Civics question 118 of 128
Name one example of an American innovation.
7 accepted answers
- Light bulb
- Automobile (cars, internal combustion engine)
- Skyscrapers
- Airplane
- Assembly line
- Landing on the moon
- Integrated circuit (IC)
You only need to give one of these. The officer accepts any of them.
Source: official USCIS question list for the 2025 version of the civics test. This site is independent and not affiliated with USCIS.
Background
Any one of these answers: the light bulb, the automobile, skyscrapers, the airplane, the assembly line, landing on the moon, or the integrated circuit. One caution about the framing: most of these were not invented from nothing by a single American. Several inventors worked on electric light before Edison produced a practical bulb and, more importantly, built the system of generation and wiring around it. The automobile was developed in Germany, and Ford's contribution was the moving assembly line that made cars affordable. The Wright brothers' 1903 flight was genuinely first in controlled powered flight. The integrated circuit, developed at Texas Instruments and Fairchild in the late 1950s, has the widest reach, since every computer and phone since depends on it.
This background section is written by US Citizenship Test Practice to explain the civics fact. It is not part of the USCIS question list, and the official answer above is the one to give at the interview.
Where this question sits
It is part of Recent American History and Other Important Historical Information, inside the American History section of the test.
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