I Didn't Know They Invented That! Quiz

Answer: Play-Doh

In the 1930s, at the request of Kroger Grocery, soap manufacturer Kutol Products created a clay that could be used to clean soot from wallpaper. After World War II, the heating of homes by coal was being replaced by natural gas and wallpaper was being made of stain resistant vinyl, resulting in a decrease in the need for the wallpaper cleaner.

In order to save the company from going bankrupt, the cleaning clay was changed into art clay for children.

Answer: Zipper

The original name of the zipper was "hookless fastener". It works by interlocking two separate rows of hooked teeth with a slide lever. Zippers are used in clothing, boots, coats, jackets, luggage, tents, bedding, and just about anything made of fabric that you wish to be able to open and re-close.

Answer: Twist Can Opener

Before 1870, most can openers were variations of the common knife. Though Lyman is credited with creating the can opener with the sharp rotating cutting wheel, consumers found it hard to operate. In 1925, another serrated wheel was combined with the existing cutting wheel which gave the opener better grip and stability.

Answer: Velcro

Velcro consists of two separate pads. One pad containing many tiny plastic hooks, and the other containing many tiny plastic loops. When pressed together the hooks grab the loops and stick together until pulled apart.

Answer: Bendable Straw

While in an ice cream parlor, Mr. Friedman noticed how difficult it was for his daughter to drink her milkshake from a straight paper straw. He took some straws home and inserted a screw into one of the straws and wrapped dental floss around the outside of the straw where the threads were.

When he un-wrapped the floss and took out the screw, the straw would bend and not collapse or pinch off flow.

Answer: Pull-Tab

In 1959, while on a picnic with his family, Mr. Fraze forgot to take a can opener along with him so he had to open his can of beer on a car bumper. That ended up being his "flash of genius" that pushed him into creating the pull-tab for beverage cans.

Answer: Bubble Wrap

Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes came up with the idea of bubble wrap as an afterthought while trying to create three-dimensional plastic wall paper. Some people today use the bubble wrap as a stress reliever by popping each individual bubble.

Answer: Ball Point Pen

Laszlo Biro was a journalist who noticed that printer ink dried faster and didn't blot or run like regular ink. He tried using printer ink with a fountain pen, but the ink was too thick. Then he came up with the idea of a rotating ball head to distribute the ink more evenly. In 1945, Marcel Bich purchased Biro's patent and sold the new pen under the trademark "Bic".

Answer: Kevlar

In 1964, Stephanie Kwolek began searching for a new lightweight strong fiber to use for light weight strong tires. She decided to test some of the discarded by-products of the polymers she used and, by accident, discovered that by-product produced a fiber stronger than Nylon. Seven years later, the new fabric called "Kevlar" was introduced.

Answer: Tooth Brush

In 1770, William Addis was in a British jail when, in order to clean his teeth, came up with the idea of drilling a small hole into a piece of bone and put some tufts of bristles in it and gluing the bristles in place. When he got out of jail, he mass produced the product and made a fortune. His company is still in business under the name Wisdom Toothbrushes.