Happy Accidents
After a walk with his dog in 1941, Swiss engineer George de Mestral found their coats covered in burrs from a burdock plant, which inspired this hook-and-loop fastener.
Velcro
The German mark, French franc, and Italian lira all disappeared when this currency entered cash circulation in 2002.
The Euro
Formed in Liverpool by John Lennon, this skiffle group was called The Quarrymen before it became one of the best-selling bands of all time.
Beatles
Single father tries to end world hunger with his rock collection
Avengers: Infinity War
In 2023, LeBron James passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA’s all-time leading scorer in a game against this team.
Oklahoma City Thunder
Pharmacist John Pemberton, hoping to create an opiate-free painkiller, accidentally mixed his syrup with carbonated water and created this drink in 1886.
Coca-Cola
In Harry Potter, 29 bronze coins make a silver coin, and 17 silver coins make a gold coin. Name one of these.
Knuts, Sickles, and Galleons
Pharmacist Caleb Bradham invented this soft drink in New Bern, North Carolina, and first sold it as “Brad’s Drink” before renaming it in 1898.
Pepsi
Anti-social homeowner takes on a series of unpaid errands to get squatters off his property
Shrek
At the 2026 World Cup, fans showed up to matches in military-style outfits and custom shirts for this French football(soccer) player’s “dictator” meme.
Kylian Mbappe
Alfred Nobel tamed volatile nitroglycerin by mixing it with silica powder, creating this explosive he patented in 1867.
Dynamite
Which denomination features Alexander Hamilton’s portrait on the front?
$10 Bill
Larry Page and Sergey Brin started this search engine at Stanford in 1996 under the name “BackRub,” a nod to how it analyzed the web’s backlinks, before renaming it in 1997.
Wealthy grandfather’s petting zoo has a security issue
Jurassic Park
In the 2025 UEFA Champions League final in Munich, this French club beat Inter Milan 5-0 to win the competition for the first time in its history.
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG)
Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann accidentally absorbed a compound through his fingertips in 1943 and had a famously strange bicycle ride home. The compound was this hallucinogen.
LSD
This country printed a 100 trillion dollar banknote, the largest denomination ever printed for general circulation.
Zimbabwe
Before settling on its famous name, this grunge band formed in Aberdeen, Washington, briefly performed as “Skid Row.”
Nirvana
A retired military general takes up competitive sports because of a dispute with his ex-boss
Gladiator
At the 2008 Beijing Games, Michael Phelps won the 100m butterfly by just 0.01 seconds over this Serbian swimmer
Milorad Čavić
Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson tried to eliminate radio static from their antenna, even cleaning out pigeon droppings. They had actually found the first evidence of this event.
The Big Bang
Nicknamed “pieces of eight” because it was worth eight reales, this silver coin was the world’s first truly global currency.
The Peso
Founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and first called “AuctionWeb,” this online marketplace’s first sale was a broken laser pointer.
eBay
Farm boy buys two secondhand appliances and ends up in a rebellion against an authoritarian government
Star Wars: A New Hope
At the 2024 T20 Cricket World Cup, co-hosted by the US and the West Indies, Team USA stunned this cricket powerhouse in a Super Over in Dallas
Team Pakistan