Grading is as follows: A =
13-15 correct; B = 10-12 correct; C = 7-9 correct; D = 4-6 correct;
F = 0-3 correct The answers can be found in our previous columns.
They're also at the end of this column, for those of you who haven't
been reading this column each week (and I know who you are).
1. Which Charles invented the
"perfusion pump" that paved the way for doctors to perform
open-heart surgery by providing a way to keep organs alive outside
the body during surgery?
A. Charles Dickens
B. Charles Lindbergh
C. Charles Darwin
D. Charlie Brown
2. Conrad Hubert founded the Eveready Battery Co. with a product
known as an "electric flowerpot," which he redesigned into the
world's first flashlight. He bought the rights to the electric
flowerpot from his friend, Joshua Lionel Cowen. Which company did
Cowen start?

3. True or false: The fee for the first federal patent issued in
the U.S. was only $4. (Today, patent fees average $4,000.)
4. True or false: The first patent issued to a woman was in the
1800s.
5. What was inventor Lewis Latimer's claim to fame? He lived from
1848-1929.
6. Inventors Christopher Sholes, who invented the QWERTY keyboard
layout, and George Ferris, who constructed the first Ferris wheel,
were born on which holiday? Hint: It's the same holiday on which
Florence Henderson of "Brady Bunch" fame was born. That's not much
of a hint, is it?
7. The first known version of this invention, which the Dutch
named "schenkel," means "leg bone." It was first found in the bottom
of a Swiss lake and dated to around 3000 B.C. It was made from the
leg bones of large animals, with holes bored at each end of the
bones. The modern version is used to play a certain popular winter
sport.

8. This inventor whose first name was Thomas founded the cement
company that built Yankee Stadium. When he was 6 years old, his
teacher once sent him home from school with a note stating, "He is
too stupid to learn."
9. True or false: Mattel co-founder Ruth Handler, who created
both the Barbie doll and Ken doll, named the two dolls after her
daughter and son (respectively, of course).
[to top of second column
in this article] |

10. The modern baseball glove was invented in 1920 by a spitball
pitcher named Bill Doak, who licensed it to Rawlings Sporting Goods.
Which National League team did Doak play for?
11. Richard Saunders was the pen name for which famous inventor?
12. There are three criteria that an inventor must meet in order
to be granted a patent. What are the criteria?
13. True or false: Inventor Nikola Tesla created a man-made
earthquake in Manhattan in 1898 when he found the exact frequency
required to cause the earth to rumble.
14. True or false: Inventor Walt Disney sold his first work at
age 7. He was also afraid of mice.
15. What is the significance of 18th-century inventors Francis
Hopkinson and George Clymer?
…and the correct answers are:
The answer to each of the true-false questions is "true." Here
are the answers to the rest of the questions:
1. B (Charles Lindbergh)
2. The Lionel (train) Manufacturing Company
5. He was the only inventor who worked for both Alexander Graham
Bell and Thomas Edison.
6. Valentine's Day
7. Ice skates
8. Thomas Edison
10. St. Louis Cardinals
11. Ben Franklin; he wrote "Poor Richard's Almanack" under the
pen name of Richard Saunders.
12. The invention must be new; it must be "unobvious" to people
in that industry; and it must be useful.
15. They both were signers of the Declaration of Independence!
[Paul Niemann]
Paul Niemann is the author of Invention Mysteries. He can be
reached at niemann7@aol.com.
© Copyright Paul Niemann 2004
 |