Inventions Trivia: Who Really Invented What?

Invention questions are quiz favourites because the answers are often surprising — and the credit is often disputed. Here are 20 facts worth knowing.

World-Changing Ideas

• Johannes Gutenberg’s printing press made books affordable and helped spread knowledge across Europe.
• Alexander Graham Bell is credited with patenting the first practical telephone.
• Thomas Edison did not invent the light bulb outright, but he developed the first commercially practical version.
• The Wright brothers achieved the first sustained, powered flight in 1903.

Happy Accidents

• Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin by accident after mould contaminated one of his petri dishes.
• The microwave oven was invented after an engineer noticed a chocolate bar melting in his pocket near radar equipment.
• Post-it Notes came from a failed attempt to create a very strong adhesive.
• X-rays were discovered by chance while Wilhelm Röntgen was experimenting with cathode rays.

Everyday Essentials

• The wheel is one of the oldest and most important inventions in human history.
• Marie Curie’s research into radioactivity earned her Nobel Prizes in two different sciences.
• The World Wide Web was invented by Tim Berners-Lee around 1989.

Keep a few of these in mind and any inventions question becomes easy points. Fancy a challenge? Start a free General Knowledge quiz and put your facts to work.