Test your basic knowledge |

Timeline Of Historic Inventions

Subjects : trivia, history
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. Mariner's astrolabe on Portuguese circumnavigation of Africa






2. High pressure steam engine - Richard Trevithick and Oliver Evans - independently






3. Multiple arch buttress dam (Esparragalejo Dam) in Hispania - Roman Empire






4. Twisted rope






5. First use of nuclear power to produce electricity for households in Arco - Idaho






6. Twisted rope






7. Wind power in an open air stream is thus proportional to the third power of the wind speed; the available power increases eightfold when the wind speed doubles. Wind turbines for grid electricity therefore need to be especially efficient at greater w






8. Dry dock some time after Ptolemy IV (221






9. Turbine in Africa (province) - Roman Empire






10. Water wheel in Hellenistic kingdoms described by Philo of Byzantium (ca. 280






11. Mechanization of papermaking (paper mill) in X






12. Papyrus paper invented by ancient Egyptians by interlocking the stems of the Papyrus plant in the lower Nile.






13. Segmental arch bridge (e.g. Pont-Saint-Martin or Ponte San Lorenzo) in Italy - Roman Republic






14. Wind power in an open air stream is thus proportional to the third power of the wind speed; the available power increases eightfold when the wind speed doubles. Wind turbines for grid electricity therefore need to be especially efficient at greater w






15. Double-entry bookkeeping system codified by Luca Pacioli






16. The electric light bulb was first patented in England by 1878 by Joseph Swan after having experimented since about 1850. Thomas Edison in the U.S. was working on improving the bulb patented by Swan and was granted a U.S. patent in 1879.






17. Movable type in Ancient China - The first record of a movable type system is in the Dream Pool Essays written in 1088 - which attributed the invention of the movable type to Bi Sheng. In the 15th century - Johannes Gutenberg independently invented th






18. Arc lamp - Humphry Davy (exact date unclear; not practical as a light source until generators)






19. The electric light bulb was first patented in England by 1878 by Joseph Swan after having experimented since about 1850. Thomas Edison in the U.S. was working on improving the bulb patented by Swan and was granted a U.S. patent in 1879.






20. Watermill (grain mill) by Greek engineers in Eastern Mediterranean (see also List of ancient watermills)






21. Flute in Germany






22. World Wide Web by a British national in Geneva - Switzerland - The World Wide Web was first proposed on March 1989 by English engineer and computer scientist Sir Tim Berners-Lee - now the Director of the World Wide Web Consortium. The project was pub






23. Numerical zero in Ancient India - The concept of zero as a number - and not merely a symbol for separation is attributed toIndia. In India - practical calculations were carried out using zero - which was treated like any other number by the 9th centu






24. Canal lock (possibly pound lock) in Ancient Suez Canal under Ptolemy II (283






25. Watermill (grain mill) by Greek engineers in Eastern Mediterranean (see also List of ancient watermills)






26. Thomas Newcomen builds the first steam engine to pump water out of mines. Newcomen's engine - unlike Thomas Savery's - used a piston.






27. The tank was invented by Ernest Swinton - although the British Royal Commission on Awards recognised a South Australian named Lance de Mole who had submitted a proposal to the British War Office - for a 'chain-rail vehicle which could be easily stee






28. Burial






29. Catapult in Ancient Greece (incl. Sicily)






30. Pointed arch bridge (Karamagara Bridge) in Cappadocia - Eastern Roman Empire






31. Mariner's compass (wet compass) in Ancient China - The earliest recorded use of magnetized needle for navigational purposes at sea is found in Zhu Yu's book Pingzhou Table Talks of 1119 (written from 1111 to 1117). The typical Chinese navigational co






32. Anders Celsius develops the Centigrade temperature scale.






33. DVD is an optical disc storage format - invented and developed by Philips - Sony - Toshiba - and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions.






34. Eyeglasses in Italy






35. Paper in Ancient China - Although it is recorded that the Han Dynasty (202 BC






36. Printing press in Mainz - Germany - The printing press was invented in the Holy Roman Empire by Johannes Gutenberg around 1440 - based on existing screw presses. The first confirmed record of a press appeared in a 1439 lawsuit against Gutenberg.






37. The first working phonograph was invented by Thomas Edison






38. Sakia gear in Hellenistic Egypt






39. Printing press in Mainz - Germany - The printing press was invented in the Holy Roman Empire by Johannes Gutenberg around 1440 - based on existing screw presses. The first confirmed record of a press appeared in a 1439 lawsuit against Gutenberg.






40. Bow






41. Spiral stairs (Temple A) in Selinunte - Sicily (see also List of ancient spiral stairs)






42. Morphine in Paderborn - Germany - Morphine was discovered as the first active alkaloid extracted from the opium poppy plant in December 1804 by Friedrich Sert






43. Three-masted ship (mizzen - on Syracusia) under Hiero II of Syracuse - Sicily






44. Papyrus paper invented by ancient Egyptians by interlocking the stems of the Papyrus plant in the lower Nile.






45. Eyeglasses in Italy






46. Buttress dam in Roman Empire






47. Noria in Roman Empire






48. Fore-and-aft rig (spritsail) in Ancient Greece






49. Arch dam (Glanum Dam) in Gallia Narbonensis - Roman Republic (see also List of Roman dams)






50. A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device (a television - monitor - etc.) to display a video game. The term 'video game con