Quiz: From Potash to Modern Patents

Quiz: From Potash to Modern Patents

From the first U.S. patent to modern engineering milestones, test your knowledge of the system that protects inventions, inventors, and innovation.
Today in 1790, Samuel Hopkins received the first U.S. patent for a process of making potash, a potassium compound used in fertilizer, soap, glass, and gunpowder.

His furnace-based method improved the purity and yield of potash, marking an early milestone in American innovation. Today, the U.S. patent system has issued more than 10 million patents.

Take this ASME quiz to test your knowledge of mechanical engineering and the patents that helped shape it.
 
 
From the first U.S. patent to modern engineering milestones, test your knowledge of the system that protects inventions, inventors, and innovation.