We were watching an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and they were in the gym in school playing dodgeball. I can't believe that people actually played dodgeball in schools - that schools encouraged games where the aim was to hit people with objects.

Dodgeball seems only one step above Deathsquare, which was a game from my youth. This was never an official game but one played on the school field during break time. The play area was roughly 5 yards square. The aim was to kick a tennis ball from one person to the next. If you kicked the ball out of the square, or the ball went between your legs, you had to get out of the square as fast as possible. Anyone could kick you until you left the square. As soon as you'd left the square, it was safe to return and the game would continue.

As far as I know, no-one has made a film about Deathsquare. I don't even know whether it's still played in schools any more.

England have won the Ashes. The last time this happened, in 1987, Coventry won the FA Cup. The world has changed a lot since then.

Other 1987 trivia:

• Highest grossing films included: Three Men and a Baby, Fatal Attraction, Good Morning Vietnam
• Johnny Logan won Eurovision with the song Hold Me Now
• Best selling single was Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up

Update: 19th April 2008. Corrected or updated some of the entries. Removed some duplicates.

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