihiro Yokoi and Aki Maita shared the 1997 Ig Nobel Prize in economics, cited for diverting millions of person-hours into the husbandry of virtual pets.

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

Bloomsbury printed just 500 hardbacks in June 1997, about 300 of them for libraries; Rowling's advance had been £2,500.

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

Metallica filed suit on 13 April 2000 after the unreleased 'I Disappear' surfaced on Napster; Dr. Dre followed, and the service peaked at about 80 million users before closing in July 2001.

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

Netflix's founders offered the company to Blockbuster for $50 million in 2000 and were turned down; Blockbuster peaked at about 9,000 stores in 2004 and filed for bankruptcy in 2010.

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

Chris Farley had recorded most of Shrek's lines when he died in December 1997; Mike Myers replaced him and gave the ogre a Scottish accent.

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

Copywriter Vinnie Chieco was reminded of 'Open the pod bay doors, Hal' from 2001: A Space Odyssey; Jobs sold the device 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 Beach clog launched at the Fort Lauderdale boat show in November 2002 and sold all 200 pairs; the foam design came from Quebec's Foam Creations.

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

'Me at the zoo' shows Karim in front of the elephants at the San Diego Zoo; Google bought YouTube for $1.65 billion in 2006.

Nintendo's Wii console was developed under which codename?

Nintendo called it Revolution from its E3 2004 reveal until the Wii name was announced in April 2006; Wii Sports, the pack-in game, became its killer app.

What did the 4 GB model of the original iPhone cost at its June 2007 launch?

The 4 GB iPhone cost $499 and the 8 GB $599, both on a two-year AT&T contract; Apple dropped the 4 GB model that September.

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

'Killing in the Name' by Rage Against the Machine won the 2009 race thanks to a campaign by Jon and Tracy Morter; 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?

The milestone came on 21 December 2012, five months after the video's July release; Psy's song peaked at number two on the Hot 100 and topped charts in more than 30 countries.

How much did the 2014 Ice Bucket Challenge raise for the ALS Association that summer?

The ALS Association took in over $115 million between late July and August 2014; a 2015 relaunch tried to make it annual and never matched the original.

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

Niantic announced 500 million downloads in September 2016, two months after launch; the game passed a billion downloads in early 2019.

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

Musical.ly, bought by ByteDance in late 2017, was folded into TikTok on 2 August 2018; by October TikTok was the most-downloaded app in the US.

Which 2016 Netflix series turned Eggo waffles into a pop-culture prop?

Stranger Things debuted on Netflix in July 2016; Eleven's love of Eggo waffles became a running joke, and Kellogg's leaned into it with tie-in promotions.

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

Fifty Shades of Grey sold 15.2 million US copies in the decade by NPD BookScan's count; its two sequels took the next two spots.

In how many days did Avengers: Endgame (2019) reach $2 billion worldwide?

Endgame hit $2 billion in 11 days, where Avatar had needed 47; it briefly held the all-time gross record until Avatar's 2021 re-release in China.

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

Richard James demonstrated it at Gimbels in November 1945 after watching a spring 'walk' off a shelf; the first 400 Slinkys sold out in 90 minutes.

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

The National Security Agency reportedly barred Furbies from its offices in January 1999, fearing the toy might record and repeat classified talk, a fear Tiger Electronics said was baseless.