Question 1

When was the game Frisbee invented?

Accepted Answer

The first Frisbees were pie tins from the Frisbie Pie Company in Connecticut. In the 1950s, the pie tins were changed to plastic plates. The name then became the Flying Saucer, but later changed to Frisbee.

Question 2

When was the first elevator built?

Accepted Answer

The first elevator was built in the palace of King Louis XV. It only traveled up one floor, and was hand powered by men inside the chimney.

Question 3

This part-time race car driver invented the bucket seat in 1969. Who was he??

Accepted Answer

McQueen died in 1980 from a rare form of lung cancer.

Question 4

Who is the English physicist responsible for the 'Big Bang Theory'?

Accepted Answer

George Gamow. Gamow, who died in 1968, was a physicist, who published "Thirty Years that Shook Physics".

Question 5

What Igor Sikorsky invented?

Accepted Answer

Invented in 1939.

Question 6

What toy was invented by Joshua Lionel Cowen around 1900?

Accepted Answer

His middle name, Lionel, is the source of the Lionel Train brand name.

Question 7

For what does the world owe Almon Strowger a debt of gratitude?

Accepted Answer

He was an undertaker, and legend has it, he developed the automatic switch in 1889, to stop competitors from getting his work!

Question 8

Who among the following invented the small pox vaccine?

Accepted Answer

Edward Jenner

Question 9

Benjamin Franklin was a prolific inventor. He invented the lightning rod, the Franklin stove, studied electricity, discovered the Gulf Stream, started the first library, and on and on. Among his many other inventions, what musical instrument did he …

Accepted Answer

Ben also holds a lot of firsts - first U.S. ambassador, first political cartoonist, first American philosopher, organized the first fire department, and on and on.

Question 10

In which decade was the ARRL founded?

Accepted Answer

On April 6, 1914, Hiram Percy Maxim proposed the formation of the American Radio Relay League.

Question 11

Who invented the phonograph?

Accepted Answer

John Kruesi was a mechanic for Edison, and Kruesi built the phonograph. Edison designed it, and later improved the phonograph.

Question 12

In which decade were the first successful diode and triode vacuum tubes invented?

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 13

The ELECTRIC BATTERY, who's charged with inventing this one?

Accepted Answer

Italian, Alessandro Volta discovered the first practical battery in 1800. Life would be very different without batteries.

Question 14

What George Pullman invented?

Accepted Answer

Invented in 1857.

Question 15

What Henry Bessemer invented?

Accepted Answer

Invented in 1856.

Question 16

Who was the first person to patent the JET ENGINE?

Accepted Answer

British inventor Frank Whittle was the first to patent his design for a jet engine in 1930. Although an engine designed by Dr. Hans Von Ohain was the first to fly in 1939. Whittle's jet engine first flew in 1941.

Question 17

CORN FLAKES - Who made them first?

Accepted Answer

Will Keith Kellogg discovered the corn flake, by mistake, in 1906. They were the result of an experiment which went wrong.

Question 18

Who invented Bifocal Lens?

Accepted Answer

Benjamin Franklin

Question 19

What inspired reflecting road lights to be invented?

Accepted Answer

In 1933, Englishman Percy Shaw was driving home when he saw a cat's eyes reflecting. He had been headed straight towards a fence with the cat on it, but on the other side was a drop of hundreds of feet.

Question 20

When was the first lawn mower invented?

Accepted Answer

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.

Inventions Questions