Author Topic: British or American? *** Answers Posted ***  (Read 7629 times)

Offline Kerry

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Re: British or American?
« Reply #10 on: September 12, 2007, 07:01:45 pm »
Hi Kerry,
Thanks for having a go... you've got 8 out of 20 ... ... not bad but I'm sure you'll argue with me over one or two of the answers!  And you used the smileys properly ... that must be worth a bonus point or two!!

Hi, Susie!  :D Fun quiz! I thought an Australian invented the modern, two-stroke, petrol driven lawn mower (or am I getting confused with the rotary clothes hoist?!  ::) ), so I'm guessing you're talking about the original push-push type lawn mower?  ???

One of my favourite artists, Caravaggio, belonged to various tennis clubs in Rome in the late 1500s/early 1600s, but I always thought the game was invented by the French, hence the French scoring system.  ???
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Offline loneleeb3

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Re: British or American?
« Reply #11 on: September 12, 2007, 09:24:32 pm »

13 out of 20 .

ps.. Nice to see you here Lee, we haven't chatted for a while now!!

I should have done better! I can't wait to see the answers!
I know Susie! Sorry bout that! I've kinda been twisted up in my own world. However, things are starting to simmer down. At least for this week! LOL
I'll try and be around more! I've missed ya and i need to read some more fan fiction!! ;D
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Re: British or American?
« Reply #12 on: September 15, 2007, 07:07:49 pm »
So do you want to know the answers then?  Just remember ... don't shoot the messenger!!


1. The Sandwich   BRITISH

The sandwich was invented by John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich (1718-1792). About 1762, he is reputed to have been too busy to have a formal meal, and instructed his cook to pack his meat inside the bread to save him time - and the sandwich was invented.


2. The Modern Flush Toilet  BRITISH

In 1596, Sir John Harington is said to have invented 'The Ajax', a flush toilet for Elizabeth I of England, who wouldn't use the contraption because it made too much noise. His design was ridiculed in England, but was adopted in France under the name Angrez. The design had a flush valve to let water out of the tank, and a wash-down design to empty the bowl.



3. The Sewing Machine  AMERICAN

In 1833 Walter Hunt invented the first lock-stitch sewing machine, but lost interest and did not patent his invention. Later, Elias Howe secured the patent on an original lock-stitch machine, but failed to manufacture and sell it. Still later, Isaac Singer infringed on Howe's patent to make his own machine, which made Singer rich.



4. The lawn Mower  BRITISH

The first lawn mower was invented in 1830 by Edwin Beard Budding. Budding (1795-1846) was an engineer from Stroud, Gloucestershire, England. His reel mower was a set of blades set in a cylinder on two wheels. When you push the lawn mower, the cylinder rotates, and the blades cut the grass. Budding patented his lawn mower on August 31, 1830. Before his invention, a scythe was used (or sheep or other grazing animals were allowed to graze on the grass). The first reel lawn mower patent in the US (January 12, 1868) was granted to Amariah M. Hills, who formed the Archimedean Lawn Mower Co.



5. The Burglar Alarm     AMERICAN

Edwin Holmes was an American inventor. He is credited with inventing the burglar alarm, at his factory in Boston, Massachusetts, having begun to sell them in 1858. His son Edwin T. Holmes took over the company after his death. Later, his workshop was used by Alexander Graham Bell as the young Bell pursued his invention of the telephone. Holmes was the first person to have a home telephone.



6. The Telephone  AMERICAN

1877 The early history of the telephone is a confusing morass of claim and counterclaim, which was not clarified by the huge mass of lawsuits which hoped to resolve the patent claims of individuals. The Bell and Edison patents, however, were forensically victorious and commercially decisive. 

.... no it wasn't a trick question David!!



7. The Electric Light  BRITISH

The first incandescent electric light was made in 1800 by Humphry Davy, an English scientist. He experimented with electricity and invented an electric battery. When he connected wires to his battery and a piece of carbon, the carbon glowed, producing light. This is called an electric arc.
Much later, in 1860, the English physicist Sir Joseph Wilson Swan (1828-1914) was determined to devise a practical, long-lasting electric light. He found that a carbon paper filament worked well, but burned up quickly. In 1878, he demonstrated his new electric lamps in Newcastle, England.

The inventor Thomas Alva Edison (in the USA) experimented with thousands of different filaments to find just the right materials to glow well and be long-lasting. In 1879, Edison discovered that a carbon filament in an oxygen-free bulb glowed but did not burn up for 40 hours. Edison eventually produced a bulb that could glow for over 1500 hours. The incandescent bulb revolutionized the world.


.... oooh a controvertial one, most people give Edison the credit for inventing electric light!!


8. The Hearing Aid AMERICAN

In 1880 R.G. Rhodes improved on the ear trumpet with a primitive hearing aid. The device was a thin sheet of hard rubber or cardboard placed against teeth which conducted vibrations to the auditory nerve.



9. Tennis  BRITISH

Tennis as the modern sport, can be dated to two separate roots. Between 1859 and 1865, Major Harry Gem and his friend Augurio Perera developed a game that combined elements of rackets and Spanish ball game pelota, which they played on Perera's croquet lawn in Birmingham, England.  In 1872, along with two local doctors, they founded the world's first tennis club in Leamington Spa.  The Courier of 23 July 1884 recorded one of the first tennis tournaments, held in the grounds of Shrubland Hall.

In December 1873, Major Walter Clopton Wingfield devised a similar game for the amusement of his guests at a garden party on his estate of Nantclwyd, in Llanelidan, Wales.  He based the game on the older sport of indoor tennis or real tennis. According to most tennis historians, modern tennis terminology also derives from this period, as Wingfield borrowed both the name and much of the French vocabulary of royal tennis and applied them to his new game.



10. The Disposable Diaper/Nappy  BRITISH

In 1947, George M. Schroder, working for the Textile  Research Institute of the University of Chattanooga, Tennessee, US, was approached by the Henry Frede & Co. to create the first disposable diaper with disposable nonwoven fabric.  The same year Valerie Hunter Gordon, a British mother, developed a two piece disposable diaper.

.... another controvertial one ... but according to my reliable source "How to Avoid A Wombat's Bum", Britain beat America to it!!



11. The Coffee Pot    AMERICAN

In 1806 Coffee drinkers the world over no longer had to chew their brew. Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, (an anglo american physicist from Woburn, Massachusetts), invented a coffee pot with a metal sieve to strain away the grounds.



12. The Vending Machine  BRITISH

The first vending machine is believed to have been invented by Hero of Alexandria, a first-century inventor. His machine accepted a coin and then dispensed a fixed amount of holy water



13. Roller Skates  AMERICAN

In 1863 James Plimpton of Medford, Massachusetts, gave the world the first practical four-wheeled roller skate. This set off a roller craze that quickly spread across the U.S. and Europe.



14. The Hovercraft  BRITISH

In the mid-1870s, the British engineer Sir John Isaac Thornycroft built a number of ground effect machine test models based on his idea of using air between the hull of a boat and the water to reduce drag. Although he filed a number of patents involving air-lubricated hulls in 1877, no practical applications were found. Over the years, various other people had tried various methods of using air to reduce the drag on ships.



15. Frozen Food  AMERICAN

In 1929 Clarence Birdseye offered his quick-frozen foods to the public. Birdseye got the idea during fur-trapping expeditions to Labrador in 1912 and 1916, where he saw the natives use freezing to preserve foods.



16. The Stapler  BRITISH

The stapler as we use it today was invented by John Munford in the mid 20th century, an Englishman who sold it to his employer for a small profit and was never officially recognised for his creation.



17. Oral Contraception  AMERICAN

The Combined Oral Contraceptive Pill (COCP), often referred to as "the Pill", is a combination of an estrogen (oestrogen) and a progestin (progestogen), taken by mouth to inhibit normal fertility. Combined oral contraceptives were developed by Gregory Goodwin Pincus, John Rock, and Min Chueh Chang.  They were first approved for contraceptive use in the United States in 1960, and are still a popular form of birth control.



18. The Aeroplane  AMERICAN

1903: The Wright brothers are generally credited with building the world's first successful human flight in a powered aeroplane and making the first controlled, powered and heavier-than-air human flight on December 17, 1903. In the two years afterward, they developed their flying machine into the world's first practical fixed-wing aircraft. The brothers' fundamental breakthrough was their invention of "three axis-control," which enabled the pilot to steer the aircraft effectively and to maintain its equilibrium. This method has become standard on fixed wing aircraft of all kinds. From the beginning of their aeronautical work, the Wright brothers focused on unlocking the secrets of control to conquer "the flying problem," rather than on developing more powerful engines as some other experimenters did.



19. The Postage Stamp  BRITISH

Postage stamps were first introduced in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in May 1, 1840 as part of the postal reforms promoted by Rowland Hill. With its introduction the postage fee was now to be paid by the sender and not the recipient as heretofore, though sending mail prepaid was not a requirement. The first postage stamp, the Penny Black, first issued on the 1st of May for use from May 6, 1840, and two days later, the Two pence blue, with an engraving of the young Queen Victoria, were an immediate success though refinements, like perforations were instituted with later issues.



20. Carbon Dating AMERICAN

1946: Carbon dating was developed by a team led by Willard Libby. Originally a carbon-14 half-life of 5568±30 years was used, which is now known as the Libby half-life. Later a more accurate figure of 5730±40 years was determined, which is known as the Cambridge half-life. However laboratories continue to use the Libby figure to avoid inconsistencies when comparing raw dates and when using calibration curves to obtain calendrical dates.




Just give me a minute to tot up the scores....


Susie

Susiebell

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Re: British or American? *** Answers Posted ***
« Reply #13 on: September 15, 2007, 07:43:40 pm »
Hi Folks ..... here's the scores on the doors .....



Kerry 8 out 20

David 10 out of 20

Scott 11 out of 20

Nutmeg 12 out of 20

Dottie 12 out of 20

Lee 13 out of 20

Fran 13 out of 20



Therefore our winner is:




***** JANICE *****


with 14 out of 20







Thanks for taking part guys, I hope you enjoyed it!! ... now what am I going to do next??

Susie


Offline David In Indy

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Re: British or American? *** Answers Posted ***
« Reply #14 on: September 17, 2007, 06:43:37 pm »

Thanks for taking part guys, I hope you enjoyed it!! ... now what am I going to do next??

Susie



Do another quiz like this Susie!! That was fun!  :D
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Offline Fran

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Re: British or American? *** Answers Posted ***
« Reply #15 on: September 17, 2007, 07:01:01 pm »
Do another quiz like this Susie!! That was fun!  :D

I'll second David's request.  That was fun.

Congratulationsl, Janice!

Offline ifyoucantfixit

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Re: British or American? *** Answers Posted ***
« Reply #16 on: September 17, 2007, 08:04:41 pm »




         YEEHAW     yay me....That is simply awsome.....I was in the hospital, and didnt have a chance to fix my list...sorry about the tardiness.  Thanks Susie for your fixit"   hahah
         Now I would like to thank you for this...Maybe I am really More English than I knew..I have won both of the quizzes involving information about English....mostly just lucky im sure...
         I love these things..do some more please maam.................. ;D        Janice    :-* :-*



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