Category: Brain Teasers

Trivia: What device did telephone operators use to connect subscribers?

Telegraph
Switchboard
Transistor circuit
Computer

The correct answer is Switchboard

So why is this answer correct? : For most of the telephone’s history, calls couldn’t be placed directly between two people. Instead, an intermediary known as an operator used a switchboard to connect two phone subscribers. Before the introduction of technology that circumvented the need for operators arrived in the 1930s, some 235,000 people, mostly women, worked as telephone operators in the U.S.

Trivia: One of the first popular mobile games was named after what animal?

Snake
Chicken
Bird
Centipede

The correct answer is Snake

So why is this answer correct? : First launched on the Nokia 6110 cell phone in 1997, “Snake” allowed players to control a serpent that slowly grew larger and larger as the game progressed. If a player ran into its own tail, the game was over. Although it was not the very first mobile game ever made (that distinction belongs to “Tetris”), “Snake” proved to be incredibly popular, demonstrating that phones could be much more than communication devices.

Trivia: What was Bluetooth technology named after?

A dental condition
A band
A fish
A Viking king

The correct answer is A Viking king

So why is this answer correct? : Bluetooth technology, which allows devices to communicate wirelessly, was invented in 1996. During a meeting between the technology companies Intel, Ericsson, and Nokia, a spokesperson suggested temporarily naming the new tech after Harald Bluetooth, the Viking king who united Scandinavia in the 10th century, since Bluetooth was intended to “unite the PC and cellular industries with a short-range wireless link.” Despite being a placeholder, the name stuck. The Bluetooth logo depicts the runes of the king’s last name merged together, known as a “bind rune.”

Trivia: What does the word “telephone” literally mean?

Long Hear
Far Sound
Distance Talk
Over Voice

The correct answer is Far Sound

So why is this answer correct? : The word “telephone” is derived from two Greek words: “tēle” (far) and “phonē” (sound). The word has been in use since at least the 17th century, and was first used to describe the string telephone. Later, it was also used for speaking tubes and megaphones that projected the voice. Alexander Graham Bell adopted the word for his electrical device in 1876, and the rest is history.

Trivia: What happens if you dial *69 on a landline phone?

Redials the last call
Checks voicemail
Delivers local weather
Reports traffic hazards

The correct answer is Redials the last call

So why is this answer correct? : *69 is a telephone feature that allows subscribers to automatically redial the last phone number that called them (much to the horror of phone pranksters everywhere). But *69 isn’t the only convenient shortcut. Other * numbers allows users to block their number on caller IDs or cancel call waiting, among a dozen other features.

Trivia: What futuristic type of telephone was first demonstrated in 1930?

Videophone
Cellphone
Cordless Phone
Smartphone

The correct answer is Videophone

So why is this answer correct? : The ability to make a video call may seem like a cutting-edge innovation that was introduced with smartphones, but it was actually first demonstrated in 1930. That year, AT&T used early television cameras to allow people in their corporate headquarters to both see and hear the people they were speaking to in their research labs. It took several decades for this technology to catch on.

Trivia: What one piece of information was listed in the first telephone book?

Numbers
Addresses
Names
Phone brands

The correct answer is Names

So why is this answer correct? : Telephone books were once vital to contacting people and services. A far cry from the thick yellow phone books we know today, the first telephone “book” was just a single page long. Released in 1878, it contained just 50 names of people who owned telephones. To speak to the correct person, you simply spoke their name into the phone and an operator would make the connection.

Trivia: What precursor to the telephone was invented in 1667?

Speaking Tube
Megaphone
Telegram
String Telephone

The correct answer is String Telephone

So why is this answer correct? : Most children are familiar with the tin-can telephone, or two cans joined by a piece of string. When you speak into one can, your voice can be clearly heard by the person holding the other can. This simple toy was once a major scientific discovery; inventor Robert Hooke’s String Telephone was a breakthrough in understanding how sound is transmitted.

Trivia: Which famous writer was one of the first people to have a home phone?

Mark Twain
Henry James
Stephen Crane
Upton Sinclair

The correct answer is Mark Twain

So why is this answer correct? : Mark Twain loved technology. He was a close friend of inventor Nikola Tesla and one of the first writers to use a typewriter for his work. In 1878, just two years after the invention of the telephone, he had one installed in his house. According to Twain, this was the first telephone to be installed in a private house anywhere in the world.

Trivia: Alexander Graham Bell thought what word should be used to answer a phone?

Hello!
Bonjour!
Ahoy!
Ciao!

The correct answer is Ahoy!

So why is this answer correct? : When we pick up the phone, it seems natural to say “Hello!” Yet when telephones were invented, it wasn’t clear what the proper greeting would be. Alexander Graham Bell thought the naval greeting “Ahoy!” would be best; Thomas Edison suggested “Hello!” Before this point, “hello” was mostly said in moments of surprise, but the greeting won out, eventually becoming an everyday word.