Q 01/05

In the UK and Ireland, vacuum cleaners are commonly called what, after a brand name that became generic?

A) Dysons

B) Hoovers

C) Kirbys

D) Bissells

Answer · why

B) Hoovers

The Hoover Company was one of the first and most influential makers, and 'to hoover' is used as a verb.

Q 02/05

The first manual vacuum cleaner, using bellows, was invented in 1860 by Daniel Hess in which US state?

A) Ohio

B) Iowa

C) Illinois

D) New York

Answer · why

B) Iowa

Hess lived in West Union; eight years later Ives McGaffey patented a hand-cranked rival in Chicago.

Q 03/05

What was the name of the early hand-cranked vacuum cleaner patented in Chicago in 1868?

A) Hurricane

B) Whirlwind

C) Tornado

D) Typhoon

Answer · why

B) Whirlwind

Its inventor, Ives W. McGaffey, produced what is often called the first portable sweeping machine.

Q 04/05

Which British engineer built the horse-drawn 'Puffing Billy' suction cleaner in 1901?

A) James Murray Spangler

B) Hubert Cecil Booth

C) Walter Griffiths

D) David T. Kenney

Answer · why

B) Hubert Cecil Booth

He tested his idea by sucking through a handkerchief laid on a restaurant chair and looking at the dirt on the other side.

Q 05/05

The Puffing Billy's inventor designed which fairground attractions for London, Blackpool, Paris and Vienna?

A) Roller coasters

B) Ferris wheels

C) Carousels

D) Water chutes

Answer · why

B) Ferris wheels

He also designed suspension bridges and factories, and was once fined for frightening horses with his noisy machines.