Question 1

True or false: John Walker was a famous American astronaut who walked on the Moon during Apollo 12.

Accepted Answer

False. No astronaut named John Walker walked on the Moon; Apollo 12 moonwalkers were Pete Conrad and Alan Bean.

Question 2

True or false: John Walker's matches were initially sold in a tin box with a piece of sandpaper for striking.

Accepted Answer

True. His early matches came with a separate sandpaper strip; the safety match as we know it was refined later by others.

Question 3

True or false: John Walker was a British physician and pharmacist who invented the friction match in 1826.

Accepted Answer

True. Walker accidentally scraped a chemical-coated stick on his hearth and it ignited, leading to the first friction match, which he called 'Congreves.'

Question 4

True or false: John Walker invented the modern safety razor, later marketed by Gillette.

Accepted Answer

False. The safety razor was invented by King Camp Gillette in 1901; John Walker had no involvement with razors.

Question 5

True or false: John Walker was a famous jazz trumpeter who played with Duke Ellington.

Accepted Answer

False. There is no notable jazz trumpeter named John Walker associated with Duke Ellington; likely confusion with players like Cootie Williams.

Question 6

True or false: John Walker was the first person to successfully climb Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen.

Accepted Answer

False. That feat was achieved by Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler in 1978; John Walker has no record in high-altitude mountaineering.

Question 7

True or false: John Walker's match was the first ever self-igniting device in human history.

Accepted Answer

True. Before Walker, fire was created by sparks from flint and steel or friction methods; his match was the first chemical self-ignition tool.

Question 8

True or false: John Walker never patented his invention of the friction match.

Accepted Answer

True. Walker chose not to patent his match, believing it was a simple discovery, and others quickly copied and improved it.

John Walker Trivia Questions