Inventions Study Guide

Science 848 clues | 112 recurring answers

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112

answers to learn

9 Must-Know

25 Should-Know

78 Worth Knowing

Quick Reference: Must-Know Answers

These appear 8+ times. Memorize these first.

Guglielmo Marconi 20 Thomas Edison 20 Alexander Graham Bell 19 Charles Goodyear 11 Elisha Otis 10 Robert Fulton 10 Gutenberg 9 Edwin Land 8 Samuel Colt 8

Answers by Category

Chemistry / Elements

67 answers | 307 clues

Must-Know (8)

Guglielmo Marconi 20x 5.3% stumper $537 avg J:9 DJ:10 FJ:1

J $100 1994 In 1932 this wireless telegraphy inventor built one of the first microwave telephone systems

J $600 2013 His "radio was the first to demonstrate workable wireless radio communication"

J $1,000 DD 2024 Many great ships once communicated with the world from aroomnamed for this Italian inventor

Thomas Edison 20x 10.0% stumper $425 avg J:9 DJ:11

J $100 2000 He used the $40,000 made from his universal stock printer to set up a lab in Newark, New Jersey

DJ $600 1995 He used money from his improved stock ticker to open his first workshop in Newark

DJ $1,200 2014 1/3 of the space devoted to U.S. exhibits at the 1889 Paris Centennial Exposition was occupied by his inventions

Alexander Graham Bell 19x 6.2% stumper $319 avg J:6 DJ:10 FJ:3

J $100 1995 In 1877 he sailed to Europe to introduce his new telephone

J $500 1997 Among his many creations was an audiometer to detect vestigial hearing in the deaf

FJ 2011 His 1922 New York Times obituary mentions that his patent No. 174,465 "has been called the most valuable patent ever issued"

Charles Goodyear 11x 18.2% stumper $573 avg J:7 DJ:4

J $200 1997 Thomas Hancock won a British patent for the vulcanization of rubber after studying this man's samples

J $500 1990 In 1924 this U.S. company acquired the German Zeppelin patents under license

DJ $1,600 2018 His "discovery, which came to be known as vulcanization, strengthened rubber"

Elisha Otis 10x $788 avg J:3 DJ:5 FJ:2

J $200 2001 In 1854, he demonstrated his elevator safety device by ascending in an elevator & having the rope cut

J $500 1996 His most important invention kept an elevator car from falling even if its cable broke

DJ $1,600 2023 Going up? Going down? He made elevators more secure with his invention of a safety brake

Gutenberg 9x $425 avg J:4 DJ:4 FJ:1

J $200 1996 This man, a goldsmith by trade, invented printing from movable type in Europe

DJ $1,000 1984 Printing press inventor associated with the world's most valuable book

FJ 1998 Mainz, Germany celebrates the life of this inventor in an annual festival called Johannisnacht

Edwin Land 8x $562 avg J:5 DJ:3

J $300 2000 During his lifetime this instant camera inventor received 533 U.S. patents

J $500 1995 In 1977 he unveiled his company's new instant motion-picture system, Polavision

DJ $1,000 1994 In the 1940s he developed a 3-D motion picture process based on polarized light

Samuel Colt 8x $525 avg J:5 DJ:3

J $200 2011 For his revolver with interchangeable parts

J $800 2013 "Historians regard (his) Hartford gun factory as a prototype for America's Industrial Revolution"

DJ $1,000 1996 This armsmaker died at his Hartford, Connecticut home, Armsmear, in 1682

Should-Know (22)

Eli Whitney 7x $314 avg J:4 DJ:3

J $200 2000 He and Phineas Miller received a cotton gin patent in 1794, but it didn't get court protection until 1807

DJ $600 1996 While fighting for his patent for the cotton gin, he made arms for the U.S. government

J $200 1997 It's said he added a wire comb to his cotton gin at the suggestion of Catherine Greene, a widow

(Robert) Goddard 7x $1,200 avg J:2 DJ:5

J $400 1998 In 1926 he launched the world's first liquid fuel rocket

DJ $800 1995 The first flight of his liquid-fueled rocket took place in 1926 on his Aunt Effie's Mass. farm

DJ $2,000 DD 2020 Inspired as a boy by H.G. Wells' "War of the Worlds", he launched the world's first liquid-fueled rocket in 1926

James Watt 7x $714 avg J:4 DJ:3

J $300 1991 This developer of the steam engine also invented steam heating as a way to heat his office

J $500 2001 In 1769, he obtained his first patent, a separate condensing chamber & other improvements to the steam engine

J $2,000 DD 2003 His 1769 patent was for "a new invented method of lessening the consumption of steam and fuel in fire engines"

Linus Yale 7x 28.6% stumper $500 avg J:3 DJ:4

J $400 2000 His pin-tumbler cylinder lock of 1861 was based on a mechanism used by the ancient Egyptians

DJ $600 1986 Inventors Eli Whitney & Samuel Morse got a lock on their degrees at this college

J $1,000 2006 Around 1862 this American locksmith introduced a dial-operated combination lock for bank vaults

Velcro 6x $1,350 avg J:2 DJ:2 FJ:2

J $200 2021 Plant burrs sticking to a dog's fur inspired Swiss inventor George de Mestral to create this fastener brand

DJ $800 2001 For developing this nylon fastener, George de Mestral is stuck in the National Inventors Hall of Fame

DJ $4,000 DD 1987 Georges de Mestral got idea for this from burrs that stuck to his pants during a hunting trip

John Deere 6x $1,017 avg J:2 DJ:4

J $400 2013 "Developed the first American cast steel plow"; inc. in 1868, "his business, is still in existence today"

J $500 1991 He invented the self-cleaning steel plow, the company he founded is No. 1 in the U.S. in farm equipment

DJ $1,000 2001 The company founded by this plow maker is today the world's leading producer of agricultural equipment

George Eastman 6x 25.0% stumper $450 avg J:2 DJ:2 FJ:2

J $300 1989 He marketed the 1st mass-produced camera

J $500 1992 In 1879 he invented a machine for applying photographic emulsion gel

FJ 2016 Before his death in 1932, he donated over $100 million, including $50 million to the University of Rochester

Samuel Morse 6x $317 avg J:2 DJ:4

DJ $200 1985 In the late 1830s this painter invented the telegraph

DJ $600 1999 In 1857 this telegraph inventor served as the electrician on Cyrus Field's first transatlantic cable attempt

J $100 1996 This telegraphy pioneer once ran for mayor of New York

Birdseye 6x $667 avg J:3 DJ:3

J $300 2001 In 1922, he marketed quick-frozen fish, his first packaged frozen food product

DJ $800 2018 A holder of more than 250 patents, this former fur trader & inventor was "The Father of Frozen Foods"

DJ $1,000 1996 This founder of the frozen food industry also invented a technique to speed up food dehydration

Cyrus McCormick 5x $480 avg J:1 DJ:4

DJ $400 1988 He "reaped" the Grand Medal of Honor in 1855 at the Paris International Exposition

DJ $600 1997 Built in 1831, his first mechanical reaper resembled a 2-wheeled horse-drawn chariot

J $200 1994 In 1855 this manufacturer's reaper won the Grand Medal of Honor at the Paris Int'l Exposition

Elias Howe 5x $520 avg J:3 DJ:2

DJ $400 1992 His 1st successful lock-stitch sewing machine in 1845 was powered by a hand crank

DJ $600 1994 In the 1840s he sold the English rights to his sewing machine to corset maker William Thomas

J $1,000 2025 After litigation against Isaac Singer & others, he received royalties on all U.S. sewing machines from 1854 until 1867

Alfred Nobel 5x 40.0% stumper $580 avg J:4 DJ:1

J $300 1988 It's claimed element No. 102 was 1st isolated at the Swedish institute named for this inventor

DJ $600 1993 This inventor of dynamite studied in the U.S. for 4 years

J $1,000 2013 "In 1865, (his) company built the first factory for producing nitroglycerin"

the typewriter 5x 20.0% stumper $700 avg J:3 DJ:2

J $400 2002 You can hunt & peck around the hall for the invention of Christopher Sholes known as this

J $500 1986 It's what the 1874 "literary piano" developed into

J $1,000 DD 2009 Several of Beulah Henry's inventions dealt with this machine, like the protograph, which made 4 copies with no carbon paper

King Gillette 5x $750 avg J:2 DJ:2 FJ:1

J $200 1996 He invented a razor with disposable blades after experts at M.I.T. told him it was impossible

DJ $800 1991 No one knows who invented the razor but we know this man invented the safety razor

DJ $1,600 2016 Men typically resharpened & reused the same razor blade for life before an invention by this man around 1895

Thomas Alva Edison 4x 75.0% stumper $475 avg J:2 DJ:2

J $100 1984 Despite only 3 months of formal schooling, he patented 1,093 inventions

DJ $600 1995 This American inventor of the microphone became a commander of the French Legion of Honor in 1889

DJ $1,000 1996 In 1862 he published the Weekly Herald on a Grand Trunk Railroad freight car

Archimedes 4x $933 avg J:2 DJ:1 FJ:1

J $400 1997 Eureka! He invented the compound pulley & proved the law of the lever

DJ $2,000 2021 Still used today, the screw named for this ancient Greek helps move water from lower to higher ground

FJ 1997 Before the Monitor, John Ericsson designed a screw-driven steamboat & named it for this ancient Greek

Liquid Paper 4x 25.0% stumper $550 avg J:1 DJ:3

DJ $400 2019 Imperial court official Tsai Lun produced the first rolls of this in China around 105 A.D.

DJ $600 2000 Bette Nesmith Graham called her correction fluid "Mistake Out" before selling it under this brand name

J $400 1996 Typists owe a debt of thanks to Bette Nesmith, who invented this correction fluid

George Westinghouse 4x 50.0% stumper $675 avg J:2 DJ:2

J $400 1996 This air brake inventor also developed a complete railroad signal system

DJ $800 1995 His first train-braking system in the 1860s used steam, not compressed air

DJ $1,000 1987 With his invention he disproved the notion that it was nonsense "to stop a railroad train with wind"

a zipper 4x 50.0% stumper $375 avg J:3 DJ:1

DJ $400 2023 In 1893 Whitcomb Judson patented an early type of this; a later version was marketed as a "hookless fastener"

J $500 1996 The World Almanac's list of inventions runs from A for adding machine to Z for this device

J $400 1984 This fastener gets its name from a brand of galoshes it was used on

the telephone 4x $325 avg J:3 DJ:1

J $100 1993 Elisha Gray & Alexander Graham Bell contested the invention of this device all the way to the Supreme Court

DJ $800 2015 In 1951 Al Gross developed a cordless one

J $200 1992 Inventor & draftsman Lewis Latimer drew up the papers on this Bell inventions

an escalator 4x $600 avg J:2 DJ:1 FJ:1

J $200 1991 The first one, built by the Otis Elevator Co., was installed in Gimbel's Philadelphia store in 1901

J $600 2006 One of the first of these was based on an inclined conveyor belt & used in a NYC elevated train station in 1900

DJ $1,000 2000 Almost 40 years after Otis invented the safety elevator, Jesse Reno developed this people mover

Buckminster Fuller 4x 75.0% stumper $500 avg J:2 DJ:2

DJ $400 1996 Though expelled from Harvard, this geodesic dome inventor later held more than 2,000 patents

J $500 1997 In 1953 he was commissioned to design a rotunda dome in Dearborn, Michigan

DJ $600 1995 In 1949 he founded Geodesics, Inc. to manufacture his domes

Worth Knowing (37)

the sewing machine 3 IBM 3 Henry Ford 3 China 3 air conditioning 3 windshield wipers 3 Transistor 3 the steam engine 3 Pasteur 3 a submarine 3 a pacemaker 3 a lock 3 a clock 3 Tin 2 the phonograph 2 the helicopter 2 the cotton gin 2 television 2 Teflon 2 Seymour Cray 2 Scotchgard 2 Newton 2 Les Paul 2 Kevlar 2 DNA 2 bicycle 2 barbed wire 2 a reaper 2 a printing press 2 Thomas Jefferson 2 the Ferris Wheel 2 the safety pin 2 the iron lung 2 the air conditioner 2 Sir Henry Bessemer 2 Leonardo da Vinci 2 Albert Einstein 2

Other

21 answers | 46 clues

Should-Know (1)

Benjamin Franklin 5x $275 avg J:1 DJ:3 FJ:1

DJ $200 1997 He refused to patent or to profit from his lightning rod, a device he first described in a 1751 article

FJ 2005 In the 18th century he wrote, "I have only to move my eyes up or down... to see distinctly far or near"

J $300 1990 In 1958 bifocal contact lenses were invented, some 175 years after he invented bifocal glasses

Worth Knowing (20)

water 3 The Lumiere Brothers 2 the Franklin Stove 2 submarines 2 Sikorsky 2 Remington 2 nylon 2 margarine 2 fountain pen 2 Felix Wankel 2 cement 2 cataracts 2 a steamboat 2 a machine gun 2 a laser 2 a jet engine 2 (Louis) Braille 2 the adding machine 2 Isaac Singer 2 Richard Gatling 2

Biology / Animals

8 answers | 22 clues

Should-Know (1)

Gail Borden 5x 60.0% stumper $1,040 avg J:2 DJ:3

J $200 1994 This inventor of condensed milk was a direct descendant of Roger Williams

J $1,000 2011 For improvements in the condensing of milk

DJ $1,000 2001 In 1856 he received a patent for a condensed milk process; the Civil War helped make his company a success

Worth Knowing (7)

Burbank 3 a camera 3 Charles Macintosh 3 Nikola Tesla 2 cotton candy 2 a paper clip 2 a fork 2

Astronomy / Space

5 answers | 20 clues

Must-Know (1)

Robert Fulton 10x $420 avg J:6 DJ:4

J $100 1997 He called his steamboat launched August 17, 1807 "The Steamboat", not "The Clermont"

J $800 2007 After steamboat success, he was urged to work on submarine-launched torpedoes by Pres. Jefferson

DJ $1,200 2016 (Sarah of the Clue Crew shows a naval blueprint on the monitor.) A pumping piston was connected to a steam engine & to the two paddle wheels on the side of the ship designed by this man, who came to fame in 1807

Worth Knowing (4)

Galileo 3 Polaroid 3 Hedy Lamarr 2 the telescope 2

Math / Physics

5 answers | 12 clues

Should-Know (1)

(George) Pullman 4x $775 avg J:2 DJ:2

J $500 1993 In 1875 he designed a parlor car for the railroads

DJ $1,000 1986 With kitchen in the middle, he made sure ½ the dining car would be free of windborne odors

J $1,000 2007 In 1868, 9 years after developing the railway sleeping car, he introduced the first railway car for dining

Worth Knowing (4)

Vacuum cleaner 2 a wheelchair 2 the metronome 2 an air mattress 2

Earth Science

3 answers | 6 clues

Worth Knowing (3)

Jethro Tull 2 the windshield wiper 2 Jacques Cousteau 2

Medicine / Health

2 answers | 5 clues

Worth Knowing (2)

a (TV) remote control 3 an organ 2

Botany / Plants

1 answers | 2 clues

Worth Knowing (1)

linoleum 2

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