Article Surfing Archive

1. What was the name of the first computer game?
A. Pong
B. Tennis for Two
C. Pacman
D. Donkey Kong

2. How were the Hawaiian Islands settled?
A. By pirates
B. By Polynesians
C. By Spaniards
D. By English

3. Which U.S. city had the first full-time organized police department?
A. Boston
B. New York
C. Chicago
D. Washington D.C.

4. Credit money is paper backed by what?
A. Promise to pay
B. Gold
C. Silver
D. Goods or property

5. The U.S. state Kansas is named for the Kansas River but where did the river get the name?
A. Joseph Kansas, the explorer
B. the Kansa people who once lived in the area
C. the Kansa plains, a geographical feature in the region
D. the Kansa bird found in the region

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Trivia Answers

1. What was the name of the first computer game?
B. Tennis for Two
ATB: It was created by Working William A. Higinbotham to make the annual autumn open house at Brookhaven National Laboratory, a US nuclear research lab in Upton, New York, more interesting to the public. Higinbotham creates in three weeks the game system they name Tennis for Two, and it debuts with other exhibits in the Brookhaven gymnasium at the next open house in October 1958. In the rudimentary side-view tennis game, the ball bounces off a long horizontal line at the bottom of the oscilloscope, and there is a small vertical line in the centre to represent the net. Two boxes each with a dial and a button are the controllers...the dials affect the angle of the ball trajectory and the buttons "hit" the ball back to the other side of the screen. If the player doesn't curve the ball right it crashes into the net. A reset button is also available to make the ball reappear on either side of the screen ready to be sent into play again. No score is tabulated, and it is displayed in glorious phosphor monochrome on a puny 5" oscilloscope screen, but it is still a big hit with everyone who visits the display. There are people in line for hours to play it.

2. How were the Hawaiian Islands settled?
B. By Polynesians
ATB: The Hawaiian Islands were originally settled by Polynesian immigrants more than 1,000 years ago.

3. Which U.S. city had the first full-time organized police department?
B. New York
ATB: Although Boston was a close second!

4. Credit money is paper backed by what?
A. Promise to pay
ATB: Credit money is paper backed by promises by the issuer, whether a government or a bank, to pay an equivalent value in the standard monetary metal.

5. The U.S. state Kansas is named for the Kansas River but where did the river get the name?
B. the Kansa people who once lived in the area
ATB: The state is named for the Kansas
River, which, in turn, was named for
the Kansa people, who once inhabited the northeast area of the state.