Home · Chapter 3
A long and illustrious history: practice questions
The longest chapter in the handbook. It runs from the Stone Age to the late 20th century: invasions, kings and queens, wars, the Industrial Revolution, the fight for the vote, the two World Wars and the creation of the NHS. Dates and names come up often, so it is worth extra time.
All 115 questions and answers in this chapter
Use this list to revise. Open a question to see the answer and a short explanation.
1. Which country is NOT represented on the Union Flag?
Answer: Wales
The Union Flag combines the crosses of St George, St Andrew and St Patrick. Wales is not represented because it was already united with England when the first Union Flag was created in 1606.
2. What does the cross of St George look like?
Answer: A red cross on a white background
The cross of St George, patron saint of England, is a red cross on a white ground.
3. What does the cross of St Andrew look like?
Answer: A diagonal white cross on a blue background
The cross of St Andrew, patron saint of Scotland, is a diagonal white cross on a blue ground.
4. What does the cross of St Patrick look like?
Answer: A diagonal red cross on a white background
The cross of St Patrick, patron saint of Ireland, is a diagonal red cross on a white ground.
5. In which English county is Stonehenge?
Answer: Wiltshire
Stonehenge, built in the Stone Age, stands in the English county of Wiltshire.
6. Where is Skara Brae, the best-preserved prehistoric village in northern Europe?
Answer: Orkney
Skara Brae is on Orkney, off the north coast of Scotland.
7. During the Bronze Age, people buried their dead in what?
Answer: Round barrows
Bronze Age people lived in roundhouses and buried their dead in tombs called round barrows.
8. Who led an unsuccessful Roman invasion of Britain in 55 BC?
Answer: Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar led a Roman invasion in 55 BC, but it was unsuccessful. Emperor Claudius led a successful invasion in AD 43.
9. Who was the queen of the Iceni who fought against the Romans?
Answer: Boudicca
Boudicca, queen of the Iceni in what is now eastern England, fought the Romans. A statue of her stands on Westminster Bridge in London, near the Houses of Parliament.
10. Why was Hadrian's Wall built?
Answer: To keep out the Picts
Emperor Hadrian built the wall in the north of England to keep out the Picts (ancestors of the Scottish people).
11. When did the Romans leave Britain?
Answer: AD 410
The Romans left Britain in AD 410 to defend other parts of their Empire, after ruling for about 400 years.
12. Where was an Anglo-Saxon king buried with treasure and armour, in a burial ship?
Answer: Sutton Hoo
The burial site at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk is thought to be the tomb of an Anglo-Saxon king.
13. Who became the first Archbishop of Canterbury?
Answer: St Augustine
St Augustine led missionaries from Rome who spread Christianity in the south, and became the first Archbishop of Canterbury.
14. Where did the Vikings come from?
Answer: Denmark, Norway and Sweden
The Vikings came from Denmark, Norway and Sweden. They first visited Britain in AD 789 to raid coastal towns and take away goods and slaves.
15. Which Anglo-Saxon king united the kingdoms and defeated the Vikings?
Answer: Alfred the Great
The Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in England united under King Alfred the Great, who defeated the Vikings.
16. In what year did the Battle of Hastings take place?
Answer: 1066
In 1066 William, Duke of Normandy, defeated King Harold at the Battle of Hastings. This is known as the Norman Conquest.
17. What does the Bayeux Tapestry commemorate?
Answer: The Battle of Hastings
The Bayeux Tapestry, which can still be seen in France, commemorates the Norman Conquest and the Battle of Hastings in 1066.
18. What was the Domesday Book?
Answer: A record of towns, villages, landowners and animals in England
William the Conqueror sent people all over England to record every town and village, who owned the land and what animals they had. This became the Domesday Book.
19. In 1314, the Scottish, led by Robert the Bruce, defeated the English at which battle?
Answer: Bannockburn
Robert the Bruce led the Scots to victory over the English at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314.
20. Which king led the English army at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415?
Answer: Henry V
King Henry V led the English to a famous victory at Agincourt during the Hundred Years War with France.
21. What was the Black Death?
Answer: A plague that killed about one third of the population of England
The Black Death, probably a form of plague, came to Britain in 1348. One third of the population of England died, and a similar proportion in Scotland and Wales.
22. In what year was the Magna Carta created?
Answer: 1215
In 1215 King John was forced by his noblemen to agree to the Magna Carta, which limited the power of the king.
23. What did the Magna Carta establish?
Answer: That even the king was subject to the law
The Magna Carta established the idea that the king was subject to the law and protected the rights of noblemen.
24. The Wars of the Roses were fought between which two families?
Answer: The House of Lancaster and the House of York
The Wars of the Roses began in 1455 between the House of Lancaster (red rose) and the House of York (white rose).
25. Which battle ended the Wars of the Roses in 1485?
Answer: The Battle of Bosworth Field
The wars ended with the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, where Henry Tudor defeated King Richard III and became King Henry VII.
26. What is the Tudor rose?
Answer: A symbol combining the red rose of Lancaster and the white rose of York
Henry VII married Elizabeth of York, uniting the two houses. The Tudor rose combines the red rose and the white rose.
27. Which king established the Church of England after breaking away from the Church of Rome?
Answer: Henry VIII
Henry VIII broke away from the Church of Rome and established the Church of England, after the Pope refused to grant him a divorce.
28. Which of Henry VIII's wives gave birth to his son, Edward VI?
Answer: Jane Seymour
Jane Seymour gave birth to Henry's only son, Edward, but died shortly afterwards.
29. In 1588, the English defeated an invasion by which navy?
Answer: The Spanish Armada
During the reign of Elizabeth I, the English defeated the Spanish Armada, a large fleet of ships sent by Spain to invade England.
30. Who was the mother of Queen Elizabeth I?
Answer: Anne Boleyn
Elizabeth I was the daughter of Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn.
31. Where was William Shakespeare born?
Answer: Stratford-upon-Avon
Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, in 1564. He wrote plays and poems that are still performed and studied around the world.
32. When James VI of Scotland became King James I of England in 1603, what happened?
Answer: England, Wales and Scotland had the same monarch
When Elizabeth I died without children in 1603, James VI of Scotland became King James I of England, Wales and Ireland. Scotland stayed a separate country.
33. During the Civil War, supporters of the king were known as what?
Answer: Cavaliers
In the Civil War that began in 1642, supporters of Charles I were called Cavaliers and supporters of Parliament were called Roundheads.
34. Who led the Parliamentary army and later ruled as Lord Protector?
Answer: Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was a leading general on Parliament's side. After defeating Charles II at Worcester, he was given the title of Lord Protector and ruled until his death in 1658.
35. What happened in 1660, known as the Restoration?
Answer: Charles II became king and the monarchy was restored
In 1660 Parliament invited Charles II to come back from exile, restoring the monarchy.
36. What was the 'Glorious Revolution' of 1688?
Answer: The replacement of James II by William of Orange without a battle in England
In 1688 William of Orange took the throne from James II with no resistance. It was called the Glorious Revolution because there was no fighting in England and it guaranteed the power of Parliament.
37. Which Act of Union, in 1707, created the Kingdom of Great Britain?
Answer: The union of England and Scotland
The Act of Union of 1707 created the Kingdom of Great Britain by uniting England (and Wales) with Scotland. Scotland kept its own legal and education systems and Presbyterian Church.
38. Who is generally thought of as the first Prime Minister of Great Britain?
Answer: Sir Robert Walpole
Sir Robert Walpole was Prime Minister from 1721 to 1742 and is usually regarded as the first Prime Minister.
39. Robert Burns is known for which of the following?
Answer: Being a Scottish poet who wrote 'Auld Lang Syne'
Robert Burns, known as 'The Bard', was a Scottish poet. His version of 'Auld Lang Syne' is sung around the world at New Year.
40. In what year did it become illegal to trade slaves in British ships or from British ports?
Answer: 1807
The slave trade was abolished in 1807. In 1833 the Emancipation Act abolished slavery throughout the British Empire.
41. Which politician played a key role in abolishing the slave trade?
Answer: William Wilberforce
William Wilberforce, an evangelical Christian and MP, played an important part in changing the law to abolish the slave trade.
42. Who commanded the British fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805?
Answer: Admiral Nelson
Admiral Nelson led the British fleet to victory at Trafalgar in 1805 and was killed in the battle. Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square is a memorial to him.
43. Who defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815?
Answer: The Duke of Wellington
The Duke of Wellington defeated Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815. Wellington was known as the Iron Duke and later became Prime Minister.
44. Queen Victoria reigned from 1837 until her death in which year?
Answer: 1901
Queen Victoria reigned from 1837 until 1901, a period known as the Victorian age, during which Britain greatly expanded its empire.
45. Florence Nightingale is famous for which of the following?
Answer: Founding modern nursing
Florence Nightingale treated soldiers in the Crimean War and is regarded as the founder of modern nursing. In 1860 she set up a nurse training school at St Thomas' Hospital in London.
46. Emmeline Pankhurst is best known for:
Answer: Campaigning for women's right to vote
Emmeline Pankhurst helped found the Women's Social and Political Union. Its members, the suffragettes, campaigned for women's right to vote.
47. In 1918, which women were given the right to vote?
Answer: Women aged 30 and over
In 1918 women over the age of 30 were given the right to vote. In 1928 women were given the right to vote at 21, the same age as men.
48. When did the First World War end?
Answer: 11 am on 11 November 1918
The First World War ended at 11 am on 11 November 1918 with victory for Britain and its allies. This is remembered each year on Remembrance Day.
49. Is the following statement true or false? On the first day of the Battle of the Somme in 1916, the British suffered about 60,000 casualties.
Answer: True
The Battle of the Somme in July 1916 resulted in about 60,000 British casualties on the first day alone.
50. Who was Prime Minister for most of the Second World War?
Answer: Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill became Prime Minister in May 1940 and led the country through most of the war.
51. What happened at Dunkirk in 1940?
Answer: Many civilian boats helped rescue more than 300,000 soldiers from the beaches
In 1940 many civilian volunteers in small boats helped rescue more than 300,000 men from the beaches around Dunkirk in France. This is remembered as the 'Dunkirk spirit'.
52. What was the Battle of Britain in 1940?
Answer: An air battle in which the RAF defeated the German air force
In the summer of 1940 the German air force attacked Britain, but the RAF won the Battle of Britain, which stopped a German invasion.
53. What happened on D-Day, 6 June 1944?
Answer: Allied forces landed in Normandy
On 6 June 1944 Allied forces landed in Normandy, France, in a major step towards victory in Europe.
54. Who was the Minister for Health responsible for establishing the National Health Service in 1948?
Answer: Aneurin (Nye) Bevan
Aneurin (Nye) Bevan led the establishment of the NHS in 1948, guaranteeing a minimum standard of health care for all, free at the point of use.
55. Who was the first woman Prime Minister of the UK?
Answer: Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher was the first woman Prime Minister, serving from 1979 to 1990.
56. Who discovered penicillin in 1928?
Answer: Alexander Fleming
Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in 1928. It was later developed into a medicine that has saved millions of lives.
57. Who invented the World Wide Web?
Answer: Sir Tim Berners-Lee
Sir Tim Berners-Lee, a British computer scientist, invented the World Wide Web, which has changed how people around the world share information.
58. John Logie Baird is known for developing which invention?
Answer: Television
John Logie Baird, a Scottish inventor, developed television in the 1920s.
59. Who developed the jet engine in the 1930s?
Answer: Sir Frank Whittle
Sir Frank Whittle, a British Royal Air Force engineer officer, developed the jet engine in the 1930s.
60. Isaac Newton is famous for his work on what?
Answer: Gravity
Isaac Newton's most famous published work, the Principia Mathematica, showed how gravity applied to the whole universe. He also discovered that white light is made up of the colours of the rainbow.
61. About how long ago did Britain become permanently separated from the continent by the Channel?
Answer: About 10,000 years ago
For much of the Stone Age Britain was joined to the continent by a land bridge. The Channel separated it permanently about 10,000 years ago.
62. The language spoken by people in the Iron Age was part of which language family?
Answer: Celtic
Iron Age people spoke a Celtic language. Related languages are still spoken in parts of Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
63. Is the following statement true or false? The Romans conquered all of what is now Scotland.
Answer: False
Areas of what is now Scotland were never conquered by the Romans. Hadrian built his wall to keep out the Picts.
64. Is the following statement true or false? Much of what is now Wales remained free of Anglo-Saxon rule.
Answer: True
Parts of the west of Britain, including much of Wales, and Scotland stayed free of Anglo-Saxon rule.
65. Which TWO English place names come from Viking languages?
Answer: Grimsby and Scunthorpe
Many place names in the Danelaw, such as Grimsby and Scunthorpe, come from Viking languages.
66. Which language did the new ruling class speak after the Norman Conquest?
Answer: Norman French
The Norman ruling class spoke Norman French, which influenced the development of the English language.
67. What were the Crusades?
Answer: Wars in which European Christians fought for control of the Holy Land
Many knights took part in the Crusades, in which European Christians fought for control of the Holy Land.
68. In which year did the Black Death come to Britain?
Answer: 1348
The Black Death, probably a form of plague, came to Britain in 1348.
69. In the medieval English Parliament, who was elected to the House of Commons?
Answer: Knights and wealthy people from towns and cities
Knights, usually smaller landowners, and wealthy people from towns and cities were elected to the Commons.
70. By which year were official documents in England being written in English?
Answer: 1400
By 1400 official documents in England were being written in English, the preferred language of the royal court and Parliament.
71. In the Middle Ages, skilled canal builders came to England from which country?
Answer: Holland
People with special skills came to work in England, including weavers from France, engineers from Germany, glass makers from Italy and canal builders from Holland.
72. How many times did Henry VIII marry?
Answer: Six
Henry VIII is famous for breaking away from the Church of Rome and for marrying six times.
73. In the new Church of England, who had the power to appoint bishops?
Answer: The king
In the Church of England the king, not the Pope, had the power to appoint bishops and decide how people should worship.
74. Why did Queen Mary I become known as 'Bloody Mary'?
Answer: She persecuted Protestants
Mary was a devout Catholic who persecuted Protestants, which is why she became known as 'Bloody Mary'.
75. Why did Mary, Queen of Scots flee to England?
Answer: She was suspected of involvement in her husband's murder
When her husband was murdered, Mary was suspected of involvement and fled to England.
76. The line 'To be or not to be' comes from which Shakespeare play?
Answer: Hamlet
'To be or not to be' is one of the best-known lines from Hamlet.
77. What is the King James Version of the Bible also known as?
Answer: The Authorised Version
The new English translation made in James I's reign is known as the King James Version or the Authorised Version.
78. For how many years did Charles I try to rule without Parliament?
Answer: 11 years
For 11 years Charles I found ways to raise money without Parliament, until trouble in Scotland forced him to recall it.
79. After Charles I was executed, England became a republic called what?
Answer: The Commonwealth
England declared itself a republic, called the Commonwealth, with no monarch.
80. From which country did Charles II return in 1660?
Answer: The Netherlands
In May 1660 Parliament invited Charles II back from exile in the Netherlands.
81. Which early member of the Royal Society predicted the return of a famous comet?
Answer: Sir Edmund Halley
Sir Edmund Halley successfully predicted the return of the comet now named after him.
82. What were the supporters of James II and his descendants known as?
Answer: Jacobites
People who believed James was the rightful king, particularly in Scotland, became known as Jacobites.
83. What were the TWO main groups in Parliament after the Glorious Revolution?
Answer: The Whigs and The Tories
The Whigs and the Tories were the two main groups, marking the beginning of party politics.
84. In which year did the first Jews since the Middle Ages settle in London?
Answer: 1656
The first Jews to come to Britain since the Middle Ages settled in London in 1656.
85. Is the following statement true or false? George I's poor English increased his need to rely on his ministers.
Answer: True
George I did not speak very good English, which made him rely more on his ministers. The most important became known as the Prime Minister.
86. Which Scottish thinker of the Enlightenment developed ideas about economics that are still referred to today?
Answer: Adam Smith
Adam Smith's ideas about economics are still referred to today.
87. What did Richard Arkwright originally train and work as?
Answer: A barber
Arkwright trained as a barber who could dye hair and make wigs. When wigs went out of fashion he moved into textiles.
88. Which TWO goods came to Britain from North America and the West Indies?
Answer: Sugar and Tobacco
Sugar and tobacco came from North America and the West Indies. Textiles, tea and spices came from India and Indonesia.
89. Which group set up the first formal anti-slavery groups in the late 1700s?
Answer: The Quakers
The Quakers set up the first formal anti-slavery groups in the late 1700s and petitioned Parliament to ban the practice.
90. Where can Admiral Nelson's ship, HMS Victory, be visited?
Answer: Portsmouth
Nelson's ship HMS Victory can be visited in Portsmouth.
91. In which year was the first Union Flag created, from the flags of Scotland and England?
Answer: 1606
The first Union Flag was created in 1606 from the flags of Scotland and England. Wales was already united with England.
92. What had the Corn Laws prevented?
Answer: The import of cheap grain
The Corn Laws had prevented the import of cheap grain. Repealing them helped industry by making raw materials cheaper to import.
93. In which year did the Great Exhibition open in Hyde Park?
Answer: 1851
The Great Exhibition opened in 1851 in the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park.
94. About how many people died in the Irish famine in the middle of the 19th century?
Answer: A million
When the potato crop failed, a million people died in Ireland from disease and starvation, and another million and a half left.
95. Who were the Chartists?
Answer: Campaigners for the vote for the working classes and people without property
The Chartists campaigned for the vote for the working classes and others without property, presenting petitions to Parliament.
96. In which year did Emmeline Pankhurst help found the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU)?
Answer: 1903
In 1903 Pankhurst helped found the WSPU, the first group whose members were called suffragettes.
97. By the second half of the 20th century, the British Empire largely changed into what?
Answer: The Commonwealth
There was, for the most part, an orderly transition from Empire to Commonwealth, with countries granted independence.
98. Whose assassination on 28 June 1914 set off the chain of events leading to the First World War?
Answer: Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria
The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria on 28 June 1914 triggered the First World War.
99. What was the Easter Rising?
Answer: An uprising against the British in Dublin in 1916
Irish Nationalists would not wait for Home Rule, and in 1916 there was an uprising in Dublin called the Easter Rising.
100. Which TWO new industries developed in the UK during the 1930s?
Answer: The automobile industry and The aviation industry
Traditional heavy industries such as shipbuilding were badly hit, but new industries including automobiles and aviation developed.
101. Britain and France declared war on Germany after Hitler invaded which country in 1939?
Answer: Poland
When Hitler invaded Poland in 1939, Britain and France declared war to stop his aggression.
102. Churchill said 'I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat' on which occasion?
Answer: His first speech to the House of Commons as Prime Minister
This was in Churchill's first speech to the Commons after he became Prime Minister in 1940.
103. In which month and year did the Allies defeat Germany?
Answer: May 1945
The Allies comprehensively defeated Germany in May 1945.
104. In which country was Alexander Fleming born?
Answer: Scotland
Fleming was born in Scotland, moved to London as a teenager and later qualified as a doctor.
105. What is Ceylon now called?
Answer: Sri Lanka
Ceylon, which became independent in 1947, is now called Sri Lanka.
106. William Beveridge's report recommended fighting how many 'Giant Evils'?
Answer: Five
The Beveridge Report recommended fighting five Giant Evils: Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness.
107. Dylan Thomas came from which country?
Answer: Wales
Dylan Thomas was a Welsh poet and writer.
108. Which TWO were well-known pop music groups of the 1960s?
Answer: The Beatles and The Rolling Stones
The Beatles and The Rolling Stones were two well-known pop groups of the 1960s.
109. Who developed radar?
Answer: Sir Robert Watson-Watt
Scotsman Sir Robert Watson-Watt proposed that enemy aircraft could be detected by radio waves. The first successful test was in 1935.
110. Who invented the hovercraft?
Answer: Sir Christopher Cockerell
British inventor Sir Christopher Cockerell invented the hovercraft in the 1950s.
111. What was the name of the first mammal to be cloned, in 1996?
Answer: Dolly the sheep
In 1996 a team led by Sir Ian Wilmut and Keith Campbell cloned the first mammal, Dolly the sheep.
112. In which year was the European Economic Community (EEC) formed?
Answer: 1957
West Germany, France, Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands formed the EEC in 1957.
113. Which Prime Minister after Margaret Thatcher helped establish the Northern Ireland peace process?
Answer: John Major
John Major became Prime Minister after Mrs Thatcher and helped establish the Northern Ireland peace process.
114. Which TWO did the Blair government introduce?
Answer: A Scottish Parliament and A Welsh Assembly
The Blair government introduced a Scottish Parliament and a Welsh Assembly, now called the Senedd.
115. In 2010, which TWO parties formed a coalition government?
Answer: The Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats
In 2010 no party won an overall majority. The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats formed a coalition, with David Cameron as Prime Minister.
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