Why Are They Famous? Trivia Quiz

Answer: The founders of Pizza Hut

Brothers Frank and Dan Carney were college students at Wichita University in Kansas, USA when they started Pizza Hut in 1958. They also created a mascot in the early days who wore a neckerchief and was named 'Pizza Pete'. Had the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles been around in the 1950s, they could have been effective mascots since pizza formed a central part of the comic book characters' diet.

In the 2014 "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" movie, the main characters' couch was even made from Pizza Hut boxes!

Answer: The paper bag

In 1870, Margaret patented a machine that could feed, cut, fold, and glue paper bags to create a square bottom. Up until this point, paper bags were all folded by hand. Although a man named Charles Annan attempted to steal her design, claiming that a woman "could not possibly understand the mechanical complexities of the machine", Margaret could provide original blueprints and easily won the lawsuit.

Answer: Inventor of the jukebox

Rather than the saloon owner needing to pay for live entertainment, patrons could pay a nickel and choose from up to 24 records in the Multiphone jukebox. The rotating wheel mechanism, which allowed customers to choose from up to 24 records, was patented by John C Dunton in 1905 and offered a larger selection than six choices provided by the similar (but slightly later) Hexaphone.

Answer: He walked across a high-wire between the Twin Towers in New York

On August 7, 1974, Phillippe Petit shocked the world by spending 45 minutes walking between the newly built twin towers of the World Trade Centre eight times. He was about 1350 feet or 411 metres high (104th floor) and was so comfortable that at one point he lay down on the high wire cable itself. Philippe's exploit has been memorialised in a number of feature length films including the 2008 documentary 'Man on Wire' and 'The Walk (2015).

Answer: He invented the game volleyball

William G Morgan was an instructor at the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) in Holyoke, Massachussets when he designed a game called 'Mintonette'. It blended baseball, basketball, handball, and tennis and as many players could participate as was "convenient to the place". The name was later changed to volleyball after a Springfield College professor noted the volleying nature of the sport.

Players 'spike' the volleyball when they hit it at a downward angle, trying to score a point by forcing it to touch the ground. Players can 'dig' however by redirecting powerfully hit shots towards their teammates, who will try to try to set up an offensive play.

Answer: Invented the Band-Aid

Earle Dickson might have his wife to thank for making him famous as she was continuously nicking her fingers when working in the kitchen. The bandages he applied when treating her were large and clumsy and he thought there must be a more practical solution. Thus the idea of an adhesive bandage one could apply to themselves, was born.

Since Earle was an employee at 'Johnson & Johnson' at the time, it was they who produced the first Band-Aids in 1921.

Answer: 'Mary Had a Little Lamb'

The first 12 lines of 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' were written by John Roulstone and were inspired by an actual nine year old girl named Mary Sawyer who nursed a lamb back to health and took it to school one day whilst John was there. Sarah added 12 further lines and the extended version was published for the first time in her book 'Poems for Our Children' in 1830.

Since Sarah went on to become editor of the magazine 'Godey's Lady's Book', she's not just known for this nursery rhyme however, but also for her views on the abolition of slavery, gender roles, and the creation of Thanksgiving as a national holiday in the USA.

Answer: Founded the world's oldest, still-operating university

Fatima al-Fihri founded the al-Qarawiyyin mosque in 859 AD in Fez, Morocco. This mosque was not just for religious purposes but also education for her local community and the institution eventually became the University of al-Qarawiyyin. This university is now recognised by UNESCO and the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest existing, and continually operating educational institution in the world.

Answer: First to observe and describe microorganisms

Today, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek is considered the "Father of Microbiology" and his letters to the Royal Society of England in the 1670s are the first descriptions we have of the microscopic world. Observations made and described by Antonie include muscle fibers, bacteria, spermatozoa, and blood flow in capillaries.

Answer: Organised the first 'paralympics'

Dr. Guttmann organised an archery competition between WWII veterans with spinal cord injuries to take place on 29 July 1948 - the day of the Opening Ceremony for the London Olympics. Although initially just between two rehabilitation centres near London and called the Stoke Mandeville Games (after the Spinal Injury Centre in which Dr. Guttmann worked), the competition evolved into an international sporting event by 1952, and the ninth edition (in 1960) is now considered to be the first Paralympic Games.