Carroll Has Made the Big Time – A Question on QI

Even though I am American, I love QI.  Hosted by Stephen Fry, who wouldn’t?  This year  to celebrate Series L, the questioneers have published a special set of 20 questions in the Daily Mail Event page.  And Carroll made the list!

Q10 LEWIS CARROLL
Lewis Carroll wrote many books but he was also a superb inventor. What did he invent?
a) A gas-fired toothbrush.
b) A pair of wheeled slippers.
c) A hat that combed your hair.
d) An alarm clock that threw you out of bed.

Answer: d). Lewis Carroll was the pen name of Charles Dodgson (1832-1898), an Oxford mathematics lecturer. He designed ‘The Alarm Clock Bed’, which featured in the Great Exhibition of 1851. It woke occupants by tipping them out at a set time. His other inventions included a device for writing down thoughts at night without getting out of bed and an early form of the game Scrabble.

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