30 Forgotten Innovations, Technical Records, and Box Office Trivia

Which film is considered the highest-grossing film of all time when box office is adjusted for inflation?

What was the name of the first commercially successful video game, released in 1972?

Which technology, patented in 1888 by John J. Loud, was later improved to become an everyday office essential?

Which 1939 film, adjusted for inflation, remains the highest-grossing domestic release in North America?

The ‘Smell-O-Vision’ and ‘AromaRama’ were forgotten innovations from the 1960s designed to do what?

What was the first cel-animated feature film released by an American studio?

Which forgotten innovation from 1968 by Douglas Engelbart introduced the computer mouse, hypertext, and video conferencing in a single demonstration?

When adjusted for inflation for the North American box office, which James Bond film is the highest-grossing in the franchise?

What was the ‘Dvorak Simplified Keyboard’ — a forgotten innovation designed to outperform a standard technology?

Which film, among those that won 11 Academy Awards, also holds the record for winning every award it was nominated for?

The ‘Nipkow disk’ was an early 1884 innovation that led to the development of which technology?

Among these Star Wars films, which 1977 release has the highest worldwide gross when adjusted for inflation?

What was ‘Philo Farnsworth’s’ major technical contribution that is often forgotten outside engineering circles?

Which film was the first to gross over $1 billion at the worldwide box office (not adjusted for inflation)?

The ‘Telharmonium’ (1897) was a forgotten innovation that pioneered which form of music technology?

What was the world’s first ‘blockbuster’ film — a term originally coined for a specific 1975 movie?

Which forgotten 1950s innovation called the ‘Theremin’ is unique among musical instruments for what reason?

Adjusted for inflation, which Disney animated film is the highest-grossing in the studio’s history?

The ‘Zeppelin’ was a forgotten innovation in transportation. What type of vehicle was it?

Which film was the first to use computer-generated imagery (CGI) for a major character?

What was the ‘Stanley Steamer’ — a forgotten innovation from the early 20th century?

When adjusted for inflation, which of these actors has starred in the highest-grossing films overall?

The ‘Geissler tube’ was a forgotten 19th-century innovation that primarily demonstrated the principles crucial for the development of what type of visible gas-discharge lighting?

Which 1927 film was the first ‘talkie’ (synchronized dialogue feature film)?

The ‘Antikythera mechanism’ is considered the world’s first what?

Adjusted for inflation, which 1965 musical holds the record for the highest-grossing film of the 1960s?

The ‘Pneumatic tube mail’ system, once common in major cities, worked by what mechanism?

Which of these films has been reported as having the highest production budget (not adjusted for inflation)?

The ‘Lovelace Engine’ is named after Ada Lovelace. What was her forgotten yet foundational contribution to computing?

What was the first film to use Technicolor’s three-strip color process in a feature-length movie?