170 Fun Facts About Back to School

The 'lead' in a pencil is actually made of what?

It has never contained lead; the name stuck because 16th-century chemists thought the strange black mineral was a kind of lead ore.

Which country's pure graphite find in the 1500s kicked off the pencil industry?

It lay in Borrowdale in Cumbria; the Crown took the mines over and even flooded them to stop theft, since graphite lined cannonball moulds.

Which shape is the most common for a wooden pencil?

Six flat sides stop it rolling off the desk.

What colours are the ferrule (the metal band) on a classic Ticonderoga pencil?

The rest of the pencil is the familiar yellow, with a soft pink eraser on top.

The word 'Crayola' combines the French word for chalk with a suffix meaning what?

Alice Binney, a former schoolteacher, coined it from craie plus 'ola' for oleaginous; the first Crayola crayons went on sale in June 1903.

The famous 64-colour Crayola box, introduced in 1957, was the first to include what?

Before crayons, Binney & Smith won a gold medal at the 1904 World's Fair for dustless chalk.

In what year did yellow become the standard colour for North American school buses?

Dr. Frank Cyr's week-long conference at Columbia's Teachers College picked the shade because black lettering on it is easiest to read at dawn and dusk.

Why was 'school bus yellow' chosen?

The official name of the shade is National School Bus Glossy Yellow.

Before motor buses, rural American children were carried to school in horse-drawn wagons called what?

'Hack' was a word for certain carriages; the wagons were open to the weather. Massachusetts was the first state to fund school transport, in 1869.

The word 'kindergarten' literally means what?

Friedrich Fröbel coined the German term in 1840 after opening his 'play and activity' institute in Bad Blankenburg in 1837.

The first U.S. kindergarten, opened in 1856 in Watertown, Wisconsin, was taught in which language?

Margaretha Meyer-Schurz ran it; German immigrants carried Fröbel's idea across the Atlantic.

The word 'sophomore' comes from Greek words meaning what?

Sophos, wise, plus moros, fool, which is why a sophomore is a second-year student who knows just enough to be dangerous.

How long are Japanese first-graders expected to use their randoseru leather backpack?

The name comes from the Dutch word ransel; a good one can cost 55,000 to 70,000 yen.

What is the decorated cone of sweets given to German children starting first grade called?

The 'school cone' tradition dates to about 1810 in Saxony and Thuringia; some also call it a Zuckertüte, sugar cone.

What were the earliest blackboards made from?

The first attested use of chalk on a blackboard in the U.S. was a maths lecture by George Baron on September 21, 1801.

Who is credited with inventing coloured chalk in 1814, using a recipe of ground chalk, dyes and porridge?

The Scottish schoolmaster wanted to draw maps in colour for his geography lessons.

Natural chalk is a soft limestone made mostly from what?

Coccolithophores and foraminifera settled on ancient sea floors; Western Europe's chalk formed 100 to 61 million years ago.

Before rubber erasers, what did people use to rub out pencil marks?

Japanese students in the Meiji era admitted eating their bread erasers when hungry; Edward Nairne marketed the first rubber eraser in 1770.

Where is Hogwarts said to be located?

Rowling has said she may have unknowingly borrowed the name from the hogwort plant.

How many Houses does Hogwarts have?

Each is named for a founder: Gryffindor (lion), Hufflepuff (badger), Ravenclaw and Slytherin.

Which animal is the mascot of Hufflepuff?

Its colours are yellow and black and its head of house is Pomona Sprout.

Who voices Ms. Frizzle in The Magic School Bus animated series?

The books by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen began in 1986 with a trip to the waterworks.

What is the name of the tyrannical headmistress in Roald Dahl's Matilda?

Miss Honey is the kind teacher who tries to move Matilda up a class; Matilda got her own Royal Mail stamp in 2012.

Dead Poets Society is set at a fictional boarding school called what?

Robin Williams's John Keating is a Welton alumnus; Tom Schulman's script won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.

How many times has Ferris Bueller been absent that semester when Dean Rooney decides to expose him?

The 1986 John Hughes film is a love letter to Chicago, from Wrigley Field to the Art Institute.

Grease is set at which school?

It was the highest-grossing film of 1978 and, at the time, the highest-grossing musical ever.

In Mean Girls, Cady Heron starts at which school after years of homeschooling in Africa?

Tina Fey based the film on Rosalind Wiseman's self-help book Queen Bees and Wannabes.

How many students serve the Saturday detention in The Breakfast Club?

A brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess and a criminal, at Shermer High on March 24, 1984.

Which school is believed to have been the first to use a uniform, in 1552?

Its pupils still wear the long blue coat and yellow socks; uniforms remain uncommon in U.S. public schools.

Which historical state is considered the first to introduce universal compulsory education?

It ruled central Mexico from 1428 to 1521; Scotland's 1696 act later made it the first country with national compulsory schooling.

Who is known as the 'Father of American Education'?

As secretary of the Massachusetts State Board of Education he built the model of common schools and teacher-training 'normal schools' most states copied.

Who is credited with serving the first school lunches, in Munich in 1790?

The American-born physicist Benjamin Thompson; the U.S. National School Lunch Program did not arrive until 1946.

In which year was the permanent U.S. National School Lunch Program created?

It now runs in more than 101,000 schools and institutions.

Which country provides free lunches to all government-school students through its Midday Meal Scheme?

Sweden, Finland, Estonia and Brazil also feed every pupil in compulsory education for free.

The Scripps National Spelling Bee was founded in 1925 by a newspaper in which city?

The Courier-Journal consolidated local bees; in 2019 the contest ran out of hard words and crowned eight co-champions.

How many winners did the 2019 National Spelling Bee end up with?

The organisers simply ran out of words that could beat the finalists.

Which chemical gives a classic yellow highlighter its glow?

Frank Honn invented the highlighter in 1963, sold by Carter's Ink as the Hi-Liter.

The Post-it Note's weak adhesive was found in 1968 by a 3M scientist trying to make what?

Spencer Silver spent five years pitching a 'solution without a problem' until Art Fry used it to anchor a hymn-book bookmark.

Why are original Post-it Notes canary yellow?

Pure chance; the colour is now a registered trademark.

The Gem-style paper clip, the standard design for over a century, holds what distinction?

It was probably being made in Britain by the early 1870s; the popular story crediting a Norwegian inventor is a myth.

The ballpoint pen is called a 'Birome' in which country, after its inventor and his partner?

László Bíró fled to Argentina in 1941 and patented the pen there with Juan Jorge Meyne; Bíró plus Meyne gives Birome.

Elmer's Glue is named after what?

Elmer's Glue came from Borden, which made glue from casein, a milk by-product, which is why a dairy's bull ended up on the bottle.

The Trapper Keeper binder was created by which company in the late 1970s?

It used sliding plastic rings and a wrap-around flap, first snap-closed and later Velcro.

Lisa Frank's rainbow-coloured school supplies were designed in which city?

Her company began around 1980 as a children's jewellery firm called Sticky Fingers, run from a guest house in her back yard.

Schoolhouse Rock! began after an ad exec's son could memorise Rolling Stones lyrics but not what?

David McCall hired Bob Dorough to write 'Three Is a Magic Number', and ABC ran the shorts on Saturday mornings from 1973.

Sesame Street premiered in which year?

It has since won 222 Emmys and 11 Grammys, more than any other children's show.

Which idea about the origin of summer vacation is actually a myth?

Crops were planted in spring and harvested in autumn; the long summer break has other, urban origins.

Roughly how long is summer vacation for schools in Japan?

Usually the second half of July and all of August, around the Obon holiday.

The SAT college-admissions test debuted in which year?

For decades it was the Scholastic Aptitude Test, with Verbal and Math sections each scored 200 to 800.

What is 'recess' called in British schools?

In Finland recess is treated as an essential part of the school day, and other countries have taken note.

What do the Japanese call a packed single-portion lunch in a lidded box?

An onigiri is the rice ball, usually triangular and wrapped in nori, that often goes inside.

Which state was first to add student transportation to public education, in 1869?

By 1900, 16 other states were busing children to school.

Roughly how many copies of McGuffey's Readers were sold between 1836 and 1960?

That puts them in a class with the Bible and Webster's Dictionary.

Which industrialist cited McGuffey's Readers as a key childhood influence?

William McGuffey compiled the first four readers for a Cincinnati publisher.

Who created the Dick and Jane characters for Scott Foresman's basal readers?

The books peaked in the 1950s when 80 percent of US first-graders used them.

What was Dick and Jane's pet Spot in the 1930s editions?

Spot became a dog in later editions; Puff was the cat.

What reading method were the Dick and Jane books built on?

Critics later championed phonics instead.

Which magazine first published Francis Bellamy's Pledge of Allegiance in September 1892?

It was part of the National Public-School Celebration of Columbus Day.

When were the words 'under God' added to the Pledge of Allegiance?

President Eisenhower signed the change into law.

Which Supreme Court case ruled that students cannot be compelled to recite the Pledge?

Congress formally adopted the pledge in 1942.

Who wrote the first version of the Pledge in 1885, seven years before Bellamy?

His pledge began 'We give our heads and hearts to God and our country'.

A hornbook was an alphabet tablet protected by a translucent covering of what?

It was in common use in England by around 1450.

The word 'dunce' derives from the name of which medieval philosopher?

The dunce cap was used as classroom discipline in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

How many US college yearbooks were there in 2013, down from about 2,400 in 1995?

Social media has replaced many printed annuals.

Ore-Ida founders developed tater tots in 1953 to use up what?

The name 'tater tot' is a registered Ore-Ida trademark.

One theory credits the sloppy joe to a 1917 bar owner in which city?

José 'Sloppy Joe' Abeal y Otero ran Sloppy Joe's Bar.

Japan's private cram schools that prepare students for entrance exams are called what?

Attendance rose steadily from the 1970s to mid-1980s.

South Korea's Suneung college test is held on which day each year?

Planes are grounded during the English listening section.

What happens to aircraft during the English listening section of South Korea's Suneung?

Stock markets also open late that day.

Argentina marks Teachers' Day on September 11 to commemorate whose death?

India uses September 5, the birthday of president Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan.

Anne Sullivan, Helen Keller's teacher, was educated where?

Trachoma left her partially blind at age five.

Jaime Escalante taught calculus at which East Los Angeles institution?

Edward James Olmos played him in Stand and Deliver.

How many of Escalante's students passed AP Calculus in 1982, inspiring Stand and Deliver?

Olmos was Oscar-nominated for playing him.

Alice Cooper's 'School's Out' topped the singles chart in which country?

It reached number seven on the Billboard Hot 100.

Pink Floyd's 'Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)' was the UK Christmas number one of which year?

Producer Bob Ezrin suggested adding disco elements.

Van Halen's 'Hot for Teacher' opens with a 30-second solo on which instrument?

Alex Van Halen's double bass drums feature.

The Beach Boys' 'Be True to Your School' borrows the melody of which fight song?

It is a tribute to Hawthorne High School.

Which state effectively abolished homework for children under 15 in 1901?

Research shows homework does little for young children's achievement.

Which character is Scholastic's official mascot?

Norman Bridwell created Clifford in 1963.

Scholastic was founded in 1920 near which city?

Its first magazine covered high school sports and social life.

Weekly Reader ceased as an independent publication in 2012 and merged into what?

It had begun in 1928 as My Weekly Reader.

What is the tagline of Highlights for Children?

It was started in 1946 in Honesdale, Pennsylvania.

In what year did Highlights magazine surpass a billion copies?

It is now based for business in Columbus, Ohio.

Which 1950s research findings prompted America's presidential fitness programme?

Kraus and Weber found American children lacked minimum muscular fitness.

In what year was the Presidential Fitness Test replaced by the Presidential Youth Fitness Program?

Donald Trump ordered it reinstated in July 2025.

Which LAPD chief founded D.A.R.E. in 1983?

At its peak it was in 75% of US school districts.

What is the name of D.A.R.E.'s lion mascot?

The program adopted an evidence-based curriculum in 2012.

The original text-based Oregon Trail was created in 1971 for what setting?

Don Rawitsch was a student teacher at the time.

Roughly how many copies have the Oregon Trail games sold collectively?

The series is in the World Video Game Hall of Fame.

In what decade did whiteboards rapidly gain popularity in classrooms and offices?

They are also called dry-erase or marker boards.

Which firm launched the Sharpie, the first pen-style permanent marker, in 1964?

Newell acquired Sanford in 1990.

Liquid Paper's inventor was the mother of a guitarist in which band?

She mixed her first 'Mistake Out' in a kitchen blender in 1956.

What was Liquid Paper originally called?

Graham was a typist who made many mistakes.

Swingline was founded in 1925 under what name?

Jack Linsky founded it in New York City.

JanSport is named after whom?

Murray Pletz won an Alcoa design contest with his aluminium-frame pack.

Roughly what share of small backpacks sold in the US come from JanSport and The North Face?

Both brands belong to VF Corporation.

Thermos was originally founded in 1904 in which country?

Japanese firm Nippon Sanso now owns it.

Which character appeared on the first licensed decorated lunch box in 1935?

It was a four-colour lithographed oval tin.

Aladdin's 1950 lunch box based on which TV show sold 600,000 units in its first year?

Each 'Hoppy' cost $2.39.

How many metal lunch boxes were sold in the US between 1950 and 1970?

Over 450 decorated models appeared.

The earliest recorded 1901 mention of peanut butter and jelly on bread suggested it as what?

It became a Depression-era staple for its shelf life.

When was the 100 billionth Bic Cristal pen sold?

The Museum of Modern Art holds one in its permanent collection.

What inspired László Bíró's ballpoint idea in 1930?

Marcel Bich bought the rights to his design in 1944.

The Bic Cristal's hexagonal shape mimics what?

It comes in six point types and 18 colours.

The first mass-produced mechanical pencil, patented in 1913, was called what?

Charles R. Keeran patented it.

Who received the first patent for a lead-propelling refillable pencil in 1822?

Gessner had described a lead holder in 1565.

Henkel's 1969 glue stick was inspired by which product's twist-up applicator?

It launched as the Pritt Stick.

Who reportedly developed the first widely marketed rubber eraser in 1770?

He sold half-inch cubes for three shillings each.

The Brown v. Board of Education case involved the school system of which city?

NAACP counsel Thurgood Marshall argued the appeal.

What was the vote in the 1954 Brown v. Board decision?

It partially overruled Plessy v. Ferguson's 'separate but equal'.

Head Start was originally conceived as what?

It launched in 1965 as part of the War on Poverty.

What did John Travolta play in Welcome Back, Kotter?

The show ran on ABC from 1975 to 1979.

Kotter's remedial class in Welcome Back, Kotter is at which Brooklyn school?

Kotter had been a Sweathog there himself.

Edna Krabappel of The Simpsons teaches which grade?

She holds a master's from Bryn Mawr and marries Ned Flanders.

Which actress voiced Edna Krabappel until her death in 2013?

The character was then retired.

Which Simpsons episode was the first to use the opening sequence with the chalkboard gag?

It aired January 14, 1990.

Cory Matthews's teacher-neighbour George Feeny is played by which actor?

Boy Meets World ran on ABC from 1993 to 2000.

Boy Meets World is set in which US city?

Cory is an 11-year-old middle-schooler in season one.

What is the name of the school in Disney's Recess?

A sixth grader called King Bob rules the playground.

What kind of animal is Arthur Read?

He is a third-grader at Lakewood Elementary in Elwood City.

How many half-hour episodes of Arthur aired over 25 seasons?

SpongeBob surpassed it as the longest-running US children's animated series in 2024.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid first appeared online in 2004 on which site?

The first printed book came from Abrams in April 2007.

Who sings the theme song of The Magic School Bus animated series?

The show is set at Walkerville Elementary.

The Magic School Bus books were written by whom?

Bruce Degen illustrated them.

Reading Rainbow's host LeVar Burton was known at its 1983 debut for which role?

The series won 26 Emmys and a Peabody.

Reading Rainbow was the first PBS children's show broadcast in what?

It ran from 1983 to 2006.

How many Emmys did Bill Nye the Science Guy win from 23 nominations?

KCTS in Seattle produced it with National Science Foundation funding.

Bill Nye's 'Consider the Following' segments originated on which sketch show?

The Seattle show launched Nye's TV career.

In which fictional Connecticut town is The Baby-Sitters Club set?

Kristy Thomas founds the club as president.

How many books were published under the original Goosebumps title from 1992 to 1997?

R. L. Stine also wrote spin-offs like Give Yourself Goosebumps.

Captain Underpants' George and Harold live in which Ohio town?

They hypnotise their principal Mr. Krupp into becoming the hero.

Which singer's song partly inspired R. J. Palacio's novel Wonder?

Auggie Pullman enters mainstream school for the first time in the book.

Andrew Clements's Frindle won which prize in 2016, twenty years after publication?

It was Clements's first novel; Brian Selznick illustrated it.

Ramona Quimby first appeared as the pesky little sister in which Beverly Cleary series?

Beezus and Ramona, the first Ramona novel, came out in 1955.

How many Junie B. Jones books did Random House publish from 1992 to 2013?

Barbara Park wrote them; Denise Brunkus illustrated.

Freedom Writers is based on the diaries of students at which Long Beach campus?

Teacher Erin Gruwell compiled the 1999 book.

Quinta Brunson's Abbott Elementary is set in which city?

She plays second-grade teacher Janine Teagues.

Freaks and Geeks is set in a suburban high school near which city during 1980-81?

NBC cancelled it after airing 15 of 18 episodes.

In School of Rock, Jack Black's Dewey Finn forms a band of students from which grade?

He poses as a substitute teacher at a prep school to pay rent.

Napoleon Dynamite is partly adapted from which earlier short film by Jared Hess?

Fox Searchlight picked it up at Sundance.

Clueless is loosely adapted from which 1815 novel?

Amy Heckerling observed Beverly Hills High students for authentic slang.

Which president urged school uniforms in his 1996 State of the Union?

He cited teens killing each other over designer jackets.

Which US school district became the first large urban system to mandate uniforms, in 1994?

Its case study is the most-cited support for uniforms.

Who first copyrighted 'The ABC Song' in 1835?

The 1761 French melody is also 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star'.

The oldest known base-10 times table, on bamboo strips from about 305 BC, comes from where?

Babylonians used base-60 tables 4,000 years ago.

In French, Italian and Russian the times table is often named after which mathematician?

The Chinese nine-nine table has eighty-one terms.

When was the first Gaokao held in China?

Deng Xiaoping restored it in 1977 after the Cultural Revolution.

The ACT's multiple-choice sections are scored on what scale?

It covers English, maths and reading, with optional science and writing.

Where did the first Waldorf school open in 1919?

Rudolf Steiner's philosophy of anthroposophy underpins it.

Eton College was founded in 1440 by which king?

It is the largest boarding school in England.

Along with Eton, which two schools retain a boys-only, boarding-only tradition?

Eton is nicknamed 'the nurse of England's statesmen'.

Science fairs began in the 1930s in which US metropolis?

Morris Meister, who led the effort, later founded the Bronx High School of Science.

What are crossing guards called in Britain, Ireland and Australia?

The nickname comes from their large lollipop-shaped signs.

Which chime pattern is commonly played as the school bell in China and South Korea?

It is used in some schools internationally too.

Show and tell was written about as early as 1954 in which journal?

It develops storytelling and helps bridge home and school.

Which Texas Instruments graphing calculator series superseded the original TI-84 line in 2015?

Only the original TI-84 Plus of that series is still made.

Scantron operates in what share of US school districts?

The company is based in Eagan, Minnesota.

The transparent sheets used on an overhead projector are commonly called what?

They sat on a glass platen lit from below.

Which 3M engineer developed the first transparent sticky tape in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1930?

He had earlier created 3M's masking tape under the Scotch brand; the new tape used cellophane as its backing.

In Superbad (2007), what single name does Fogell put on his fake ID?

The clerk accepts it, but Fogell is knocked down mid-transaction; Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg wrote the script as teenagers themselves.

Glee is set at the fictional William McKinley High School in which Ohio town?

Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan created the Fox series about the New Directions glee club competing on the show choir circuit.

Lunchables are marketed under which Kraft Heinz brand?

They were test-marketed in Eau Claire, Wisconsin and Grand Junction, Colorado in the autumn of 1987 before the national launch.

Which two men are widely credited with inventing the whiteboard?

Heit was a Korean War veteran and photographer; Stallion worked for a flat rolled steel supplier called Alliance.

An 1894 journal recounts an early prom at which women's college, visited by an Amherst student?

Historians think proms existed at colleges in the late 19th century, though the word may then have just meant an ordinary class dance.

Saved by the Bell's teenagers attend which fictional Los Angeles high school?

The NBC Saturday-morning show was a reboot of the Disney Channel series Good Morning, Miss Bliss and became the flagship of the TNBC lineup.

The Canadian school drama franchise Degrassi is set in which city?

Kit Hood and Linda Schuyler created it; The Next Generation launched the careers of a famous rapper and actress Nina Dobrev.

Which rapper's acting career was launched by Degrassi: The Next Generation?

The series ran nine seasons before CTV cancelled it over ratings; actress Nina Dobrev also got her start there.

Which college produced the first formal modern yearbook, in 1806?

Scrapbook-style yearbooks had appeared in colonial schools by the end of the 17th century.

What did American Henry Tillinghast Sisson call the 'temporary binder' he patented in the 19th century?

It used a spring inside a tube to hold papers securely, an ancestor of the three-ring binder; he received patent no. 23506.

Who produced Superbad, the 2007 teen comedy written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg?

Greg Mottola directed; Jonah Hill and Michael Cera star as Seth and Evan, two teenagers about to graduate.