Quiz

BuzzFeed Staff

Science

This just in: Cigarettes are bad for you.

Can You Guess When These Science Headlines Are From?

**The article begins:**
"In two weeks Apple Computer Inc. plans to introduce a brief-case size, battery-operated version of its popular Apple IIe that analysts say could pose a significant challenge to the International Business Machine Corporation’s PCjr home computer."

**[From the article:](http://www.nytimes.com/1984/04/09/business/apple-plans-portable-computer.html)** “The computer also comes with a single floppy disk drive, for permanent data storage, tucked into the side of the machine. A $300 printer, capable of reproducing seven colors, is also expected.” — David E. Sanger

April 9, 1984

**The article begins:** "In one of the first observations by the Keck Telescope in Hawaii, the largest telescope in the world, astronomers have found new evidence supporting the Big Bang theory of the creation of the universe."

**[From the article:](http://www.nytimes.com/1994/04/15/us/big-telescope-finds-new-clues-to-big-bang.html)** "If the measurements are right, however, ordinary matter, the stuff stars and planets and people are made of, is an even scarcer commodity in the universe than had been estimated. How scarce — perhaps not much more than 1 percent of cosmic mass — would depend on how much total mass there is, which is yet to be determined." — John Nobel Wilford

April 15, 1994

**The article begins:** "The long-awaited Federal report on the effects of smoking found today that the use of cigarettes contributed so substantially to the American death rate that 'appropriate remedial action' was called for."

[**From the article:**](https://books.google.com/books?dq=Cigarettes+Linked+To+Cancer%2C+U.S.+Report+Concludes&id=X3GLAwAAQBAJ&lpg=PA139&pg=PA139#v=onepage&q=Cigarettes%20Linked%20To%20Cancer,%20U.S.%20Report%20Concludes&f=false) "The Tobacco Institute rejected the report, saying it was not the last word on smoking and health. The three major broadcasting networks said they would review their policies on tobacco advertising in light of the report." — Walter Sullivan

January 12, 1964

**The article begins:** "William D. Ruckelshaus, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, banned today almost all uses of DDT, the long-lived toxic pesticide that lodges in the food chain of men, animals, birds, and fish."

[**From the article:**](https://books.google.com/books?dq=DDT+Banned+In+U.S.+Almost+Totally&id=7T15wTjkgukC&lpg=PA2011&ots=c2O1bTv6ZF&pg=PA2013#v=snippet&q=DDT%20Banned&f=false) "Samuel Rotrosen, president of Montrose Chemical Corporation, sole United States manufacturer of DDT, immediately asked the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans to set aside the order." — E. W. Kenworthy

June 15, 1972

**The article begins:** "Fossil remains of early man discovered over the last two years in East Africa are causing a major upheaval in the study of human evolution by suggesting that man’s origins lie more than twice as far into the past as had been supposed from early evidence."

[**From the article:**](https://books.google.com/books?dq=new+york+times+70s&id=7T15wTjkgukC&lpg=PP9&pg=PA2015#v=onepage&q=east%20africa&f=false) "Until recently, these 'near men,' called Australopithecus, were almost universally accepted as ancestors of modern man. Now there is evidence that they were merely smaller-brained contemporaries who died out as their larger-brained cousins continued to evolve." — Boyce Rensberger

April 12, 1975

**The article begins:** "It would be the biggest, costliest, most provocative biomedical research project in history, and the United States must embark on it immediately."

[**From the article:**](https://books.google.com/books?dq=the+genome+project+new+york+times&hl=en&id=vU96SPEtJ4EC&pg=PA1908&sa=X&ved=0CFwQ6AEwCWoVChMI76y6meuUxgIVATiICh1thQBT#v=onepage&q=the%20genome%20project%20new%20york%20times&f=false) "Making use of new sequencing machines and relying on large computers to store and manipulate the information, it would complete all three billion DNA bases by the year 2000 or soon ever." — Robert Kanigel

December 13, 1987

**The article begins:** "Boeing’s huge new 747, the first of the 'jumbo jets' that promise a revolution in mass air travel and new standards of comfort in the air, made its first flight today."

[**From the article:**](https://books.google.com/books?dq=jumbo+jet+flies+first+time+nytime&id=6VQlAgAAQBAJ&lpg=PA133&ots=Ee5uXwk74v&pg=PA133#v=onepage&q=jumbo%20jet%20flies%20first%20time%20nytime&f=false) "The flight, scheduled to last at least two hours, was cut short after 1 hour and 16 minutes because of what was later described as a 'minor problem' in the plane’s right wing flap." — Robert Lindsey

February 10, 1969

**The article begins:** "The Food and Drug Administration has licensed the much-discussed drug lithium carbonate for treatment of a common form of mental illness, the manic phase of manic-depressive psychosis."

[**From the article:**](https://books.google.com/books?dq=Long-Studied+Drug+Licensed+For+Treatment+Of+Mental+Illness&hl=en&id=gVK0AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA2032&sa=X&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAGoVChMIo66tmeyUxgIVhDiICh199gKM#v=onepage&q=Long-Studied%20Drug%20Licensed%20For%20Treatment%20Of%20Mental%20Illness&f=false) "Since the drug is simply the carbonate salt of the metallic element lithium, it is not patentable. The fact that it cannot be patented is considered one probable reason for the long delay in licensing it in the United States." — Harold M. Schmeck Jr.

April 7, 1970

**The article begins:** "The first human lung transplantation may be attempted within a year, a surgeon told a scientific meeting here today."

[**From the article:**](https://books.google.com/books?dq=lung+transplant+seen+within+year+harold+m&id=6VQlAgAAQBAJ&lpg=PA138&ots=Ee5uXxd4Ys&pg=PA138#v=onepage&q=lung%20transplant%20seen%20within%20year%20harold%20m&f=false) "The speaker said that surgeons at several institutions were now waiting for a suitable patient and a suitable opportunity." — Harold M. Schmeck Jr.

April 17, 1963

**The article begins:** "An unmanned American spacecraft, the television-equipped Mariner 9, rocketed tonight into an orbit of Mars."

[**From the article:**](https://books.google.com/books?dq=Mariner+9+Placed+In+Orbit+Of+Mars&hl=en&id=7T15wTjkgukC&pg=PA2012&sa=X&ved=0CCQQ6AEwAWoVChMIuaTdpO2UxgIVCaOICh2dNABw#v=onepage&q=Mariner%209%20Placed%20In%20Orbit%20Of%20Mars&f=false) "It thus became the first manmade object to circle another planet—the first to get a close-up view of the Mars of fanciful dreams, of legendary civilizations and, in reality, of reddish deserts and craters, polar caps, and occasional dust storms." — John Noble Wilford

November 14, 1971

**The article begins:** "The Government licensed today a vaccine against rubella, thus winning a race against the nationwide epidemic of this virus infection."

[**From the article:**](https://books.google.com/books?dq=%22Rubella+Vaccine+Licensed+By+U.S.%22&id=X3GLAwAAQBAJ&lpg=PA144&ots=dEhbcPgk23&pg=PA144#v=onepage&q=) "The last nationwide epidemic of the disease, also known as German measles, occurred in 1964 and 1965. It is estimated that there were more than 30,000 fetal deaths and more than 20,000 babies born with serious birth defects after mothers were infected early in pregnancy during that major outbreak." — Harold M. Schmeck Jr.

June 10, 1969

**The article begins:** "Two years after smallpox ceased to exist as a human disease, virus experts and public health officials are in a strong and unprecedented quandary: what to do with the last surviving smallpox viruses."

[**From the article:**](http://www.nytimes.com/1987/11/03/science/last-samples-of-smallpox-pose-a-quandary.html) "Now, on the 10th anniversary of the eradication of smallpox, the experts are questioning whether or not those last stocks of variola virus — the cause of smallpox — should finally be destroyed." — Harold M. Schmeck Jr.

November 3, 1987

**The article begins:** "Scientists say they have recovered elements of blood from the bones of a dinosaur that died some 65 million years ago. This is the first time that blood components have been recovered from dinosaur bones, and the nearest that science has come to the science fiction fantasy of recreating the creatures from the genetic information in their blood cells."

[**From the article:**](http://www.nytimes.com/1997/06/10/science/chemical-traces-of-blood-found-in-bones-of-tyrannosaurus-rex.html) "But she said she had been unable to retrieve DNA that could be identified as originating in a dinosaur." — Nicholas Wade

June 10, 1997

It’s not that you don’t know science history. It’s that you don’t believe that truly knowing science history is possible.

Science history agnostic!

Budding science historian!

You really know your science history! Incredible stuff.

Science history buff!

About BuzzFeed Community

Community Brand Guidelines

BuzzFeed Community

Sorry, this content is <i>no longer</i> supported.

BuzzFeed Community Guidelines

BuzzFeed Community Leaderboard

BuzzFeed News has breaking stories and original reporting on politics, world news, social media, viral trends, health, science, technology, entertainment, and LGBTQ issues.

All the best animals on the internet. The snuggle is real.

BuzzFeed has breaking news, vital journalism, quizzes, videos, celeb news, Tasty food videos, recipes, DIY hacks, and all the trending buzz you’ll want to share with your friends. Copyright BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved.

BuzzFeed News | Breaking News | Original Reporting | News Analysis

Animal Pictures and Videos - Adorably from BuzzFeed

Name

Thanks for subscribing!

Stay up to date with our latest BuzzFeed video. Enter your email to subscribe!

Oops! Upload an image or add text to submit.

BuzzFeed has the hottest, most social content on the web. We feature breaking buzz and the kinds of things you'd want to pass along to your friends.

Can You Guess When These Science Headlines Are From?

Topics in this article