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British History Quiz for Dummies

Can you answer these 20 easy questions about the history of Great Britain?
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Featured Quiz
Last updated: June 29, 2020
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First submittedJune 28, 2020
Times taken58,863
Average score90.0%
Rating4.51
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Question
Answer
Who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during most of WWII?
Winston Churchill
What king had six different wives, two of whom were beheaded?
King Henry VIII
What country tried to invade England with an armada in 1588?
Spain
Whose many plays include "Hamlet", "MacBeth", and "Romeo and Juliet"?
William Shakespeare
What royal family member died in a car crash after being chased by paparazzi in 1997?
Princess Diana
What country merged with England to form the "Kingdom of Great Britain" in 1707?
Scotland
Who reigned as Queen of the United Kingdom from 1837–1901?
Queen Victoria
What series of conflicts pitted the House of Lancaster against the House of York?
Wars of the Roses
What territory did the UK acquire from China in 1842 and return in 1997?
Hong Kong
What "revolution" started in Great Britain in the late 1700s, sparking a massive rise in
material prosperity throughout the entire world?
Industrial Revolution
What charter did King John agree to in 1215 which placed limits on royal power?
Magna Carta
What type of people did England "transport" to Australia from 1787 until 1868?
Convicts
What famous ring of stones was constructed in Wiltshire at least 4000 years ago?
Stonehenge
What political union did the UK vote to leave in 2016, finally doing so in 2020?
European Union
King Richard I was known by the nickname "Cœur de Lion".
What does this mean in English?
Lionheart
What country did England fight against in the "Hundred Years War"?
France
What was the most populous country in the British Empire before becoming
independent in 1947?
India
What theory did Charles Darwin write about in his book "On the Origin of Species"?
Natural Selection
What name has been shared by 6 kings, the 3rd of whom was mad?
George
What group of people conquered England in 1066?
Normans
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55 Comments
GeoPhilia
+29
Level 56
Jun 29, 2020
Bruh, I am dumb, I did pretty bad.
QuizzyHarry
+1
Level 39
Oct 24, 2020
XD
SwedenIceland
+1
Level 58
Nov 8, 2023
same
brainchild
+7
Level 69
Jun 29, 2020
I got 💯percent! Cool quiz!
elijahwade
+18
Level 96
Jun 29, 2020
Not a bad quiz, though I do think it would benefit from a bit more material concerning Scotland and Wales (and if it is the history of the United Kingdom—as opposed to merely the island of 'Great Britain'—Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland also have some significant contributions to pay).
Djilas
+3
Level 83
Jun 29, 2020
She wasn't royal family member when she died though.
overtired
+14
Level 85
Jun 30, 2020
From her wikipedia page: Diana lost the style "Her Royal Highness" and instead was styled Diana, Princess of Wales. As the mother of the prince expected to one day ascend to the throne, she continued to be regarded as a member of the royal family and was accorded the same precedence she enjoyed during her marriage.
triviaolivia
+3
Level 62
Sep 4, 2020
I tried "Spencer" to see if it was accepted. It was not. Fair enough.
mightythor
+11
Level 66
Jun 29, 2020
Did anyone else read "What famous ring of stores was constructed in Wiltshire at least 4000 years ago?" and wonder whether they really had department stores 4000 years ago?
ing
+26
Level 72
Jul 1, 2020
Tescos of the Bronze Age
RobNobody
+8
Level 78
Jun 11, 2022
I mean, the Flintstones had to shop somewhere.
Googolplexianth
+4
Level 31
Jun 15, 2022
You see, there are a lot of theories surrounding this topic, the most famous one being that it was the first fast food drive-thru joint.
PrettyTiedUp
+21
Level 68
Jun 30, 2020
Brexit. Boo. Hiss
ChipOtley
+4
Level 74
Jul 3, 2020
I believe Avebury would also fit the description of the ring of stones (it's in Wiltshire, has a ring of stones and think it's over 4000 yrs old; famous is contentious, but also subjective); please could you accept this too [especially as I live nearer it than Stonehenge ;-)]?
blizzrd33
+12
Level 80
Jul 9, 2020
The requiement should be to type Henry and the number 8 to get the answer correct, accepting just Henry is silly.
ander217
+6
Level 74
Jul 11, 2020
For me, I'm glad to be able to type just the name and move on. It's not as if there are fifty Henrys to go through - if there is someone who knows the name but not the number it wouldn't take them long to start at one and get to eight.
JamesVI
+4
Level 65
Sep 25, 2020
Is there anyone that doesn't know that it was Henry VIII whom had six wives?
NV1
+2
Level 51
Jul 11, 2020
19/20 I studipidly missed Natural Selection

!

smith25
+3
Level 59
Jul 11, 2020
To be fair, it really should be made so that it accepts answers like theory of evolution and maybe even darwinism, because those were number one and two that I tried on that one and I only managed to get the correct answer in the last 10 seconds.
ander217
+11
Level 74
Jul 11, 2020
Evolution was accepted for me.
jkabq
+9
Level 63
Jul 11, 2020
too UK centric.
BlackJohn
+5
Level 75
Jul 11, 2020
Rather too english centric. The only question that isn't 100% about England is the one mentioning Scotland's union with it.
JamesVI
+3
Level 65
Sep 25, 2020
Being English myself I do quite agree that this quiz should not be named British and rather English. For it does give the rest of our great country the shaft. Poor Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
FadKrashmor
+5
Level 71
Jun 30, 2022
Dear me. So let me get this right: 1) Churchill had nothing to do with Scotland, he was prime minister of England. 2) Macbeth is not set in Scotland.. 3) Diana married into the Royal Family of England. 4) Brexit was not applicable to Scotland. 5) Queen Victoria was not queen of the Scottish people. 6) Scotland played no part in trade with the far East and was not part of the UK in 1842. 7) The people of Scotland played no part in the Industrial Revolution. 8) The kings George 1 through 6 were kings of England and nowhere else.
WanderingWolf
+4
Level 44
Jul 11, 2020
Loved this! I managed to get all of them, which was fun (and a nice change for me ;P). Good blend of answers though. Most people should be able to get the majority of these, but there were still some that required some thinking
likeitmatters
+1
Level 76
Jul 11, 2020
Maybe include "norse" or "vikings" as possible answers for "normans"
Jnorm
+4
Level 75
Jul 11, 2020
The Vikings failed with hardrada being defeated by harolds forces at Stamford bridge where he and forces died! Not successful conquering unlike my ancestors (probably) us normans did conquer England from Harold at Hastings in 1066
JamesVI
+2
Level 65
Sep 25, 2020
If a European that lived a thousand years ago has living descendants today, then if you are of European descent you are almost certainly descended from them. So the Normans are your ancestors, as they are mine, and pretty much everyone elses!
grantdon
+4
Level 74
Jun 11, 2022
My genetics lecturer at university used to say that, within a cultural/geographic region, you only had to go back six generations to find common ancestry between two people
sjj93gg
+2
Level 53
Jun 11, 2022
Your genetics lecturer was probably very poor at simple maths then: go back six generations and you have only 64 individuals from which you're descended (in that generation). We must all be very inbred if you only had to go back six generations to find we're all related!
Ferbin
+3
Level 77
Jul 6, 2022
Normans weren't vikings anymore once they settled (vikings aren't an ethnic group). And even calling them norse at that point is a bit of a stretch, considering they had been living there for at least 150 years and had mixed culturally with the French (having taken up christianity, feudalism, and the french language).
Markez23
+2
Level 46
Jul 11, 2020
Neville Chamberlain was also PM during WW2, not that I chose him but he was the PM when the war started.
lsofhereward
+7
Level 71
Jul 11, 2020
Yes, but the question asks about who was PM during MOST of WWII. Chamberlain served for less than a year after the war in Europe began, while the correct answer served for the remaining five years of the war.
arjunvadrevu
+4
Level 75
Jul 12, 2020
I read most populous country as "city", and so kept getting frustrated that "Kolkata" wasn't accepted /facepalm/
EnlightWolif
+1
Level 47
Mar 12, 2024
can't blame you
triviaolivia
+5
Level 62
Sep 4, 2020
Sometimes quizzes "for dummies" have a few zingers to keep us humble. This one, though, was true to its promise.
JayWing1218
+4
Level 35
Sep 6, 2020
Easy peasy :)
EcceHomo
+2
Level 82
Oct 21, 2020
There's nothing here that you can't learn in an hour on a London open top bus tour. It's all a bit Dick Van Dyke cor blimey gavnar.
TheBerryLegend
+1
Level 51
Jan 24, 2021
I feel bad for people who went on this quiz and got nothing correct :(
SaorAlba
+1
Level 63
Apr 1, 2021
Consider renaming it History of England and parasites in Buckingham Palace.
NoahGBurns
+1
Level 37
Nov 3, 2021
parasites?
Clinicalize
+1
Level 41
Jul 11, 2021
Wouldn't "Hastings" be a correct answer for the last question?
Hezzer619
+2
Level 53
Oct 29, 2021
The people who invaded were from Normandy. William I was William, Duke of Normandy.
sjj93gg
+2
Level 53
Jun 11, 2022
? Hastings is a place where a battle took place.
clarke26
+1
Level 65
Aug 18, 2021
Really is a "English History Quiz for Dummies" not British lol
NoahGBurns
+1
Level 37
Nov 3, 2021
Why have you already given "magna", if people got the answer they would've known it was 'magna carta'
ThatBritishMan18
+3
Level 43
May 9, 2022
probably because it's an "easy British empire quiz" as shown in the title. maybe people just don't know what the magna Carter is, and maybe some people have been helped with the magna bit.
MacZidane
+1
Level 66
Jun 11, 2022
Please rename this quiz 'English history for dummies' as there was precious little to do with the other three nations in this so- called 'union'.
Chaddius
+2
Level 62
Jun 11, 2022
Could "felons" be accepted for "convicts", or are the definitions not similar enough?
sjj93gg
+5
Level 53
Jun 11, 2022
Felons is rarely (if ever) used in British English, and certainly wasn't used in the British judicial system at the time when the penal colonies in Australia were in operation.
ponttinalle
+2
Level 48
Oct 17, 2022
"I knew it was 1216. One after Magna Carta".

Thanks Chuck!

Airbus
+1
Level 31
Nov 4, 2022
Fun fact, in Wiltshire, there is not only StoneHenge but also Woodhenge.
protector441
+1
Level 48
Nov 10, 2023
I thought, it is Magna Charta. According to wikipedia both spellings are correct, but the article calls itself Magna Carta as is in the quiz.

How this dual spelling happened?

SidMarkus
+1
Level 23
Mar 21, 2024
Got 18 as a Dutch guy! Nice quiz!
Thomiqq
+1
Level 28
Jan 2, 2025
In the first first one it should accept bulldog
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