Q 01/05

How many US patents did Thomas Edison register?

A) 512

B) 876

C) 1,093

D) 2,332

Answer · why

C) 1,093

During his adult life that averaged one patent every 10 to 12 days, many of them for work done by his staff.

Q 02/05

In which Ohio town was Edison born in 1847?

A) Toledo

B) Dayton

C) Akron

D) Milan

Answer · why

D) Milan

He was the seventh and last child of the family, who moved to Port Huron, Michigan, in 1854.

Q 03/05

Which New Jersey laboratory earned Edison the nickname "The Wizard of" that place?

A) Menlo Park

B) Newark

C) Schenectady

D) West Orange

Answer · why

A) Menlo Park

It was built in 1876 with money from the sale of his quadruplex telegraph, and the township is now named Edison in his honour.

Q 04/05

Which invention first brought Edison wide public notice in 1877?

A) The kinetoscope

B) The light bulb

C) The stock ticker

D) The phonograph

Answer · why

D) The phonograph

It seemed so magical that the public dubbed him a wizard; his first version recorded on tinfoil wrapped around a grooved cylinder.

Q 05/05

Historian Paul Israel blames Edison's deafness on ear infections plus which childhood illness?

A) Scarlet fever

B) Diphtheria

C) Rheumatic fever

D) Whooping cough

Answer · why

A) Scarlet fever

Edison told elaborate made-up stories about the cause, and later said deafness helped him concentrate.

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