Inventions Quizzes with Answers

Quiz I

1. In 1830, Edwin Budding's first machine had a frame made of wrought iron and was 19 inches wide, what was it?
2. In 1852, Elisha Otis invented a safety device for which type of transportation?
3. The hairdryer, stapler and neon lighting were all invented in which country?





4. Nylon was first used commercially in which product? And which chemist was chiefly credited with its invention?
5. In which American state did the Wright brothers make the first sustained flight of a heavier-than-air aircraft? And how many years separate that first flight from the Apollo 11 moon landing?
6. In 1903 Mary Anderson was granted a 17-year patent for which useful device?
7. Which term from the French word 'for glue' was coined by both Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso for a technique of art production?
8. Who described in detail the use of satellites for mass communications in a 1945 Wireless World article?
9. Who invented the most widely spoken constructed language in the world Esperanto? And can you give the title of the first Esperanto book?
10. What did Rene Laennec invent in Paris, in 1816, consisting of a wooden tube?
11. Name the famous manually-operated calculating device created by famous mathematician John Napier?
12. In the late 1840s which Bristol chocolate factory began making mass-produced chocolate bars?
13. What did Swiss engineer George de Mestral invent after seeing burrs clinging to his dog after a walk?
14. American typist Bette Graham invented the first correction fluid (or liquid paper) in her kitchen in 1956; her son became a famous 1960s musician, who is he?
15. Which Nobel Prize winner was first to observe that penicilin displayed antibiotic substances?

Answers:

1. The first lawn mower
2. Vertical lift or elevator
3. France





4. Nylon-bristled toothbrush, Wallace Carothers.
5. North Carolina (near Kitty Hawk). 66 years.
6. Windsheild wipers
7. Collage
8. Arthur C. Clarke
9. Dr. Ludwik Zamenhof. Unua Libro (sometimes known as Dr. Esperanto's International Language).
10. Stethoscope
11. Napier's bones
12. Fry's
13. Velcro
14. Mike Nesmith of the 1960s pop band The Monkees (Bette Nesmith Graham sold her company for nearly 50 million dollars in 1979)
15. Alexander Fleming

Did you know that American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the Barbie doll for the toy company Mattel in 1959. She used a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration. And Mattel has now sold over a billion!

Inventions Quiz II

Can you name the famous inventors of the following inventions?

1. Televison
2. Hovercaft
3. Postage stamp
4. Smallpox vaccine
5. Polaroid camera
6. Spinning jenny
7. Meccano
8. Wind-up radio
9. Vacuum flask
10. Printing press
11. Marine chronometer
12. Jet engine
13. Portland Cement
14. Steam engine
15. First single-piece ceramic flush toilet pan

Answers:

1. John Logie Baird
2. Christopher Cockerel
3. Rowland Hill





4. Edward Jenner
5. Edwin Land
6. James Hargreaves
7. Frank Hornby
8. Trevor Baylis
9. James Dewar
10. Johannes Gutenberg
11. John Harrison
12. Frank Whittle
13. Joseph Aspdin
14. Richard Trevithick
15. Thomas Twyford