Trivia Quiz on British History

1. Queen Victoria was born in this year.

A) 1817

B) 1818

C) 1820

D) 1819

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2. Who was the original Peeping Tom looking at

A) Lady Godiva

B) Leofric, her husband

C) King Canute

D) Tom, the tailor

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3. The Romans called it Cambria - what do we call it

A) England

B) Scotland

C) Cornwall

D) Wales

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4. Elizabethan women had three what modest, rascal and secret

A) Petticoats worn modest outside

B) Chemises and corsets combined for support

C) Hose, stockings and garters

D) Ruffs, farthingales, and doublets

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5. What was the penalty (in britain) in 1810 for stealing a pocket handkerchief

A) Hanging

B) Transportation to Australia

C) Public whipping

D) Imprisonment for life

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6. What was landscape gardener Lancelot Brown's nickname

A) Capability

B) Capable

C) Old Brown

D) Gardener Brown

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7. In Britain a suffragette threw herself under the kings horse in what year

A) 1911

B) 1912

C) 1914

D) 1913

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8. In Elizabethan England rich people carried their own folding what

A) Spoons to Banquets

B) Foldable cups

C) Foldable goblets

D) Foldable fans

E) Foldable knives

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9. With which four words did Samuel Pepys end his diary each day

A) And so to sleep

B) And so to dream

C) And so to breakfast

D) And so to bed

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10. Which Prime Minister introduced Income Tax

A) William Pitt the Elder

B) Pitt the younger

C) David Lloyd George

D) Benjamin Disraeli

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11. Who commanded the English fleet which defeated the Spanish Armada

A) Admiral howard

B) Sir Francis Drake

C) Sir Walter Raleigh

D) Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex

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12. Which British statesman, Minister of Labour in the National Government (1940-1945) became Foreign Secretary in Attlee's Cabinet (1945-1951)

A) Ernest bevin

B) Anthony Eden

C) Harold Macmillan

D) Aneurin Bevan

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13. The last day of public operation of the Liverpool Overhead Railway was December the 30th of which year

A) 1956

B) 1954

C) 1955

D) 1957

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14. Who was the first commoner to appear Royal Mail pack 1964

A) Charles Dickens

B) Jane Austen

C) William Shakespeare

D) Beatrix Potter

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15. Where is sir herbert baker buried

A) St Paul's Cathedral

B) Westminster Cathedral

C) Westminster abbey

D) Kensal Green Cemetery

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16. Which English King was crowned on Christmas day

A) Edward the Confessor, crowned in 1042

B) Harold Godwinson, crowned in 1066

C) William the Conqueror in 1066

D) Henry II, crowned in 1154

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17. Who devised the idea of a flat rate postal charge

A) Rowland Hill

B) Benjamin Franklin

C) Thomas Jefferson

D) Charles Babbage

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18. Name the chauffeur of the car in which the Princess of Wales died

A) Henri Paul

B) Dodi Fayed

C) Trevor Rees-Jones

D) Paul Burrell

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19. What was the nationality of sir winston churchill's mother

A) British

B) Canadian

C) French

D) American

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20. What could Victorian advertisements not show

A) Beds - hidden behind curtains

B) Prices prominently displayed

C) Women performing tasks

D) Product demonstrations

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21. Where was Bonnie Prince Charlie born

A) Edinburgh

B) Rome

C) London

D) Paris

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22. What final event did Gladstone and Churchill share

A) Funeral service

B) Cremation

C) State funeral

D) Royal procession

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23. Margaret Thatcher day is 10th January in what area

A) Scotland

B) Wales

C) England

D) Falklands Islands

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24. Debussy how tall was the shortest british monarch charles i

A) 4'6"

B) 4'3"

C) 4'11"

D) 4'9"

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25. Climbing boys were banned what did sweeps drop down chimneys

A) Live Mice

B) Small Birds

C) Live Chickens

D) Live Pigeons

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26. Which museum now occupies the site of the old Bedlam Hospital in London

A) British Museum

B) Imperial war museum

C) Victoria and Albert Museum

D) Natural History Museum

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27. Only 6 people died in what historic event

A) Boston Massacre

B) Sinking of the RMS Titanic

C) Battle of Hastings

D) Fire of London 1666

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28. What was the last item shown on British TV before WW2

A) A newsreel about the Empire

B) A short cartoon featuring Donald Duck

C) Mickey Mouse

D) A live variety show

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29. Which Famous Person Was Born In Grantham, Linconshire On 13th October 1925

A) Winston Churchill

B) Margaret Thatcher

C) Diana, Princess of Wales

D) Beatrix Potter

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30. What waterway did Britain buy a share of in 1875

A) Panama Canal

B) Corinth Canal

C) Kiel Canal

D) Suez canal

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31. Who was British Prime Minister at the time of the General Strike in 1926

A) Ramsay MacDonald

B) David Lloyd George

C) Neville Chamberlain

D) Stanley baldwin

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32. Which King was the intended target of the Gunpowder plot

A) James 1st

B) Charles I

C) George I

D) Charles II

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33. When were bank holidays first indroduced into Britain

A) 1830

B) 1844

C) 1863

D) 1871

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34. Who rode a horse called Copenhagen

A) Napoleon Bonaparte

B) Alexander the Great

C) Duke of wellington

D) George Washington

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35. Whose epitaph says "If you seek his monument look around you"

A) Sir Christopher Wren

B) Inigo Jones

C) Isambard Kingdom Brunel

D) Frank Lloyd Wright

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36. What was Capability Brown's real first name

A) Lancelot

B) Lionel

C) Thomas

D) Launcelot

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37. What did Sir Rowland Hill introduce in Britain in 1840

A) Penny Post system

B) Postage stamps

C) Carrier pigeons

D) Envelopes

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38. The ghost of Anne Boleyn might be expected to walk in which London palace

A) Hampton Court

B) Buckingham Palace

C) Kensington Palace

D) St James's Palace

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39. Where Was Britains First Escalator Installed

A) Selfridges

B) Fortnum & Mason

C) The London Underground

D) Harrods

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40. An 18th century law in Britain banned the poor from having what

A) Bread

B) Tea

C) Gin - they were too pissed

D) Beer

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41. Queen Mary II died at age 32 what killed her

A) Smallpox

B) Measles

C) Tuberculosis

D) Pneumonia

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42. Originally a Toss Pot did a lot of what

A) Gambled at games of chance

B) Drinking - Alcohol

C) Sang ballads in taverns

D) Danced jigs in the streets

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43. Florence Nightingale tended the soldiers in which war

A) Crimean

B) American Civil War

C) World War I

D) Napoleonic Wars

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44. What did henry shrapnel invent

A) The machine gun

B) The grenade

C) Exploding shell

D) The long-range cannon

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45. Which famous Englishwoman was born in Florence on 12th May 1820,where her well-to-do parents were temporarily resident

A) Mary Seacole

B) Beatrix Potter

C) Florence Nightingale

D) Jane Austen

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46. When was buckingham palace built

A) 1703

B) 1701

C) 1705

D) 1730

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47. Which annual sporting event between 2 teams started in 1829

A) The University Boat Race

B) The Grand National

C) The America's Cup

D) The Wimbledon Championships

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48. In Scotland what was the tawse

A) Ruler

B) Cane

C) Paddle

D) Teachers Strap or belt

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49. Which English Monarch Had The Shortest Reign

A) Mary II

B) Edward VI

C) Edward 5th

D) Lady Jane Grey

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50. Winston Churchill married in 1908. What was his wife's Christian name

A) Elizabeth

B) Clementine

C) Mary

D) Alice

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