Trivial Pursuits

<p>The year 1981 was one of the most newsworthy time periods in recent history. A lot of great events happened that year, not the least of which was the birth of my daughter, Katie, in Houston, Texas. Now, all <i>personal </i>events aside, here are some things that either impacted or entertained all of us that happened that year…and, just a word of warning, these might make you feel just a little bit old. In 1981:</p> <p>Ronald Reagan was sworn in as the 40th President of the United States. Two months later, an unsuccessful assassination attempt was made on his life in Washington, DC;</p> <p>The Space Shuttle Columbia made its inaugural flight;</p> <p>Lady Diana Spencer married Charles, Prince of Wales, to the pomp and glory of all of England and a world-wide television viewing audience in the multiplied millions;</p> <p>Sandra Day O’Conner became the first female justice to serve on the United States Supreme Court;</p> <p>CBS news anchor, Walter Cronkite, signed off for the last time;</p> <p>In 1981, Nintendo introduced Donkey Kong and Mario to the gaming world;</p> <p>“Dallas” topped the television charts, and the faith-based film, “Chariots of Fire,” won the Academy Award for Best Picture of the Year;</p> <p>Major League Baseball went on strike;</p> <p>IBM introduced its first personal computer; and</p> <p>“The Smurfs” aired for the first time in North America. </p> <p>1981 was, indeed, a memorable year.</p> <p>It was also the year that the incredibly popular board game, <i>Trivial Pursuit</i>, was introduced to the world. Millions have enjoyed its entertainment and intellectual challenges and, if you’re really good at it, you probably already knew some, if not all, of the events that occurred in 1981 that I just mentioned.</p> <p>And since then, America has been obsessed with trivia. The game continues to be tremendously popular, special themed editions of it have been released, and even game shows have taken advantage of trivia’s popularity to garner some of the highest ratings in televisio