How much do you remember about America’s recent past – 1980s – 2010s?
We all lived through it, but how much do we really remember about our most recent cultural and political events during this period? Here is a little quiz to see how closely you were paying attention! Don’t forget to sign up for this class to relive the past few decades and learn more about the rest of the story…
Which dictator was captured by US forces in 2003?
- Omar al-Bashir
- Robert Musabe
- Suddam Hussein ✅
- Muammar al-Gaddafi
On 13 December 2003, in Operation Red Dawn, Saddam Hussein, served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. was captured by American forces after being found hiding in a hole in the ground near a farmhouse in ad-Dawr, near Tikrit.
“Nobody puts Baby in a corner” is a famous line from which 1987 film?
- The Breakfast Club
- Dirty Dancing ✅
- Top Gun
- Home Alone
Dirty Dancing premiered at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival on May 12, 1987, and was released on August 21, 1987, in the United States, earning over $214 million worldwide, and was the first film to sell more than a million copies for home video.
True or False: The last time Republicans won the popular vote in a presidential election was 2004?
True. ✅
George W. Bush narrowly defeated John Kerry by 3 million votes in 2004. Although Trump won the Electoral College with 304 votes compared to 227 votes for Hillary Clinton, he lost the popular vote by around 2 million votes.
In November 2016, the Chicago Cubs won their first World Series in ____ years?
- 55
- 70
- 89
- 108 ✅
The Cubs, playing in their 11th World Series overall and their first since 1945, won their third championship and first since 1908, ending the longest world championship drought in North American professional sports history.
In what year did the Berlin Wall fall, heralding the collapse of the Soviet Union?
- 1982
- 1986
- 1989 ✅
- 1991
It was on 9 November 1989, five days after half a million people gathered in East Berlin in a mass protest, that the Berlin Wall dividing communist East Germany from West Germany crumbled.
What music group led by front man Kurt Cobain launched the genre Grunge onto the popular music scene in 1991?
- Soundgarden
- Nirvana ✅
- Pearl Jam
- Screaming Trees
The band Nirvana formed in Seattle in 1987 and released their first major label album debut Nevermind and their biggest hit single “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” The unexpected success of the song propelled Nevermind to the top of several albums charts at the start of 1992, an event often marked as the point when grunge entered the mainstream
Who was named the first female secretary of state in 1997?
- Condoleezza Rice
- Madeleine Albright ✅
- Janet Reno
- Hilary Clinton
Madeleine Albright was an American diplomat and political scientist who served as the 64th United States secretary of state from 1997 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, Albright was the first woman to hold that post. She was appointed by President Bill Clinton during his second term.
To dig deeper into these fascinating decades, be sure to sign up for Nancy Young’s upcoming class: The Recent American Past: 1980s – 2010s
Four Week Course Schedule | Thursdays | In-Person | $120
Nov 17 | 1:00 PM
*No class on Nov 24
Dec 01 | 1:00 PM
Dec 08 | 1:00 PM
Dec 15 | 1:00 PM