November 29

1775

American physician James Jay invents invisible ink. Thankfully, his invention is not used on the patent.

Where'd It Go?

Luckily, the questions on this quiz are completely visible.

  1. Economist Adam Smith famously described the self-regulating nature of a free market as “an invisible” what?
  2. Who gave Harry Potter his Invisibility Cloak?
  3. Who is missing from the following sequence? Sauron, Isildur, Deagol, Gollum, Bilbo Baggins, Frodo Baggins, Gandalf, ___ ________, Samwise Gamgee
  4. What band scored a hit with “Invisible Touch” in 1986?
  5. What organization is sometimes referred to as “The Invisible Empire of the South”?
  6. Which Greek god had a helmet that made its wearer invisible?
  7. Who, respectively, wrote “Invisible Man” and “The Invisible Man”?
  8. ”Let’s Get Invisible” is the sixth book in what literary series?
  1. Hand
  2. Albus Dumbledore
  3. Tom Bombadil (It’s the holders of the One Ring in The Lord of the Rings.)
  4. Genesis
  5. The Ku Klux Klan
  6. Hades
  7. Ralph Ellison and H. G. Wells
  8. Goosebumps

1935

Physicist Erwin Schrodinger publishes his famous thought experiment known as "Schrodinger's Cat".

Cat Calling

It appears the cat's out of the bag... and in the quiz!

  1. Within five years, when was the first Garfield strip published?
  2. According to his PBS Kids show, which fictional cat "Knows a Lot About That"?
  3. In American football, who is the ball snapped to in the wildcat formation?
  4. Who wrote the play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof?
  5. What is the name of Hermione's pet cat in the Harry Potter books?
  6. What folk singer best known for "Cat's in the Cradle" died in a car crash in 1981?
  7. Which poet's work was the inspiration for the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Cats?
  8. Which Nickelodeon sitcom originally featured the character Cat Valentine?
  9. The word "gat" means "cat" in what language, represented by the code "cat" in the ISO-639-2 language encoding system?
  10. When reading DNA, CAT represents the amino acid histidine. What is the term for this kind of string of three DNA bases?
  1. 1978 (1973 to 1983 acceptable)
  2. The Cat in the Hat
  3. The running back
  4. Tennessee Williams
  5. Crookshanks
  6. Harry Chapin
  7. T. S. Eliot
  8. Victorious
  9. Catalan
  10. A codon

1972

Pong is released, becoming the first commercially successful video game. Not bad for a game with only three characters, none of whom talk.

Guys and Gals of Games

Let's see if you can identify video game franchises by three of their characters.

Easy Mode

  1. Bowser, Peach, Luigi
  2. Shadow, Tails, Knuckles
  3. Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Charmander
  4. Ganondorf, Navi, Link
  5. Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Raiden

Normal Mode

  1. Garrus Vakarian, Urdnot Wrex, Liara T'Soni
  2. Tracer, Soldier: 76, Genji
  3. Blathers, Isabelle, Tom Nook
  4. Scout, Heavy, Spy
  5. Papyrus, Undyne, Asgore

Hard Mode

  1. Gill Grunt, Trigger Happy, Stealth Elf
  2. Bjorn, Jimmy Lightning, Kat Tut
  3. Peashooter, Sunflower, Wall-Nut
  4. Bodvar, Cassidy, Orion
  5. Cookie Masterson, Buzz Lippman, Guy Towers

Easy Mode

  1. Mario
  2. Sonic the Hedgehog
  3. Pokémon
  4. The Legend of Zelda
  5. Mortal Kombat

Normal Mode

  1. Mass Effect
  2. Overwatch
  3. Animal Crossing
  4. Team Fortress 2
  5. Undertale

Hard Mode

  1. Skylanders
  2. Peggle
  3. Plants vs. Zombies
  4. Brawlhalla
  5. You Don't Know Jack
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