Check your answers here for which items were invented before 1915:
zipper
Yes. The first functioning version of the interlocking teeth zipper, called the “Hookless Fastener No. 2,” was invented by Swedish-born American immigrant Gideon Sundbäck in 1914. The name “Zipper” was first used in the 1920s. During the 1920s and 1930s the zipper gained popularity for use in children’s clothing and men’s trousers.
radio
Yes. The first publicly demonstrated transmission and reception of a radio signal was in 1894 by Oliver Lodge and Alexander Muirhead. The first radio broadcast of sound and speech occurred on December 24, 1906, by Reginald Fessenden. The use of radio receivers in homes began in the 1920s.
penicillin
No. Discovered by Alexander Fleming in 1928.
potato chips
Yes. The original potato chips were invented by chef George Crum in 1853. Potato chips began to be mass produced in 1910.
telegrams
Yes. Telegrams were first transmitted in the 1830s.
Baker’s Breakfast Cocoa
Yes. The border on your paper is from a 1915 newspaper ad for Baker’s Breakfast Cocoa.
computer
No. The first digital computer was invented by George Stibitz in 1937.
butter
Yes. Butter making is an ancient chore, possibly from as early as 8000 BC.
television
No. The cathode-ray tube was invented in 1923, but televisions did not come into use until the 1930s.
Coca-Cola
Yes. Coca-Cola was invented in 1885 and first sold in 1886.
Velcro
No. Swiss engineer, George de Mestral, invented the hook-loop fastener in 1941, which was called the “zipperless zipper” in the 1950s. Velcro only became popular after NASA used the product for fasteners in space suits.
quilts
Yes. Quilts have been sewn for centuries, perhaps as early as the 35th century BC.
graham crackers
Yes. Invented by Rev. Sylvester Graham in 1829.
Kellogg’s Corn Flakes
Yes. First sold in 1906.
Slinky
No. Invented by Richard James in 1943.
telephone
Yes. Alexander Graham Bell’s first telephone transmission of clear speech occurred on March 10, 1876.
ice cream
Yes. Ice cream has been around since the 1700s.
plastic
Yes. Invented by Alexander Parkes in 1862.
yo-yo
Yes. The second-oldest toy in the world (over 2500 years).
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