Famous Firsts Trivia Quiz

Answer: $100.00

Microsoft promised that the new program would be on the shelf by April 1984; version 1.0 was finally released in 1985 at the cost of $100.00. It probably would have been released under its original name of "Interface Manager" if Microsoft's marketing whiz, Rowland Hanson, had not convinced founder Bill Gates that "Windows" was the better name.

Answer: 9-1-1 telephone emergency system

Haleyville, Alabama introduced the nation's first 9-1-1 system, located at the town's police station. Alabama Speaker of the House, Rankin Fite, made the first call from another city hall room. It was answered by Congressman Tom Bevill on a bright red telephone located at the police department. So, on February 16, 1968, the first 9-1-1 call was made.

Answer: 1999

This was a tricky one. The euro was FIRST launched on January 1, 1999 as an electronic currency used by banks, foreign exchange dealers, big firms, and stock markets. The new European Central Bank set interest rates across the eurozone. On January 1, 2002, euro banknotes and coins were introduced for use by the 300,000,000 citizens of the 12 countries in the eurozone.

Answer: 3 1/2" floppy disk

The 3 1/2" floppy disk was first introduced in 1984 and allowed a greater amount of data storage in a smaller and more sturdy format than the previous 5 1/4" and 8" floppies. The 80286 processor and Commodore 64 were both developed in 1982; FORTRAN was developed in 1980.

Answer: Federal Hall - New York, NY

He took his oath of office on the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York City. After being administered the oath, he pronounced the words "So help me God" and kissed the Bible, which is a tradition continued to this very day.

Answer: O.J. Simpson

O.J. rushed for 2,003 yards with the Buffalo Bills, becoming the first player in NFL history to rush for 2,000 yards in a single season. Even more amazing, he accomplished this feat during an era where teams' schedules consisted of only 14 games!

Answer: R Rating assigned to the movie by the MPAA

The hysterical "Down and Out in Beverly Hills" received an R Rating from the Motion Picture Association of America, the first for any Disney picture. The remake of the 1932 Jean Renoir film "Boudu Saved By Drowning" included nudity, adult language, and adult situations.

The Disney Corporation, ever aware of its public image and reputation, decided to create its adult-oriented Touchstone Films division, now known as Touchstone Pictures, for films it saw as racier or more controversial.

Answer: Deep Blue

After losing to Kasparov in their first meeting in 1996, IBM's Deep Blue supercomputer defeated Kasparov in less than an hour and in only 19 moves. It was Kasparov's first loss ever, and the first time he had ever conceded defeat. It's understandable when you consider that Deep Blue's Power Two Super Chip (P2SC) processor calculated 200 million moves per second or 36 billion moves for the three minutes that the machine was allowed for thinking. Even more impressive, Kasparov's loss came in the 6th game of the 1997 rematch... the first 5 were all draws.

Answer: Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing

Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing, or "3M," has developed a wide variety of practical innovations. They are probably best known for their creation of Scotchguard water repellant and Scotch tape. DuPont, BASF, and Phillips are well known for their inventions, just not THESE inventions... ;-)

Answer: oscilloscope

Edison invented the universal stock ticker in 1869, the automatic telegraph system in 1872, and the fluorescent electric lamp in 1896. German physicist Karl Ferdinand Braun developed the first cathode-ray oscilloscope (dubbed "the Braun tube") in 1897. This device produced line graphs of rapidly varying electrical signals and was the ancestor of today's television screen

Answer: Delaware

On November 5, 1996, the State of Delaware became the first US state to conduct all of its voting electronically for a Constitutional election. Delaware used 824 electronic voting machines to tabulate the votes for President of the United States, United States Senator, United State Representative, Governor and all other state elected positions, and its statewide wide-area network and the World Wide Web to provide election results every twenty minutes on election night.

Answer: Ella Fitzgerald

Legendary jazz artist Ella Fitzgerald took home the first Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for her album "Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Irving Berlin Song Book (Album)." She received the award at the 1st Annual Grammy Awards in 1958. It was the first of thirteen Grammys she would win, including four of the first five awarded for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

Answer: Luna 2

On 13th September 1959, the Soviet space probe Luna 2 crash-landed on the surface of the Moon. On 28th February 1966, Luna 9 made the first soft landing and sent four panoramic photographs of the Moon's surface before it stopped functioning. Then, on June 2, Surveyor 1 landed and sent back 11,000 pictures in colour.

Answer: Ty Cobb

Detroit Tiger great Ty Cobb, "The Georgia Peach," played 24 years in the major leagues and owned nearly 100 baseball records when he retired. He won 12 batting titles and held the all-time record for hits with 4,191 until Pete Rose collected hit #4,192 on September 11, 1985.

Answer: 1913 Ford Model T

The FIRST letter of each of the correct answers spells out "1913 FORD MODEL T," the FIRST ever mass-produced automobile.