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The invention of the Paper Clip

Total questions: 15

Worksheet time: 23mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

What is a paper clip?

a)

Something made of wire.

b)

A tool used to hold pieces of paper together.

c)

Something that hold stuff.

d)

A tool that holds things.

2.

Before paper clips were invented, papers were held together with string or ribbon.

a)
True
b)
False
3.

How long was the mthod of string and ribbon used to keep paper together?

a)

200 years

b)

50 years

c)

1000 years

d)

600 years

4.

Who invented an early paper clip?

a)

Johann Vaaler

b)

Albert Einstein

c)

William Middlebrook

d)

Someone smart

5.

When was the material needed for the early paper clip figured out and what did this later lead to?

a)

1855 and it later lead to stronger paper clips.

b)

1855 and it later lead to the invention of clothes hangers, safety pins, and better paper clips.

c)

1887 and it was made of flexible wire that could be bent to hold papers.

d)

1887 and it later lead to the invention of clothes hangers, safety pins, and better paper clips.

6.

Why was the early version considered to be not very good?

a)

It did not hold many papers.

b)

It was not strong wire.

c)

It did not have the secure second loop.

d)

It created a hole in the papers.

7.

Who invented the machine that first created the paper clip that we use today?

a)

William Middlebrook

b)

Albert Einstein, a scientist.

c)

Johann Vaaler, a Norwegian inventor.

d)

Samuel B. Fay

8.

The name of the macine that created our current clips is called Gem.

a)
True
b)
False
9.

Who is credited with the first patent in the United States for a paper clip?

a)

Johann Vaaler

b)

William Middlebrook

c)

An american inventor that is unknown

d)

Samuel B. Fay

10.

About how many paper clips do Americans purchase per year?

a)

Six hundred paper clips

b)

eleven billion paper clips

c)

seventy-five thousand paper clips

d)

one million paper clips

11.

Besides holding papers together, how else can paper clips be used?

a)

hanging ornaments

b)

cleaning pipes

c)

cleaning fingernails

d)

a fidget tool

12.

According to the website Early Office Museum.com, the first patent in the United States for a paper clip was in 1867.

a)
True
b)
False
13.

According to the website Early Office Museum.com, the first patent in the United States for a paper clip was in 1867 and was orignially used for what?

a)

to attach tickets to fabric

b)

to attach things together with wires

c)

to hold clean fingernails

14.

Once pins were invented and mass produced in 1835, a straight pin could not be used to hold a small stack of papers together.

a)
True
b)
False
15.

In 1899 was the year a patent was given to William Middlebrook for the design of a machine that would make the paper clip we use today.

a)
True
b)
False