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98 free 1970s Pop Culture trivia questions with answers — pop culture quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
50 free 1970s Pop Culture trivia questions with answers. The 1970s were a decade of cultural revolution — from the disco floors of Studio 54 to the punk clubs of London and New York, from the blockbuster birth of Star Wars and Jaws to the TV dominance of M*A*S*H and Saturday Night Live. Bell-bottoms, platform shoes, Pet Rocks, and mood rings defined the fashion and fads, while artists like Fleetwood Mac, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, and the Bee Gees created some of the most enduring music in history. How well do you know the decade that gave us Watergate, Atari, and the Walkman?
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Q 01Which 1977 science fiction film became the highest-grossing movie of all time at that point?
Star Wars
Star Wars grossed about $410 million worldwide on its initial 1977 release, passing Jaws to become the highest-grossing film until E.T. in 1982. Counting later re-releases its total reached roughly $775 million.
Q 02What was the name of the shark-hunting vessel in the 1975 blockbuster directed by Steven Spielberg?
The Orca
The Orca was the name of Quint's fishing boat in Jaws. The film is widely credited with inventing the modern summer blockbuster.
Q 03Which band released the album "Rumours" in 1977, which became one of the best-selling albums of all time?
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac's Rumours has sold over 40 million copies worldwide. The album was famously recorded while band members were going through painful breakups with each other.
Q 04What political scandal forced a U.S. president to resign in 1974?
Watergate
Watergate — the 1972 break-in at Democratic National Committee headquarters and the cover-up that followed — forced Richard Nixon to resign on August 9, 1974, the first U.S. president to leave office that way.
Q 05Which 1977 John Travolta film helped popularize disco music and dance culture worldwide?
Saturday Night Fever
Saturday Night Fever (1977) starred John Travolta as Brooklyn dancer Tony Manero; its Bee Gees-driven soundtrack became one of the best-selling albums ever and turned disco into a worldwide craze.
Q 06Which 1977 home console dominated the market and popularized cartridge gaming?
Atari 2600
The Atari 2600 was originally sold as the Atari VCS, and its interchangeable cartridge system brought arcade-style games into living rooms.
Q 07Which sketch comedy show debuted on NBC in October 1975 with George Carlin as its first host?
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live premiered October 11, 1975 with George Carlin hosting. It first aired as 'NBC's Saturday Night' because ABC was already using the name Saturday Night Live for a Howard Cosell variety show.
Q 08Which table tennis-inspired Atari arcade game of 1972 was among the first commercial hits?
Pong
Pong, released by Atari in 1972, was a simple but addictive table tennis simulation that helped establish the video game industry.
Q 09Which 1972 Coppola crime drama is regarded as one of the greatest films ever made?
The Godfather
The Godfather (1972) won three Academy Awards including Best Picture. Marlon Brando's portrayal of Don Vito Corleone became one of cinema's most iconic performances.
Q 10Which 1976 boxing drama won the Best Picture Oscar?
Rocky
Rocky won three Oscars — Best Picture, Best Director and Best Film Editing — while Sylvester Stallone was nominated for Best Actor but did not win. He wrote the screenplay in three and a half days after the Ali–Wepner title fight.
Q 11Which 1974 sitcom set in 1950s Milwaukee had a leather-jacketed greaser as its breakout character?
Happy Days
Happy Days ran from 1974 to 1984. Henry Winkler's Fonzie became a massive cultural icon, and the show spawned several spin-offs including Laverne & Shirley.
Q 12Which British rock band released the iconic album "The Dark Side of the Moon" in 1973?
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon spent 741 consecutive weeks on the Billboard 200 from 1973 to 1988 and has sold an estimated 45 million copies worldwide.
Q 13Which military comedy-drama set during the Korean War ran on TV from 1972 to 1983?
M*A*S*H
Q 21Which 1978 musical film starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John was set in a 1950s high school?
Grease
Grease (1978) became the highest-grossing musical film at the time. Its soundtrack produced multiple hit singles including 'You're the One That I Want' and 'Summer Nights.'
Q 22Which 1975 cult film features the 'Time Warp' at the castle of a sweet transvestite from Transsexual, Transylvania?
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) gave Tim Curry his film debut as Dr. Frank-N-Furter; its interactive midnight screenings, running continuously since 1976, made it the longest-running theatrical release in film history.
Q 23Which band's 1976 greatest-hits album overtook Thriller in 2018 as the highest-certified album in the US?
M*A*S*H was based on the 1970 Robert Altman film. Its series finale in 1983 was watched by over 105 million viewers, making it the most-watched broadcast in American television history at the time.
Q 14Which David Bowie alter ego, an androgynous alien rock star who landed on Earth with a message of hope, debuted in 1972?
Ziggy Stardust
Ziggy Stardust came to Earth ahead of an apocalypse to deliver a message of hope, on the 1972 album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.
Q 15Which trio of brothers dominated disco with the hits "Stayin' Alive" and "Night Fever"?
The Bee Gees
The Bee Gees — Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb — held the top two Hot 100 spots in March 1978 with 'Night Fever' and 'Stayin' Alive', while five songs they wrote sat in the top 10 together.
Q 16What flared style of pants became a defining fashion trend throughout the 1970s?
Bell-bottoms
Bell-bottoms flare out from the knee down, and Sonny and Cher helped push them into the American mainstream by wearing them on their television show.
Q 17Which punk band's 1977 single mocking the Silver Jubilee was banned by the BBC yet reached No. 2?
The Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols released 'God Save the Queen' on 27 May 1977, days before the Silver Jubilee; the BBC refused to play it, yet it reached No. 2 on the UK chart and appeared on Never Mind the Bollocks.
Q 18Which 1979 Ridley Scott film features a terrifying extraterrestrial aboard a commercial spaceship?
Alien
Alien (1979) was taglined 'In space, no one can hear you scream.' Sigourney Weaver's portrayal of Ellen Ripley became one of the most iconic female action characters in cinema.
Q 19Which 1971 Led Zeppelin song is often cited as the greatest rock song ever despite never being released as a single?
Stairway to Heaven
'Stairway to Heaven', from Led Zeppelin's untitled fourth album (1971), runs over eight minutes; Jimmy Page wrote the music and Robert Plant the lyrics, and the band refused Atlantic's requests to issue it as a single.
Q 20What thick-soled footwear was a major early-1970s fashion statement for both men and women?
Platform shoes
Platform soles peaked in the early 1970s and came in every style from clogs and sandals to oxfords and boots, ranging from barely raised to many inches high.
Eagles
The Eagles' Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) first passed Thriller in 1999, lost the lead after Thriller's 2017 recertification, then reclaimed it in August 2018 at 38× platinum once streams counted toward certification.
Q 24Which drawing toy uses two knobs, one moving the line horizontally and the other vertically?
Etch A Sketch
Etch A Sketch was invented in 1959 by French electrician André Cassagnes and launched by Ohio Art in 1960; its two knobs drag a stylus through aluminium powder clinging to the back of the glass screen.
Q 25Which 1979 Coppola film follows a journey upriver in Vietnam to find a rogue colonel?
Apocalypse Now
Apocalypse Now, loosely based on Joseph Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness,' had an infamously troubled production in the Philippines. Marlon Brando starred as the enigmatic Colonel Kurtz.
Q 26Which electronic memory game by Ralph Baer and Howard Morrison has players repeat sequences of coloured lights?
Simon
Its gameplay was borrowed from Atari's unpopular 1974 arcade game Touch Me, whose buttons were all black; Milton Bradley launched Simon in 1978 with four colored buttons and musical tones.
Q 27Which 1960s sitcom about seven shipwrecked castaways became a hit again in 1970s reruns?
Gilligan's Island
It ran on CBS only from 1964 to 1967, but afternoon reruns made it a 1970s staple and led to three TV movies, starting with Rescue from Gilligan's Island in 1978.
Q 28Which 1977 miniseries based on Alex Haley's book traced an African American family from enslavement to freedom?
Roots
Roots aired on ABC over eight consecutive nights in January 1977; its finale on January 30 drew about 100 million viewers, then a record for an entertainment broadcast on US television.
Q 29Which New York nightclub, opened by Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager in 1977, was the epicentre of late-1970s disco culture?
Studio 54
Studio 54 closed in 1980 after Rubell and Schrager were convicted of tax evasion, having skimmed millions from the door.
Q 30Which 1978 Taito arcade game had players slide a laser cannon to shoot descending rows of enemies?
Space Invaders
Space Invaders (1978) designer Tomohiro Nishikado drew on Breakout, The War of the Worlds and Space Battleship Yamato; the tale that it caused a 100-yen coin shortage in Japan is a myth Nishikado himself doubted.