Thomas Edison didn't have much in the way of a formal education. Once he learned to read, his mother encouraged him to learn on his own. And he read a lot, about a wide variety of subjects. As a business owner, Edison hired plenty of employees, but didn't really care whether they had a college degree, as he thought higher education was overrated. Instead, he screened potential employees with a test he made up himself. Edison's tests varied over time, and he never made them public. But they usually had 140 questions or more. Not many of the questions had anything to do with engineering, salesmanship, or the science behind the position. They were trivia questions, supposedly to reveal a well-rounded education.
It wasn't easy. Out of 718 applicants, only 32 scored 90% or higher. While we don't have any copies of them, many who took the tests were happy to share questions they recalled from it when New York Times reporters asked. You wouldn't be able to pass the test, either, since 100 years have passed and many answers have changed or are hopelessly period-specific. But you might have fun trying, as you'll see at The Saturday Evening Post. -via Damn Interesting
Commenting on Neatorama will earn you NeatoPoints!