Q 01/05

Which US president holds a patent, granted in 1849, for a device to lift riverboats over shoals?

A) Thomas Jefferson

B) Abraham Lincoln

C) Ulysses S. Grant

D) Andrew Jackson

Answer · why

B) Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln is the only US president to hold a patent. The scale model he had built for the Patent Office is now kept by the Smithsonian.

Q 02/05

Which animal beat Peter Cooper's steam locomotive Tom Thumb in a famous 1830 race near Baltimore?

A) A horse

B) A mule

C) A donkey

D) A greyhound

Answer · why

A) A horse

A horse hauling a rail car won, but only after a belt slipped off the locomotive's blower pulley. Until then Tom Thumb had been pulling easily ahead.

Q 03/05

Which apprentice memorized British textile machine designs, sailed for New York in 1789 and was branded a traitor?

A) Moses Brown

B) Paul Moody

C) Samuel Slater

D) Nathan Appleton

Answer · why

C) Samuel Slater

Samuel Slater carried the designs in his head because British law banned exporting them. Americans came to call him the father of their Industrial Rev...

Q 04/05

Which New York landmark did P. T. Barnum parade 21 elephants across in 1884 to show it was safe?

A) Manhattan Bridge

B) High Bridge

C) Williamsburg Bridge

D) Brooklyn Bridge

Answer · why

D) Brooklyn Bridge

Brooklyn Bridge had opened in 1883, and a stampede on its stairway killed at least twelve people six days later. Barnum's parade, led by Jumbo, eased ...

Q 05/05

Which fastener did Walter Hunt patent in 1849, then sell the rights to for $400 to pay off a $15 debt?

A) Zipper

B) Hook and eye

C) Safety pin

D) Snap button

Answer · why

C) Safety pin

The safety pin made millions of dollars for others after Hunt sold the patent outright. He also built an early sewing machine, patented in 1854.