Memorize these and recognize 39.3% of all British History clues.
| # | Answer | Count | Sample Clue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oliver Cromwell | 6 | Embalmers messed up the body after his 1658 death; in 1661 folks thought putting his head on a pole was a nice finishing touch |
| 2 | Winston Churchill | 6 | The only British Prime Minister to win the Nobel Prize for Literature |
| 3 | Henry VIII | 5 | Pope Leo X gave this monarch the title "Defender of the Faith" in 1521 for his written work against Martin Luther |
| 4 | Margaret Thatcher | 5 | In 1984 she narrowly escaped assassination as her hotel bathroom was destroyed by an IRA bomb |
| 5 | the Magna Carta | 4 | Containing concessions by the king, this 13th c. document is one of the foundations of English & American law |
| 6 | Florence Nightingale | 4 | The wealthy family of this nurse born in 1820 tried to prevent her from going into medicine |
| 7 | Benjamin Disraeli | 4 | Between 1868-1885 William Gladstone & this man alternated as prime minister |
| 8 | Queen Victoria | 3 | Monarch known for dressing in black, she mourned her husband Albert for 40 years |
| 9 | India | 3 | On Aug. 15, 1947 Britain granted independence to this country after nearly 200 years of rule |
| 10 | Eton | 3 | In 1440 Henry VI founded this boys' school as a prep school for King's College |
| 11 | Canterbury | 3 | The 1st archbishop of this historic town was St. Augustine, a monk sent by the pope to convert the English |
| 12 | William the Conqueror | 3 | The last man to invade England successfully, he defeated Harold II in 1066 |
| 13 | the Falkland Islands | 3 | Fought over in a 1982 war, it voted to remain a British overseas territory in 2013 |
| 14 | Darwin | 3 | On the first day of its publication in 1859, all 1,250 copies of his "On the Origin of Species" sold out |
| 15 | Sir Isaac Newton | 3 | The Westminster Reference Library in London occupies the site where this scientist lived from 1710 to 1725 |
| 16 | Samuel Pepys | 3 | Government official & diarist who gave us 1st-hand account of London's Great Fire |
| 17 | Windsor | 2 | In 1917 the royal family took this new name, also a castle |
| 18 | William & Mary | 2 | Sharing power, they were crowned king & queen of England April 11, 1689 |
| 19 | the Suez | 2 | In 1875 Britain purchased the holdings of Ismail Pasha in this canal company |
| 20 | the Spanish Armada | 2 | Admiral Charles Howard was in command of the Royal Navy when it defeated this large force in 1588 |
| 21 | the Restoration | 2 | The return in 1660 of the monarchy & King Charles II isn't called the Reinstallation or the Redemption but this |
| 22 | the Pope | 2 | Henry VIII outlawed the payment of "Peter's pence" to him |
| 23 | the House of Lords | 2 | The Marquess of Salisbury, who retired in 1902, was the last prime minister to lead a government from this body |
| 24 | the Gunpowder Plot | 2 | Guy Fawkes' explosive effort to blow up Parliament |
| 25 | the Domesday Book | 2 | This 1086 survey recorded 650,000 oxen, 13,000 villages & an estimated population of 1.8 million |
| 26 | Stuart | 2 | Dying childless in 1714 despite 18 pregnancies, Queen Anne was this dynasty's last monarch |
| 27 | Queen Anne | 2 | Since 1700 Britain has had only 3 reigning queens: Victoria, Elizabeth II, & this woman |
| 28 | John | 2 | In 1209 this brother & successor of King Richard I was excommunicated |
| 29 | Jack the Ripper | 2 | On Sept. 30, 1888 Elizabeth Stride & Catherine Eddowes both ran afoul of this terrible man in London |
| 30 | Henry VII | 2 | In 1485 the Earl of Richmond killed Richard III at Bosworth & became this first Tudor king of England |
| 31 | Charlie Chaplin | 2 | This comic legend of the silent screen spent the last 24 years of his life in Switzerland, where he died in 1977 |
| 32 | Charles II | 2 | Though he had over a dozen children, this "merry monarch" was succeed by his brother, James II |
| 33 | Charles I | 2 | This 17th century king was the last British monarch to enter the House of Commons |
| 34 | Britannia | 2 | The Roman portion of the island had this name, followed in names of provinces by "Inferior" and "Superior" |
| 35 | Bertrand Russell | 2 | At age 89, this philosopher-mathematician was jailed for his part in a 1961 anti-nuclear demonstration |
| 36 | Alfred the Great | 2 | King of Wessex, this great monarch prevented England from completely falling to the Danes in the 800s |
| 37 | Thomas à Becket | 2 | Henry II referred to him as a "turbulent priest" |
| 38 | the corn laws | 2 | Partly due to the Irish Potato Famine, these laws regulating the supply of grains were repealed in 1846 |
| 39 | Richard the Lionhearted | 2 | Returning from the Crusades, this leader was captured by Leopold of Austria & held for ransom |
| 40 | Queen Elizabeth I | 2 | The Tudor dynasty ended in 1603 with the death of this queen |
| 41 | Admiral Nelson | 2 | English admiral whose fleet flattened Napoleon's in the Nile |
| 42 | King George III | 2 | From 1810 to 1820 productions of "King Lear" were banned in England due to this monarch's infirmity |
| 43 | Bloody Mary | 2 | This daughter was the firstborn of Henry VIII's legitimate children |
| 44 | Balfour | 2 | He was PM from 1902 to 1905; later, a declaration supporting a Jewish homeland in Palestine was named for him |
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