Forgotten Figures Quiz – Printable Version
20 multiple-choice questions with an explained answer key, ready to print.
Print the sheet (or save it as a PDF from the print window), hand it out, then mark it together using the answer page: every answer is explained. Perfect for a party, a birthday, a classroom, a care home or a team activity.
Name: ………………………………Score: ……… / 20
- Which American actor, a star of the silent era, saw his career decline with the arrival of talking pictures?
- A. Buster Keaton
- B. Charlie Chaplin
- C. Harold Lloyd
- D. Douglas Fairbanks
- Which French actor, a star of 1950s comedies, is today little known to the general public?
- A. Fernandel
- B. Bourvil
- C. Jacques Tati
- D. Louis de Funès
- Which American singer, a star of the 1950s, saw his popularity decline with the arrival of rock 'n' roll?
- A. Dean Martin
- B. Bing Crosby
- C. Frank Sinatra
- D. Elvis Presley
- Which American actress, a star of 1940s musical comedies, is today almost forgotten?
- A. Ginger Rogers
- B. Judy Garland
- C. Betty Grable
- D. Rita Hayworth
- Which American actor, a former Tarzan who became a star of Italian sword-and-sandal films in the 1960s, is little known today?
- A. Gordon Scott
- B. Sophia Loren
- C. Marcello Mastroianni
- D. Vittorio Gassman
- Which American country singer, a star of the 1960s, is today almost forgotten?
- A. Patsy Cline
- B. Dolly Parton
- C. Loretta Lynn
- D. Tammy Wynette
- Which German actor, a star of 1920s Expressionist cinema, is today almost forgotten?
- A. Fritz Lang
- B. Conrad Veidt
- C. Emil Jannings
- D. Max Schreck
- Which French actor, a star of 1960s swashbuckler films, is today little known?
- A. Jean Marais
- B. Gérard Barray
- C. Bourvil
- D. Louis de Funès
- Which American actress, a star of 1940s film noir, is today almost forgotten?
- A. Veronica Lake
- B. Lauren Bacall
- C. Rita Hayworth
- D. Gene Tierney
- Which Italian actor, a star of 1960s Spaghetti Westerns, is today little known?
- A. Lee Van Cleef
- B. Gian Maria Volonté
- C. Eli Wallach
- D. Clint Eastwood
- Which French actress, a star of 1950s films, is today almost forgotten?
- A. Brigitte Bardot
- B. Anouk Aimée
- C. Dany Robin
- D. Martine Carol
- Which French actor, a star of 1940s comedy films, is today almost forgotten?
- A. Fernandel
- B. Sacha Guitry
- C. Raimu
- D. Noël-Noël
- Which French sportswoman and aviator, nicknamed 'the fiancée of danger', came up with air ambulances as early as 1910?
- A. Hélène Boucher
- B. Adrienne Bolland
- C. Marie Marvingt
- D. Jacqueline Auriol
- Which Chinese-American physicist carried out the decisive 1956 experiment on 'parity violation', without receiving the Nobel Prize awarded to her two colleagues?
- A. Marie Curie
- B. Lise Meitner
- C. Emmy Noether
- D. Chien-Shiung Wu
- Which British PhD student discovered pulsars in 1967, while the 1974 Nobel Prize went to her supervisor?
- A. Rosalind Franklin
- B. Dorothy Hodgkin
- C. Jocelyn Bell Burnell
- D. Ada Lovelace
- Which young French army doctor described the action of Penicillium moulds against bacteria as early as 1897, more than thirty years before Fleming?
- A. Ernest Duchesne
- B. Louis Pasteur
- C. Albert Calmette
- D. Émile Roux
- Which French mathematician corresponded with Gauss under the male pen name "Monsieur Le Blanc"?
- A. Émilie du Châtelet
- B. Marie Curie
- C. Sophie Germain
- D. Ada Lovelace
- Which American inventor developed a machine making flat-bottomed paper bags around 1870, and won a lawsuit against a man who had stolen her idea?
- A. Margaret Knight
- B. Josephine Cochrane
- C. Mary Anderson
- D. Madam C. J. Walker
- Which nurse of Jamaican origin cared for British soldiers in the Crimean War, long overshadowed by Florence Nightingale?
- A. Mary Seacole
- B. Edith Cavell
- C. Clara Barton
- D. Elizabeth Fry
- Which French gardener patented iron-reinforced cement flower tubs in 1867, one of the birth certificates of reinforced concrete?
- A. Joseph Monier
- B. François Hennebique
- C. Auguste Perret
- D. Gustave Eiffel
Answer key — Forgotten Figures Quiz
- C. Harold LloydHarold Lloyd was a major star of silent cinema, but his popularity waned with the advent of sound films, unlike Charlie Chaplin who managed to adapt.
- A. FernandelFernandel, born Fernand Joseph Désiré Contandin, was a star of French comedies in the 1930s–50s.
- B. Bing CrosbyBing Crosby was a major star of American music in the 1940s–50s, but his style was eclipsed by the arrival of rock 'n' roll.
- C. Betty GrableBetty Grable was an American actress and dancer, star of musical comedies in the 1940s.
- A. Gordon ScottGordon Scott (1926-2007), an American actor, played Tarzan in the 1950s before making many sword-and-sandal (peplum) films in Italy.
- D. Tammy WynetteTammy Wynette was an American country singer, famous in the 1960s–70s.
- B. Conrad VeidtConrad Veidt was a German actor, star of Expressionist cinema in the 1920s.
- B. Gérard BarrayGérard Barray was a French actor, star of swashbuckler films in the 1960s.
- A. Veronica LakeVeronica Lake was an American actress, a star of film noir in the 1940s.
- B. Gian Maria VolontéGian Maria Volonté was an Italian actor, star of Spaghetti Westerns in the 1960s.
- C. Dany RobinDany Robin was a French actress, star of 1950s films. She is today almost forgotten, unlike Brigitte Bardot or Anouk Aimée.
- D. Noël-NoëlNoël-Noël, born Lucien Noël, was a French actor and singer, star of comedy films in the 1930s–40s.
- C. Marie MarvingtA mountaineer, swimmer and cyclist, she reportedly rode the Tour de France route in 1908, when it was closed to women.
- D. Chien-Shiung WuHer measurements confirmed the theory of Lee and Yang, honoured in 1957.
- C. Jocelyn Bell BurnellShe spotted a tiny regular signal in kilometres of paper chart, first nicknamed 'LGM-1' ('little green men').
- A. Ernest DuchesneHe had noticed stable boys treating horses' wounds with mouldy saddles.
- C. Sophie GermainBarred from university as a woman, Sophie Germain made major advances on Fermat's theorem and on the elasticity of materials.
- A. Margaret KnightHer opponent claimed a woman could not design such a machine.
- A. Mary SeacoleTurned down by the army, she paid for her own "British Hotel" near the front.
- A. Joseph MonierHe wanted pots sturdier than terracotta. He then extended his process to tanks, bridges and staircases.