Inventions & Discoveries

39 questions · Answers revealed below each question · Print this set

1.Which discovery was revealed by Watson, Crick, Franklin and Wilkins in 1953?
- A. planet Uranus
- B. Lascaux cave paintings
- C. structure of DNA
- D. circulation of blood
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structure of DNA
Did you know? The DNA double helix was described in Nature in 1953.
2.Which discovery was made by Röntgen in 1895?
- A. X-rays
- B. electron
- C. planet Uranus
- D. circulation of blood
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X-rays
Did you know? Röntgen discovered X-rays in 1895 and won the first physics Nobel.
3.Which discovery was demonstrated by William Harvey in 1628?
- A. structure of DNA
- B. X-rays
- C. circulation of blood
- D. Lascaux cave paintings
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circulation of blood
Did you know? William Harvey proved blood circulates, publishing in 1628.
4.Which invention revealed Jupiter's moons to Galileo in 1610?
- A. telescope
- B. magnetic compass
- C. refrigerator
- D. dynamite
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telescope
Did you know? Galileo's telescope revealed four moons of Jupiter in 1610.
5.Which invention reached perfection in China's Ming kilns?
- A. porcelain
- B. television
- C. typewriter
- D. radio
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porcelain
Did you know? Fine porcelain was perfected in China, long a mystery to Europe.
6.Which invention ignited fuel by compression without a spark?
- A. radio
- B. printing press
- C. diesel engine
- D. stirrup
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diesel engine
Did you know? Rudolf Diesel patented his compression-ignition engine in 1892.
7.Which invention powered the Industrial Revolution?
- A. magnetic compass
- B. silk
- C. steam engine
- D. air conditioning
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steam engine
Did you know? The steam engine powered factories, trains and ships of the Industrial Revolution.
8.Which discovery was found by William Herschel in 1781?
- A. Lascaux cave paintings
- B. circulation of blood
- C. planet Uranus
- D. asteroid Ceres
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planet Uranus
Did you know? Uranus was the first planet discovered with a telescope.
9.Which discovery was made by teenagers in 1940?
- A. electron
- B. X-rays
- C. radioactivity
- D. Lascaux cave paintings
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Lascaux cave paintings
Did you know? Lascaux's Paleolithic paintings were discovered in 1940 in France.
10.Which invention broadcast the first voice and music signals in the 1900s?
- A. barometer
- B. magnetic compass
- C. radio
- D. Roman concrete
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radio
Did you know? Marconi's radio crossed the Atlantic in 1901.
11.Which invention transformed warfare after its invention in China?
- A. motion picture camera
- B. diesel engine
- C. gunpowder
- D. stirrup
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gunpowder
Did you know? Gunpowder was invented in China during the Tang dynasty.
12.Which invention transformed cavalry warfare after reaching Europe?
- A. transistor
- B. stirrup
- C. porcelain
- D. dynamite
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stirrup
Did you know? The stirrup gave mounted warriors a stable fighting platform.
13.Which invention carried messages across continents in minutes?
- A. elevator safety brake
- B. barometer
- C. telegraph
- D. jet engine
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telegraph
Did you know? The telegraph made near-instant long-distance communication possible.
14.Which invention propelled the first aircraft in 1939?
- A. jet engine
- B. porcelain
- C. radio
- D. lightning rod
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jet engine
Did you know? The first jet aircraft, the He 178, flew in Germany in 1939.
15.Which discovery was identified by J. J. Thomson in 1897?
- A. radioactivity
- B. electron
- C. structure of DNA
- D. planet Uranus
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electron
Did you know? Thomson identified the electron in 1897.
16.Which invention revolutionized Europe after Gutenberg's version of the 1440s?
- A. paper
- B. elevator safety brake
- C. typewriter
- D. printing press
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printing press
Did you know? Gutenberg's printing press made books affordable for the first time.
17.Which invention replaced vacuum tubes and launched modern electronics?
- A. paper money
- B. transistor
- C. air conditioning
- D. typewriter
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transistor
Did you know? The transistor, demonstrated in 1947, won the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physics.
18.Which invention gave the world its first affordable personal transport?
- A. safety bicycle
- B. gunpowder
- C. stirrup
- D. telegraph
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safety bicycle
Did you know? The safety bicycle of the 1880s created mass personal mobility.
19.Which invention was a closely guarded Chinese secret for millennia?
- A. transistor
- B. diesel engine
- C. motion picture camera
- D. silk
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silk
Did you know? China guarded silk production for thousands of years.
20.Which discovery was made by Becquerel in 1896?
- A. radioactivity
- B. X-rays
- C. structure of DNA
- D. electron
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radioactivity
Did you know? Becquerel discovered natural radioactivity in 1896.
21.Which invention recorded and replayed sound for the first time in 1877?
- A. phonograph
- B. porcelain
- C. stirrup
- D. mechanical clock
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phonograph
Did you know? Edison's phonograph of 1877 was the first device to record and play back sound.
22.Which invention made skyscrapers practical in the 1850s?
- A. elevator safety brake
- B. porcelain
- C. paper money
- D. air conditioning
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elevator safety brake
Did you know? Elisha Otis's elevator brake made tall buildings practical.
23.Which invention freed food preservation from ice harvesting?
- A. refrigerator
- B. magnetic compass
- C. paper
- D. silk
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refrigerator
Did you know? Mechanical refrigeration replaced natural ice for food preservation.
24.Which discovery was found on the first day of the 19th century?
- A. X-rays
- B. structure of DNA
- C. asteroid Ceres
- D. circulation of blood
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asteroid Ceres
Did you know? Ceres was discovered by Piazzi on 1 January 1801.
25.Which invention transformed garment making in the 1840s and 1850s?
- A. telescope
- B. microscope
- C. steam engine
- D. sewing machine
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sewing machine
Did you know? Elias Howe and Isaac Singer perfected the sewing machine.
26.Which invention cooled its first building in 1902 for a printing plant?
- A. printing press
- B. television
- C. motion picture camera
- D. air conditioning
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air conditioning
Did you know? Willis Carrier's air conditioner was first used in a Brooklyn printing plant.
27.Which invention enabled ocean navigation far from land?
- A. silk
- B. dynamite
- C. magnetic compass
- D. refrigerator
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magnetic compass
Did you know? The magnetic compass, from China, made long ocean voyages possible.
28.Which invention was first synthesized by Felix Hoffmann at Bayer?
- A. elevator safety brake
- B. dynamite
- C. television
- D. aspirin
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aspirin
Did you know? Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) was synthesized at Bayer in 1897.
29.Which invention first circulated in Song dynasty China?
- A. magnetic compass
- B. microscope
- C. paper money
- D. television
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paper money
Did you know? The world's first paper money appeared in Song dynasty China.
30.Which invention measured air pressure and helped forecast weather?
- A. jet engine
- B. printing press
- C. television
- D. barometer
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barometer
Did you know? Torricelli invented the barometer in 1643.
31.Which invention opened the world of microbes to 17th-century science?
- A. telegraph
- B. paper money
- C. microscope
- D. air conditioning
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microscope
Did you know? The microscope revealed microorganisms, first described by van Leeuwenhoek.
32.Which invention let Romans build the Pantheon's vast dome?
- A. Roman concrete
- B. mechanical clock
- C. stirrup
- D. printing press
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Roman concrete
Did you know? Roman concrete enabled the Pantheon's unreinforced dome, still standing today.
33.Which invention brought moving images into homes from the 1920s?
- A. paper money
- B. air conditioning
- C. television
- D. aspirin
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television
Did you know? Mechanical television was demonstrated by John Logie Baird in 1926.
34.Which invention recorded the first moving images for projection?
- A. transistor
- B. diesel engine
- C. microscope
- D. motion picture camera
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motion picture camera
Did you know? The Lumière brothers' cinematograph premiered films to paying audiences in 1895.
35.Which invention made Alfred Nobel famous and funded his prizes?
- A. porcelain
- B. printing press
- C. refrigerator
- D. dynamite
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dynamite
Did you know? Alfred Nobel invented dynamite in 1867.
36.Which invention standardized business writing in the late 1800s?
- A. aspirin
- B. typewriter
- C. microscope
- D. gunpowder
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typewriter
Did you know? The Remington typewriter of 1874 launched commercial typewriting.
37.Which invention was developed in Han dynasty China?
- A. paper
- B. printing press
- C. refrigerator
- D. motion picture camera
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paper
Did you know? Paper was invented in China around the 2nd century AD.
38.Which invention standardized timekeeping in medieval European towns?
- A. mechanical clock
- B. barometer
- C. aspirin
- D. elevator safety brake
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mechanical clock
Did you know? Medieval town clocks first divided the day for everyone alike.
39.Which invention protected buildings from strikes from 1752?
- A. diesel engine
- B. transistor
- C. silk
- D. lightning rod
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lightning rod
Did you know? Benjamin Franklin's lightning rod was first used in 1752.

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