Q 01/05

Which fast-food staple did Cornell food scientist Robert Baker invent and publish without ever patenting it?

A) Mozzarella stick

B) Chicken nugget

C) Onion ring

D) Corn dog

Answer · why

B) Chicken nugget

Chicken nugget credit often goes to McDonald's, which did not sell McNuggets until the early 1980s. Baker also created Cornell chicken, a vinegar-mari...

Q 02/05

Which NBC sitcom features Andy Bernard, forever boasting of his Cornell a cappella group, Here Comes Treble?

A) Superstore

B) Community

C) Scrubs

D) The Office

Answer · why

D) The Office

The Office cast Ed Helms as Andy, and its finale sends him back to Ithaca for a job in Cornell's admissions department.

Q 03/05

Which TV science host earned a Cornell engineering degree in 1977, then invented a part for Boeing 747s?

A) Bill Nye

B) Adam Savage

C) Michio Kaku

D) Jamie Hyneman

Answer · why

A) Bill Nye

Bill Nye quit Boeing in 1986 for a Seattle sketch comedy show, where he performed wacky science experiments on air.

Q 04/05

Which Supreme Court justice studied literature under Vladimir Nabokov before graduating from Cornell in 1954?

A) Sandra Day O'Connor

B) Elena Kagan

C) Ruth Bader Ginsburg

D) Sonia Sotomayor

Answer · why

C) Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Ruth Bader Ginsburg met her husband Martin at Cornell and married him a month after graduating. She later named Nabokov as a major influence on her wr...

Q 05/05

Which future screen superhero chose Cornell because Ithaca was far from New York City's acting jobs?

A) Robert Downey Jr.

B) Christopher Reeve

C) Michael Keaton

D) Tobey Maguire

Answer · why

B) Christopher Reeve

Christopher Reeve had promised his mother he would finish college before acting full time. He went on to Juilliard and first played Superman in 1978.