1. What plaything was invented by Joe McVicker in 1956?
a) Silly Putty
b) Etch-A-Sketch
c) Lite-Brite
d) Play-Doh
Explanation: Play-Doh was invented by Joe McVicker in 1956.
2. Who was the first American female to patent her invention, a method of weaving straw with silk?
a) Marjorie Joyner
b) Margaret Knight
c) Amanda Jones
d) Mary Kies
Explanation: Mary was not the first American woman inventor to be sure, there were many female inventors before her, but they never bothered to get a patent.
3. Who invented Gramophone?
a) Michael Faraday
b) Fahrenheit
c) Sir Alexander Graham Bell
d) Thomas Alva Edison
Explanation: Gramophone was invented by Thomas Edison, Emile Berliner and Eldridge R. Johnson. Gramophone is also known as phonograph.
4. What furniture item was invented by California furniture designer Charles Prior Hall in 1968?
a) Sofa bed
b) Captain's chair
c) Waterbed
d) Hammock
Explanation: Waterbed was invented by California furniture designer Charles Prior Hall in 1968.
5. The Manhattan Project was started by President Roosevelt in 1942 to ensure that the U.S. beat the Germans in developing a nuclear bomb. Whom did Roosevelt appoint as scientific head the Manhattan Project?
a) Robert Oppenheimer
b) James B. Conant
c) Leslie R. Groves
d) Vannevar Bush
Explanation: Leslie R. Groves, however, was the military head of the project and the overall supremo, while Robert Oppenheimer was the scientific director. The world's first atomic bomb was exploded in the New Mexico desert on July 16, 1945.
6. In which decade was the spice simulator introduced?
a) 1950s
b) 1960s
c) 1970s
d) 1980s
Explanation: SPICE (Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis) was introduced in May 1972 by the University of Berkeley, California.
7. Who invented the first controllable flying AEROPLANE (AIRPLANE)?
a) Wright Brothers
b) Lidenbergh Brothers
c) South Brothers
d) West Brothers
Explanation: Wilbur and Orville Wright made the first successful controlled powered flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in December 1903. The twelve second flight covered a distance of 120 feet and an altitude of just ten feet.
8. What groovy item was invented by Englishman Edward Craven Walker in 1963?
a) Leisure suit
b) Lava lamp
c) Eight-track tape deck
d) Hot comb
Explanation: Groovy, baby! Lava lamps, which were a fixture in every hip pad in the 1960s and 70s, featured a mixture of water and colored oil that created swirl patterns when heated by a light bulb.
9. In which decade was the Internet first implemented?
a) 1940s
b) 1950s
c) 1960s
d) 1980s
Explanation: The first message ever sent over what is now called the Internet took place at 10:30 PM on October 29, 1969. Back then, the Department of Defense called it ARPA net (Advanced Research Projects Agency network).
10. For over 500 years, paper was only available and sold as single sheets. In 1902, an inventive Australian used half size sheets of paper, a bit of glue and cardboard to create the what?
a) Notepad
b) Calendar
c) Notice Board
d) Telephone Book
Explanation: Birchall's of Launceston in Tasmania started selling the world’s first notepads, calling them 'Silvercity Writing Tablets' after J A Birchall thought it would be a good idea to back sheets of paper with cardboard and glue them together at the top. His British paper suppliers weren’t so keen, but, they were persuaded by Birchall that it was a good idea!