Q 01/05

Which animal gives its name to the toughened Corning glass that protected the first iPhone's screen?

A) Rhino

B) Gorilla

C) Mammoth

D) Armadillo

Answer · why

B) Gorilla

Gorilla Glass got its name only in 2008, months after the iPhone launched. Steve Jobs had dropped the planned plastic screen after his prototype scrat...

Q 02/05

Which American founding father is credited with inventing both bifocals and the glass armonica?

A) Thomas Jefferson

B) John Adams

C) Benjamin Franklin

D) Alexander Hamilton

Answer · why

C) Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin, by one account, had his lenses cut in half to follow French speakers at court. His armonica, a row of glass bowls spun on a spindle...

Q 03/05

Which event fused New Mexico's desert floor into a green glass called trinitite?

A) A meteorite impact

B) A volcanic eruption

C) A lightning storm

D) An atomic test

Answer · why

D) An atomic test

An atomic test, code-named Trinity, melted the desert sand on 16 July 1945. Most of the glass was bulldozed and buried in 1953, and taking any from th...

Q 04/05

A popular but false legend says the champagne coupe was moulded on the breast of which French queen?

A) Marie Antoinette

B) Catherine de' Medici

C) Anne of Austria

D) Eleanor of Aquitaine

Answer · why

A) Marie Antoinette

Marie Antoinette is one of several women the tale names, but the dates rule her out. The shallow coupe was designed in England in 1663, almost a centu...

Q 05/05

Which soft drink's curvy 1915 glass bottle was designed to be recognised by touch, even in the dark?

A) Pepsi-Cola

B) Dr Pepper

C) Coca-Cola

D) Canada Dry

Answer · why

C) Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola wanted a bottle people would know even when it was broken. The winning designer at Indiana's Root Glass Company copied the ribbed shape of a...