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British History - How Did They Die?

We give you three choices. You choose the one that best describes how these people from world history met their end.
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: March 9, 2023
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First submittedMarch 9, 2023
Times taken18,539
Average score66.7%
Rating4.66
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1. Anne Boleyn (1536)
Beheaded at the Tower of London
Fell off a horse
Plague
2. Princess Diana (1997)
Car crash in Paris while fleeing paparazzi
Lung cancer
Plane crash over Lockerbie, Scotland
3. Captain James Cook (1779)
Killed by Hawaiians while trying to kidnap their chief
Marooned on a desert island in the Indian Ocean
Shot at the Battle of Trafalgar
4. Richard the Lionheart (1199)
Beheaded by Saladin (personally) during the Third Crusade
Old age after a long and prosperous reign
Shot with a crossbow in France
5. Richard III (1485)
Collapsed while giving a soliloquy
Halberd to the head at the Battle of Bosworth Field
Starved in the Tower of London
6. William Wallace (1305)
Hanged, drawn, and quartered
Lost at sea while trying to conquer Ireland
Strangled on orders of Robert the Bruce
7. Guy Fawkes (1606)
Accidentally blew himself up with gunpowder
Neck broken during hanging
Run over by a carriage on the streets of London
8. Virginia Woolf (1941)
Accidentally shot by husband while hunting quail
German bombs during the London blitz
Suicide by drowning
9. King George V (1936)
Euthanized by doctors
Sepsis after boil on nose became infected
Scarlet fever
10. Henry Hudson (1611)
Killed by French pirates
Marooned in Hudson Bay by mutinous crew
Tetanus after stepping on nail
11. Sir Walter Raleigh (1618)
Beheaded in London
Malaria while searching for El Dorado in modern-day Venezuela
Probably lung cancer due to smoking
12. Amy Winehouse (2011)
Alcohol poisoning
Fire in storage locker after taking sedatives
Tour bus crashed
13. Jane Seymour (1537)
Beheaded at the Tower of London
Complications from childbirth
Refusing to eat for several weeks
14. Thomas Becket (1170)
Died while being tortured on the rack
Killed by swordsmen after Henry II implied, sort of, that he wanted him dead
Trapped in a cave
15. Alan Turing (1954)
Botched procedure to remove a kidney stone
Stabbed by jealous lover
Suicide via cyanide poisoning
17 Comments
+12
Level 85
Mar 10, 2023
Interesting extra detail from wikipedia:

Richard the Lionheart was hit in the shoulder by a crossbow bolt, and the wound turned gangrenous. Richard asked to have the crossbowman brought before him; the man turned out to be a boy. He said Richard had killed his father and two brothers, and that he had killed Richard in revenge. He expected to be executed, but as a final act of mercy Richard forgave him, saying "Live on, and by my bounty behold the light of day", before he ordered the boy to be freed and sent away with 100 shillings.

+15
Level ∞
Mar 10, 2023
The story doesn't end there.

"According to one chronicler, Richard's last act of chivalry proved fruitless when the infamous mercenary captain Mercadier had the boy flayed alive and hanged as soon as Richard died"

+10
Level 85
Mar 24, 2023
I mean, it's the thought that counts...
+5
Level 93
Mar 10, 2023
Not much is known about what happened afterwards, but at least one account says that the king's men disobeyed his order and flayed the boy anyway. So there's that... :/
+1
Level 74
Apr 26, 2023
I would have gotten this wrong but for "Robin and Marian," starring Sean Connery as Robin Hood, Audrey Hepburn as Marian, and Richard Harris as Richard.
+2
Level 70
Sep 13, 2023
WTH does that have to do with anything?
+2
Level 78
Mar 10, 2023
My macabre side is loving this series.
+3
Level 54
Mar 10, 2023
i love these! can you please make one on european history? a suggestion for one would be how napoleon died. the choices could be: 1. Swallowed poison 2. Captured and executed by the Russians 3. Stomach Ulcer (the correct one is 3)
+6
Level 82
Mar 10, 2023
King George V was close to the end of his life when euthanized. It was done so that the announcement of his death could be made in time for the story to be published in the following days newspapers.
+1
Level 56
Apr 26, 2023
I didn't know guy fawkes neck broke for him to die
+3
Level 66
Apr 30, 2023
If a hangman's noose is tied correctly, the initial drop should break the neck - making the death, in theory, instant and painless.
+4
Level ∞
Oct 10, 2023
Not back then. The intent was for Fawkes to strangle for a long time, then cut him down and, while still alive, have him be pulled apart by four horses.

Fawkes jumped from the gallows to avoid this grisly fate.

+1
Level 72
Apr 26, 2023
Saying Thomas Becket was killed on the king's bidding is not really true; his statement was probably misinterpreted and there isn't evidence to suggest he wanted to assassinate Thomas Becket. Also, he wasn't the reigning king.

I think it would be quite easy to change the prompt to something that reflects this nuance.

+1
Level ∞
Apr 27, 2023
I have changed the clue. Thank you.

Are you sure he wasn't the reigning king though?

+2
Level 66
Apr 30, 2023
He definitely was; he was also a French nobleman and vassal to the King of France a the time, which some argue means that Louis XVII had power in England, but that's not correct. The King of England and the French nobleman were the same person wearing two completely different hats (crowns) and France had no power in England.
+2
Level 67
Oct 10, 2023
I should've never trusted the overly specific deaths, I am a fool
+1
Level 70
Sep 4, 2024
Note that some people (Jack Copeland, Ethel Turing) thought Turing's death was an accident from his chemistry experiment. The official verdict is suicide, but there's some room for doubt.