Inventions & Discoveries Trivia
Who invented the telephone, the light bulb, the World Wide Web — and who really got there first? This category covers the inventors, discoveries and happy accidents that changed everyday life.
Every answer is typed, and each one comes with a short fact about how the invention came about.
- 203questions
- 39easy
- 50medium
- 114hard
What's covered
- Inventors
- Scientific discoveries
- Everyday inventions
- Patents
- Happy accidents
- Industrial Revolution
Inventions & Discoveries Trivia: sample questions
Answer in your head, then tap to check. In the game you type it.
- easy
What navigation instrument, containing a magnetized needle that swings to point toward magnetic north, transformed open-sea sailing?
Show answer
Compass
The device began life around 200 BC in Han-dynasty China not for navigation but for fortune-telling, using a magnetized lodestone spoon.
- easy
Which Scottish-born inventor is credited with patenting the first practical telephone in 1876?
Show answer
Alexander Graham Bell
The first words Bell spoke over his new device were reportedly 'Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you,' summoning his assistant from the next room.
- medium
Which British archaeologist discovered the near-intact tomb in Egypt's Valley of the Kings in 1922?
Show answer
Howard Carter
Inside the tomb Carter's team found the boy king's now-famous solid gold burial mask, along with thousands of other treasures left almost undisturbed for over 3,000 years.
- medium
Which engineer sent the first networked email message in 1971 and chose the @ symbol to separate the username from the host computer's name?
Show answer
Ray Tomlinson
Tomlinson couldn't recall the exact content of that first message and later guessed it was probably a meaningless test string like 'QWERTYUIOP'.
- hard
Which English doctor pioneered the smallpox vaccine in 1796 after observing that dairymaids who caught cowpox seemed immune to the disease?
Show answer
Edward Jenner
Jenner's technique gave us the word 'vaccine' itself, derived from the Latin 'vacca,' meaning cow.
How Kenna works
Type the answer
No multiple choice. Typos and near-misses are forgiven automatically.
Beat the clock
Answer fast for a speed bonus — or switch the timer off for a relaxed round.
Learn something
Every question ends with a short fun fact that expands on the answer.
Ready for 203 more?
Play Inventions & Discoveries trivia solo, or host a game and invite friends. No ads, no account needed.
Play Inventions & Discoveries trivia