The Core Knowledge Blog

130 years ago tomorrow, Thomas Alva Edison perfected the incandescent lightbulb.  How much do you know about inventors and inventions?  Here’s this week’s Core Knowledge Quiz:

1. Which of the following did Edison NOT invent or perfect: the phonograph, the motion picture camera, the stock ticker, or the microphone?

2. The earliest form of writing, using clay tablets and a reed stylus, emerged in the Sumerian civilization.  What was this form of writing called? 

3. The compass, gunpowder, and paper money were the products of which ancient civilization? 

4. It is often said that Alfred B. Nobel bequeathed his fortune and created the Nobel Prizes to improve his reputation, which was damaged by his controversial invention.  What was it? 

5. Henry Ford and the Ford Motor Company are widely credited with “inventing” the assembly line, but the first U.S. patent for the process was awarded to another carmaker.  Who? 

6. Which African American inventor discovered over 100 commercial products that could be made from peanuts and was dubbed a “Black Leonardo” by Time Magazine?

7.  Put these inventions or technological developments in chronological order:  the light bulb, the telephone, the internal combustion engine, the airplane. 

8. What invention or advance in transportation are each of the following people associated with:

• The Wright Brothers
• The Montgolfier Brothers
• Elisha Graves Otis
• James Watt
• Robert Fulton
• Robert Goddard

9. The invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney in 1793 helped to make cotton cloth cheap and plentiful, which contributed to the rise of slavery as cotton production boomed in the American South.  What exactly did the cotton gin do?

10. Many inventors names are familiar to us today because they have become familiar brand names for the products  they helped develop.  Which inventors are associated with the following products?

• The Safety Razor
• Vulcanized rubber 
• Frozen foods
• Air conditioning

Answers below:

1. The microphone

2.  Cuneiform

3. China

4.  Dynamite

5. Ransom E. Olds

6.  George Washington Carver

7.  Internal combustion engine, telephone, light bulb, airplane.

8. The Wright Brothers (The airplane); the Montgolfier Brothers (hot air balloon); Elisha Graves Otis (elevator); James Watt (steam engine); Robert Fulton (steamboat); Robert Goddard (rocketry)

9.  The cotton gin separated cotton fibers from seeds, which previously had to be done by hand.

10. The Safety Razor  (King Camp Gillette); vulcanized rubber (Charles Goodyear); frozen foods (Clarence Birdseye); air conditioning (Willis Carrier).