Accidental Inventions
At the 1904 World’s Fair, an ice cream vendor ran out of plates, so he bought waffles from another vendor and rolled them up to hold the ice cream and created this common food item by accident.
ice cream cone
This green fruit shares its name with a small, flightless bird
kiwi
Bette Midler starred in this 1988 tearjerker film.
Beaches
Who was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean?
Amelia Earhart
The stock market crashed at the end of this decade.
1920s
A DuPont chemist was experimenting with refrigerants when he stumbled upon this non-reactive, non-stick chemical, which became the original non-stick surface for kitchen pans.
teflon
This tangerine lookalike comes from China and shares its name with a major Chinese dialect.
Mandarin
Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello starred in seven Beach Party films. This one includes the name of a popular numbers game of chance in its title as well as the word blanket.
Beach Blanket Bingo
Who was the first woman inducted into the Rock ’n’ Hall of Fame? Her hits include “Respect,” “Chain of Fools,” and many others.
Aretha Franklin
The Soviet Union sparked the space race with its Sputnik program during this decade.
1950s
Researchers Spencer Silver and Art Fry from 3M are responsible for creating a non-destructive, low-tack adhesive that led to today’s popular note paper.
Post-It notes
This fruit was characterized as a vegetable in 1893 by a U.S. Supreme Court case known as Nix v. Hedden.
tomato
You hear this common phrase among surfers when the proper surfing conditions occur.
Surf's Up
Who was the first female presidential nominee of a major U.S. political party and the first U.S. first lady to serve in an elected position?
Hillary Clinton
The unsinkable RMS Titanic sank during this decade.
1910s
The world’s first artificial sweetener was discovered in 1897 by accident because a chemist forgot to wash his hands.
saccharin (or Sweet 'N Low)
This fall fruit, which comes in red, yellow, and green varieties, can be a year old when you buy them at the grocery.
Apple
This popular group produced many hit songs in the 1960s, among them, “I Get Around,” “Help Me, Rhonda,” and “California Girls.”
Beach Boys
What Roman Catholic nun served the poor in India and was canonized in 2016?
Mother Teresa
Congress passed the GI Bill of Rights in this decade.
1940s
This petroleum-based salve was discovered when it gummed up the works in oil drilling equipment.
Vaseline
This huge, green, striped, juicy summer fruit is grown as a square fruit in Japan.
watermelon
These Dr. Seuss star-bellied characters are the best on the beaches.
Sneetches
According to the Bible, who was the first woman to see Jesus after his resurrection?
Mary Magdalene
Joseph Stalin died during this decade, leaving the Soviet Union without a distinct leader until Nikita Khrushchev began his rise to power.
1950s