The Most Important 'F' People Trivia Quiz

Answer: The creation of the first electric battery

The invention of the electric battery is assigned to French physicist Alessandro Volta, but the other three choices were indeed innovations of Faraday. The electric motor he created was primitive indeed, consisting of a wire, imbued with electric current, rotating around a stationary magnet.

But the science behind this motor formed the basis for all future electric motors. Faraday is considered to be the father of electrolysis and one of the founders of the science of electromagnetism. His discovery of electromagnetic induction led to his invention of the first electric dynamo. If that wasn't enough, through electrolysis he discovered benzene, among other chemical substances, and popularized the use of words like anode and ion.

Answer: Bearing the wounds of Christ (stigmata)

St. Francis was a monk who believed in a very simplistic life, loving nature and caring for the poor and sick. It is said that he bore the wounds of Christ, also called stigmata, a rare and special occurrence among Catholic saints. Artists such as Giotto happily depicted him with the stigmata wounds, which were imbued by rays of light from heaven. Of the other descriptions, St. George is the dragon killer, St. Anthony is the tempted one and St. Jerome is depicted as a lonely hermit in the wilderness.

Answer: Florey

Along with Ernst Chain (German), Howard Walter Florey (Australian) was able to follow up on Fleming's work, purifying Penicillin and testing it on a human being in 1941. The discovery saved the lives of thousands upon thousands of soldiers and hundreds of thousands of civilians have also benefited from this remarkable antibiotic. Fleming, Florey and Chain received the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1945 as a result of their wondrous work. All of this from what has been described as a happy laboratory accident (Fleming did not mean for the mold to appear
in his original experiment!)

Answer: Prussia

When Frederick ascended to the throne Prussia was a significant power in Europe. Through his efforts, Prussia's influence and power grew mightily over the next several decades. He successfully navigated his kingdom through the Seven Years' War, while all along improving his domain via the arts, commerce and wealth. By his death, Prussia had doubled in territorial size and became the dominant state of Germany. Later, when Germany would be consolidated into a modern state by Bismarck, it was Prussia that led the effort (Bismarck's native land).

Answer: Dumb waiter

Franklin's inventions were quite significant, but hardly the only things for which he is remembered. Aside from being an inventor, Franklin was a successful diplomat, printer, publisher and author. Ben Franklin was truly one of the great innovators that helped make the United States possible, thus he has been placed in high rank among the 'founding fathers'. On top of all of this, Franklin was a great connoisseur of life...something to which the French can certainly attest, based on his history as a diplomat in that country!

Answer: Henry Ford

Ford's life is full of paradox. Though he was strictly anti-union, he helped set the benefits that most unionized workers have now come to take for granted. He was also a prominent critic of intellectuals, but his Ford Foundation has funded thousands of projects involving the work of very highly educated folks.

He also became something of an Nazi-sympathizer, though his industrial efforts helped defeat Germany during World War II. Whatever else one says about him, one must admit...the guy wasn't boring!

Answer: Fust

While Gutenberg provided the intellect and innovation that produced the first printing press, the financing for the invention came from Johann Fust. Later, the press came fully into Fust's possession when Gutenberg was unable to profit from his work. Fust continued to print Bibles and other related works using the printing press, while employing his son in law Peter Schaeffer. If you would like to see original copies of both Gutenberg's Bible and Schaeffer's Psalterium, pay a visit to the British Library (speaking of that, you may learn more about this topic by taking my two quizzes on the 'Treasures of the British Library'!)

Answer: Philo Farnsworth

Philo Taylor Farnsworth, a Utah native, invented a very early version of the television in 1927. He is sometimes credited as the inventor of the television, though several other individuals have claim on this distinction, including the Scottish Baird and the Russian Zworykin.

The truth is, the history of this invention is very complex and these and other inventors deserve credit for their innovations. Where would we be without their work? We'd all look awfully funny spending four hours a day on average staring at the wall.

Answer: Czech Republic

Freiberg is now called Pribor, a Czech town. Freud's family were German Jews and settled in Vienna when he was only four years old. There he received his medical degree, at the University of Vienna, and proceeded to become the most famous psychologist in history.

His works include: 'The Interpretation of Dreams' and 'Civilization and its Discontents'. His ideas provided the basis for modern psychoanalytic theory and words and phrases such as 'ego', 'death wish' and 'Oedipus Complex' were popularized through his works. Though one may disagree with some (or all) of his ideas, his importance to the field of psychology cannot be denied.

Answer: Fermi

Enrico Fermi was an Italian-born nuclear physicist who became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1944. It was during World War II, when the race to acquire nuclear technology had gone into high gear, that Fermi, at the University of Chicago, led a team that developed the world's first nuclear reactor.

The coded message sent back to Washington, regarding this discovery said, "The Italian navigator has entered the new world." I thank you for having tried this quiz. If you enjoyed it feel free to sample some of my related alphabetic people quizzes...I'm sure you'll find more that you'll appreciate. Thanks!