Q 01/05

Which US president, the only one granted a patent, designed a device to lift riverboats over shoals?

A) Abraham Lincoln

B) Herbert Hoover

C) Jimmy Carter

D) Theodore Roosevelt

Answer · why

A) Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln received Patent No. 6,469 in 1849, more than a decade before he reached the White House. His inflatable bellows for stranded boats was...

Q 02/05

In which Swiss city did Albert Einstein work as a patent examiner while developing special relativity?

A) Zurich

B) Basel

C) Bern

D) Lucerne

Answer · why

C) Bern

Bern is where Einstein spent seven years judging other people's inventions, among them a gravel sorter and an electric typewriter. He wrote his landma...

Q 03/05

Which carmaker let its rivals use engineer Nils Bohlin's three-point seat belt patent free of charge?

A) Saab

B) Volvo

C) Peugeot

D) Fiat

Answer · why

B) Volvo

Volvo gave the patent away in the interest of safety instead of charging rivals for it. The belt became standard equipment in its own cars in 1959.

Q 04/05

Which Hollywood star co-patented a frequency-hopping radio system meant to stop enemies jamming Allied torpedoes?

A) Greta Garbo

B) Ingrid Bergman

C) Marlene Dietrich

D) Hedy Lamarr

Answer · why

D) Hedy Lamarr

Hedy Lamarr devised the scheme with composer George Antheil, who had once written a film score for sixteen synchronised player pianos. The US Navy tur...

Q 05/05

Which pop star co-patented shoes that hook onto stage pegs, letting dancers lean far past their centre of gravity?

A) Paula Abdul

B) Justin Timberlake

C) Michael Jackson

D) Britney Spears

Answer · why

C) Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson faked the 45-degree lean in the Smooth Criminal video with cables and a harness. To repeat it in concert, his team patented heels that...