Rooms in a House Trivia Quiz

Answer: O.A. North

Most sources credit Connecticut man O.A. North with coming up with a coat hanger design resembling the wire hanger that is still familiar to us in the 1860s. It is also noted that Thomas Jefferson is said to have utilised a clothes-hanging device years earlier, and that a novelty company employee from Michigan, Albert Parkhouse, improved on the design in the early part of the 20th century. Whether made of wire, wood, or plastic, the coat hanger remains an invaluable invention in use daily.

Answer: Robert Adler

Though remote control devices for television sets existed before the introduction by Zenith of Adler's Space Command model in the mid-1950s, they had major drawbacks that Adler's design addressed. Some required attachment to the set by a cord that could be tripped over, while others relied on photo cells that reacted to light from sources other than the remote control, resulting in random channel changes or turning on and off of the set. Adler's use of ultrasonic signals corrected these problems. Robert Adler (1913-2007) was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in Alexandria, Virginia, in 2008.

It should be noted that remotes using sound were being phased out by the 1980s, and replaced by the now familiar models utilising infrared light and capable of a multitude of functions. Random channel changing can still occur, but that usually means the cat or dog has walked across the buttons.

Answer: Melvil Dewey

M.L.K. "Melvil" Dewey (1851-1931) was a librarian and one of the founders of the American Library Association. He copyrighted his Dewey Decimal Classification in 1876, since which time the system has been widely used in the organisation of libraries in many countries. Briefly, the system divides knowledge into a number of categories, designated by numbers like 100, 200 and so on, and then further subdivides these into more specific classifications. For example, 900 is History and Geography; 940 is History of Europe and 941 of the British Isles. Adding a decimal point digs even deeper, with e.g., 940.54 denoting the military history of World War II.

Though usually to be found in use in large libraries, the Dewey Decimal System can be adapted to smaller collections (like the non-fiction section of the small English language library at which I used to volunteer in Spain) and could even be useful for a home library, especially one with a variety of topics covered. I've often considered implementing it for my own collection of books, but have yet to do so.

Answer: Bette Nesmith Graham

Bette Nesmith Graham (1924-1980) was a secretary and typist from Texas who solved the problem of having to over-strike or completely retype letters by her invention of Liquid Paper, a white fluid that could be painted over errant keystrokes which could then be overtyped without the error showing through. Although the need for this handy item is much reduced in the computer age, it was a game changer when introduced in the 1950s. Best known as a white liquid, subsequent developments saw correction fluids in multiple colours, that could be used on coloured card stock and such. I personally used a blue variety in one job and a brownish red one to eliminate flaws in negatives, when working at an offset printing company, making printing plates.

Bette Nesmith Graham is also known as the mother of the Monkees' Michael Nesmith (1942-2021), who was one of her helpers, as a youngster, making the original batches of "Mistake Out" as the first fluid was called.

Answer: Percy Spencer

Percy L. Spencer (1894-1970) worked for a company called Raytheon during World War II, and part of his job involved magnetrons, radar and other scientific wonders. His 'invention' of the microwave oven stemmed from that work, and is often described as having been an accidental discovery, when a peanut cluster bar in Spencer's pocket melted during testing of magnetrons. Not long after, in 1947, the Radarange (the first microwave oven) was on the market. Having prepared my own dinner tonight in a descendant of that machine, I thank Spencer for his work!

Spencer, from Maine, was largely self-taught. He was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1999.

Answer: George Absolom

For those who don't know, a teasmade is an automatic tea maker cum alarm clock, a British invention, that whirrs and hisses and wakes one up to a nice hot cup of tea, without even having to get out of bed! Though early models had existed since the 1890s, including one designed by Samuel Rowbottom, it was Englishman Absolom who patented a device he called "teesmade" in 1932. At around the same time an employee of a company called Goblin came up with something similar, which was eventually marketed under the "Teasmade" name.

Absolom had attempted to patent the "teesmade" spelling, but it was rejected as it could confuse customers into thinking it had something to do with the River Tees, which it did not.

Answer: Joseph and Noah McVicker

Believe it or not, Play-Doh's original purpose was as a cleaner for wallpaper, though not under that name. Joe McVicker became aware that nursery school teachers had begun to use the non-toxic cleaner, made by the company of whom he was a principal, as a plaything, and after testing he and his uncle Noah formed a new company to market the newly named Play-Doh as a modelling clay in 1956.

Play-Doh was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame in Rochester, NY, in 1998.

Answer: Jacob Schick

Born in Ottumwa, Iowa, Jacob Schick (1877-1937) has been called the "father of electric razors". His first design for an electric shaver came before the First World War, but it was unwieldy and too bulky. After serving in the war, Schick first designed a "repeating razor" before eventually perfecting the dry electric razor which he received a patent for in 1930.

Schick became a Canadian citizen in 1935, and was living in Montreal when he died at the age of 59.

Answer: Conrad J. Gaiser

Doing laundry in the 1960s, while a big improvement over earlier decades, could still be quite a bother. One of the worst parts was having to time the addition of the fabric softener to the rinse cycle, especially if your laundry room was a couple of floors down from your living quarters, as it was for Audrey Gaiser and her husband Conrad. A chemist by profession, Conrad had the bright idea of soaking a piece of cloth in liquid fabric softener and tossing it into the dryer with the freshly washed clothes. It worked, and the dryer sheet was born.

Given that I use dryer sheets when I do laundry even now, I guess I should thank Mr Gaiser, for the ease with which my clothes stay soft, static free, and sweet smelling!

Answer: Mary Anderson

In the early 20th century, Mary Anderson (1866-1953) was visiting a snowy New York City from Alabama, and the sight of the trolley driver having to constantly dismount and clean the windshield from the outside made her think there must be a better way. There was, and she invented it: an automated arm to scrape off the snow, operated from inside the vehicle. She received a patent for her "window cleaning device" in 1903, and as the automobile became more prevalent on the roads of the world, so her device was adapted to those vehicles, becoming a commonplace item.

Mary Anderson was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2011.