Q 01/05

Which disease did Jonas Salk develop one of the first successful vaccines against?

A) Smallpox

B) Polio

C) Measles

D) Tuberculosis

Answer · why

B) Polio

Domestic transmission of the disease was eliminated in the United States within 25 years of the vaccine's release.

Q 02/05

What did Salk reply when Ed Murrow asked him who owned the rights to the vaccine?

A) "The March of Dimes paid for it, so they do."

B) "Nobody yet, but my lawyers are working on it."

C) "The University of Pittsburgh, of course."

D) "Well, the people I would say. There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?"

Answer · why

D) "Well, the people I would say. There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?"

The vaccine has been calculated to be worth $7 billion had it been patented; lawyers found it unpatentable anyway because of prior art.

Q 03/05

On what date was the Salk vaccine announced as safe?

A) July 2, 1952

B) January 1, 1961

C) April 12, 1955

D) October 28, 1954

Answer · why

C) April 12, 1955

The announcement made him a "miracle worker" overnight; the anniversary is marked in documentaries and celebrations.

Q 04/05

Where was Salk born on October 28, 1914?

A) Chicago

B) New York City

C) Philadelphia

D) Pittsburgh

Answer · why

B) New York City

The family moved from East Harlem to the Bronx, with a spell in Arverne, Queens.

Q 05/05

Where had Salk's mother Dora been born before emigrating to the United States at 12?

A) Minsk

B) Vienna

C) Odessa

D) Warsaw

Answer · why

A) Minsk

His father Daniel was born in New Jersey to Jewish immigrant parents; neither had much formal education.