Q 01/05

Which fad of Christmas 1975 lasted about six months yet made advertising executive Gary Dahl a millionaire?

A) Mood ring

B) Pet Rock

C) Lava lamp

D) Clackers

Answer · why

B) Pet Rock

The Pet Rock was a plain stone sold in a cardboard carrier with air holes and straw bedding. Dahl sold nearly 1.5 million of them at just under $4 eac...

Q 02/05

Which US agency banned Furby toys from its offices in the late 1990s, fearing they might repeat secrets?

A) The NSA

B) The CIA

C) The FBI

D) The Pentagon

Answer · why

A) The NSA

The NSA suspected the chattering toys held a chip that could learn and replay classified talk. Furby's maker replied that the toy could not record any...

Q 03/05

In which country did 1630s 'tulip mania' push one rare bulb's price past ten years of a craftsman's pay?

A) Switzerland

B) Portugal

C) Netherlands

D) Germany

Answer · why

C) Netherlands

The Netherlands, then the Dutch Republic, saw tulip prices peak and abruptly collapse in February 1637. The costliest variety, Semper Augustus, fetche...

Q 04/05

Which Wham-O toy started a 1958 fad that sold twenty-five million in under four months?

A) Frisbee

B) Yo-yo

C) Pogo stick

D) Hula hoop

Answer · why

D) Hula hoop

The Hula hoop was a plastic copy of the bamboo rings Australian children twirled around their waists. Sales passed 100 million within two years.

Q 05/05

The teddy bear craze of the 1900s took its name from which US president, who refused to shoot a tied-up bear?

A) Theodore Roosevelt

B) William Howard Taft

C) William McKinley

D) Grover Cleveland

Answer · why

A) Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt called shooting the tethered animal unsportsmanlike on a 1902 hunt in Mississippi. A newspaper cartoon of the scene inspired candy-...