Q 01/05

Which stretchy material got its English name because it was so good at wiping away pencil marks?

A) Rubber

B) Velcro

C) Putty

D) Nylon

Answer · why

A) Rubber

Rubber earned its name after Joseph Priestley noticed in 1770 that a lump of it was excellent for rubbing pencil marks off paper. Before then, people ...

Q 02/05

Which frozen treat did 11-year-old Frank Epperson invent by leaving a drink and stirring stick outside overnight?

A) Snow cone

B) Slushie

C) Popsicle

D) Ice cream bar

Answer · why

C) Popsicle

Popsicle history began on a back porch in Oakland in 1905, when the cold night froze the soda mix around the stick. Epperson waited almost twenty year...

Q 03/05

Which summer toy was invented by Lonnie Johnson, an engineer who had worked for NASA and the Air Force?

A) Slip 'N Slide

B) Super Soaker

C) Hula hoop

D) Nerf football

Answer · why

B) Super Soaker

Super Soaker water guns grew out of an accident: Johnson was testing a new kind of refrigeration system in his bathroom when it shot a powerful stream...

Q 04/05

Which field-day contest between two teams was an official Olympic event from 1900 to 1920?

A) Dodgeball

B) Kickball

C) Capture the flag

D) Tug of war

Answer · why

D) Tug of war

Tug of war was dropped after the 1920 Games, when the Olympic committee trimmed its program. At the 1900 Games, Danish and Swedish pullers joined forc...

Q 05/05

School buses are painted yellow partly because lettering of which color is easiest to read on it at dawn?

A) Black

B) White

C) Red

D) Green

Answer · why

A) Black

Black lettering on yellow proved the most legible in semi-darkness, so a 1939 conference made the pairing a national standard. Professor Frank Cyr gat...