1. What device for new parents did Ann Moore invent in 1969?
a) Bottle warmer
b) Baby monitor
c) Disposable diaper
d) Infant carrier
Explanation: Ann got the idea for the Snugli infant carrier from the traditional African baby carriers she observed while a volunteer for the Peace Corps in Africa.
2. In which decade was the transistor invented?
a) 1940s
b) 1950s
c) 1960s
d) 1980s
Explanation: On December 23, 1947, William Shockley, Walter Brattain and John Bardeen, of Bell Labs, announced their discovery of the point-contact germanium transistor to management.
3. What invention was first installed at a Hartford, Connecticut bank in 1889?
a) Automatic teller machine
b) Time-lock safe
c) Burglar alarm
d) Pay telephone
Explanation: William Gray, inventor of the pay telephone, also invented the inflatable chest protector worn by baseball umpires and catchers.
4. Ralph Samuelson was only 18 when he invented this sporting item in 1922. What was that?
a) Golf tee
b) Motorboat
c) Water skis
d) Hang glider
Explanation: Ralph Samuelson was only 18 when he invented water skis.
5. Who invented Bifocal Lens?
a) Alfred B. Nobel
b) Thomas Alva Edison
c) Benjamin Franklin
d) Rudolf Diesel
Explanation: Benjamin Franklin invented bifocal lens.
6. When was the first lawn mower invented?
a) 1830
b) 1854
c) 1835
d) 1849
Explanation: The first lawn mowers were not engine powered. Invented in 1830 by Edwin Budding of England, the mowers were turning blades on wooden sticks used to cut grass. Engine powered mowers were not invented until 1919 by an American Army colonel, who used the motor from a washing machine.
7. In which decade were the first successful diode and triode vacuum tubes invented?
a) 1800s
b) 1880s
c) 1890s
d) 1900s
Explanation: In 1904, John Ambrose Fleming invented the first practical electron tube called the 'Fleming Valve', which is a diode rectifier. In 1906, Lee de Forest invented the Audion later called the triode, which provided signal amplification.
8. Who is the English physicist responsible for the 'Big Bang Theory'?
a) Albert Einstein
b) Michael Skube
c) George Gamow
d) Roger Penrose
Explanation: George Gamow, who died in 1968, was a physicist, who published "Thirty Years that Shook Physics".
9. What 'game' was first produced by the Southern Novelty Company in Baltimore, Maryland in 1892?
a) Frisbee
b) Monopoly
c) Ouija board
d) Ping Pong
Explanation: The board was invented by Isaac and William Fuld. The word 'Ouija' comes from the French and German words for 'yes', 'oui' and 'ja'
10. Which insurance salesman invented the fountain pen in 1884?
a) Lewis Edson Waterman
b) Sir William Grove
c) Charles Kettering
d) George Fountain
Explanation: Lewis Edson Waterman patented the first practical fountain pen in 1884.