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British History A-Z

A sometimes lighthearted quiz relating to British history. Can you guess these people, places, and things from A-Z?
Quiz by mrnafe
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Featured Quiz
Last updated: February 9, 2019
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First submittedNovember 23, 2018
Times taken24,226
Average score61.5%
Rating4.43
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Hint
Answer
A
One of these hit Harold Godwinson in the eye at the Battle of Hastings
Arrow
B
Hitler only had one of these, according to a WWII era song
Ball
C
Man who was proclaimed Roman Emperor by the legions of York
Constantine
D
Prime Minister from 1874–1880 who thoroughly charmed Queen Victoria
Benjamin Disraeli
E
English trading company which ended up seizing control of vast areas of Asia
East India Company
F
The most well known member of the gunpowder plotters. Oddly, we still burn
an effigy of him every 5th of November.
Guy Fawkes
G
Site of a disastrous campaign against the Ottomans in WWI
Gallipoli
H
Long series of conflicts with the French, even longer than its name suggests
Hundred Years War
I
One of Queen Victoria's titles: Empress of _____
India
J
Lewis Carroll poem "Twas brillig, and the slithy toves. Did gyre and
gimble in the wabe."
Jabberwocky
K
Country where the Mau Mau uprising occurred
Kenya
L
The remains of Richard III were found in a car park in this city in the Midlands
Leicester
M
Proprietors of a flying circus. "He's not the messiah, he's a very naughty boy".
Monty Python
N
The worlds most famous alchemist, did some theorizing on gravity in his spare time
Isaac Newton
O
Invaded England during the Glorious Revolution: William of _____
Orange
P
Unconquerable bunch north of Hadrian's Wall
Picts
Q
British Marquess after whom the rules of boxing were named
Queensberry
R
Explorer and tobacco cheerleader, favourite of Elizabeth I
Sir Walter Raleigh
S
Beautiful water fowl; through some quirk of history the queen apparently owns them
Swan
T
Brilliant mathematician, code breaker, and computing pioneer
Alan Turing
U
An 11cm high vessel which contains the ashes of English cricket
Urn
V
HMS _______, admiral Nelson's flagship at Trafalgar
Victory
W
This general did such a good job fighting Napoleon they made him a duke
Duke of Wellington
X
Coleridge poem: "In ______ did Kubla Khan, A stately pleasure-dome decree"
Xanadu
Y
Mortal enemies of the House of Lancaster
House of York
Z
Country which was formerly the British colony of Southern Rhodesia
Zimbabwe
luxint
+3
Level 64
Nov 23, 2018
good quiz. thanks. maybe accept east india as the word company is in the question anyway...i nearly gave up when that didnt work. thanks again
mrnafe
+2
Level 80
Nov 24, 2018
Thanks man, I always appreciate your input
JoshPen
+16
Level 78
Nov 28, 2018
The B answer might be the raciest thing I have seen on this site. LOL
redsplat
+10
Level 75
Dec 1, 2018
I kept typing in testicle. Repeatedly. Even though I knew it was an A-Z quiz. And then kept thinking I was spelling it wrong so I tried a bunch of variations. Sigh. If there are any keystroke loggers running on my machine, that'll make them wonder!
Jerry928
+6
Level 75
Nov 28, 2018
Nice quiz. You really distilled the essence of what being British is all about (though, given there aren't any P-people left, I wonder how unconquerable they really were)
POOCH
+4
Level 74
Nov 29, 2018
Oh, there are still plenty of them. They just all moved to Pittsburgh and changed their name.
mrnafe
+9
Level 80
Nov 28, 2018
Thanks for comments folks, have resubmitted with the amended spellings. This is my first quiz thats eligible for points, I'm rather pleased with that.
samiamco
+1
Level 70
Nov 30, 2018
Congrats! I hope you write many more featured quizzes in the future. As a clueless Yank though, would you (or someone) mind explaining the "urn" clue? It definitely seems like it touches on a nerve :-)
mrnafe
+9
Level 80
Dec 13, 2018
The urn is essentially a trophy the English and Australians compete for in cricket. I think the Australians beat us once in the 1800s and ceremoniusly burned some of the wicket and declared English cricket dead, putting the ashes in aforementioned urn. Every 2 or 4 years since we contest 'the ashes' to establish whether it's dead or not. It's all very silly and marvellous.

I've probably missed some crucial elements to the tale but that's the basic jist of the story.

ander217
+2
Level 76
Feb 7, 2019
Thank you, didn't understand that one, either. And thank you for a very fun (and enlightening) quiz. Hope you have many more featured.
mf3
+3
Level 85
Nov 28, 2018
As usual, I step in with picayune corrections. Someone has already pointed out the "Emperor" misspelling; also, "stately" not stateley, 'Twas has an apostrophe, no period after Toves, and "Admiral Nelson's" instead of "admiral Nelsons" (two fixes in one!). Anyhow, congrats on your first point-scored quiz!
Algernon
+2
Level 71
Dec 12, 2018
Can someone explain the "C" answer? I'm stumped by how I would know it or where it comes from.
mrnafe
+7
Level 80
Dec 13, 2018
Constantine is one of the most famous Roman Emperors and played a significant role in the christianisation of Europe. He commanded the legions of York and was proclaimed emperor by them upon the death of his father.
grantdon
+4
Level 74
Feb 7, 2019
Another pedantic spelling correction: it should be "formerly" for the Z question
mrnafe
+3
Level 80
Feb 7, 2019
Jetpunk is a society of pedants, and that's how we like it :) thanks for the input I'll see if we can amend it
muFin
+2
Level 75
Feb 7, 2019
Hello, the Marquis spelling is Marquess according to the English peerage system. Marquis is the French spelling, although sometimes used in Scotland and Queensbury was Scottish, but still the title is Marquess (for men).
muFin
+1
Level 75
Feb 7, 2019
And thank you - enjoyed the quiz!
masabi
+1
Level 82
Feb 7, 2019
Also, isn't it Queensberry instead of Queensbury? At least should accept them both.
rleitne
+2
Level 81
Feb 8, 2019
Please accept Queensbury as an accepted alternate spelling. If I can say it out loud and be correct on a quiz show, it should work here, too.
mrnafe
+1
Level 80
Feb 7, 2019
Clearly I need to work on my spellings! There's a British History A-Z #2 on my page if anyone's interested
joshcw
+1
Level 43
Feb 7, 2019
it is spelled Queensberry

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marquess_of_Queensberry_Rules

Milksteak83
+6
Level 78
Feb 7, 2019
Too America-focused.
sjj93gg
+2
Level 44
Jun 30, 2022
And it still doesn't resolve which continent Cyprus is in.
mrnafe
+1
Level 80
Jun 30, 2022
We had a bash at making it England, that would've solved it 🍵
QuizBirder
+1
Level 56
Feb 8, 2019
The queen only 'owns' Mute Swans - there are two other species of swans that are found in the UK and she has no title over them! Perhaps accept Mute Swan, as well as just Swan, - as it is actually the fully correct answer!
FlickerP
+4
Level 69
Jun 30, 2022
But why would anyone answer 'Mute Swan' knowing that the answer began with an S?
Devadatta
+2
Level 65
Jul 1, 2022
Silent Swan, maybe? :)
Teegthebeeg
+3
Level 55
Apr 21, 2020
Great fun quiz, thank you - but in the grand tradition of Jetpunk nitpickery, Wellington hadn't fought Napoleon at the time he was made a Duke. 'The French' might be better.
marjobro
+3
Level 65
Jul 24, 2020
Excellent quiz. And, thank you very much, jetpunkers, that the comments are useful and indicate some thought! (Not just scores and times.)

I'm trying to determine why the quiz could be interpreted as 'too-American.' Perhaps giving an expalantion for the comment would be helpful. I recently submitted a quiz on Panama (20 questions), and made a sincere effort to ensure that it was not all about the U.S. role there. However, ignoring the significance of that relationship would be akin to leaving England out of the Great Migration story of the 1630s in America, or Spain's role in Mexico, etc... Isolationism is no longer possible, and we are all creatures of our individual experiences after all.

I wish the 'tone' of all the comments on jet punk were more like this one.

harrypottersbff
+1
Level 19
Apr 19, 2021
I'm American and I don't know most of this but I'm a huge harry potter fan, so my question- why is there no harry potter?!
kitsims
+4
Level 80
Dec 25, 2021
Because every other quiz on this site already features it, and there is a lot more to the world than one series of books.
elcampeador
+1
Level 71
Jun 30, 2022
Because JK Rowling is actually from Nepal.
JWatson24
+1
Level 71
Jun 30, 2022
Thank you for acknowledging the weirdness of Guy Fawkes Day in F!!! As an American, this tradition makes absolutely no sense to me.
Trolololz
+1
Level 72
Jun 30, 2022
Hitler's nut is the best bit of British history for B
dogmeat
+1
Level 65
Jun 30, 2022
It's now considered very dubious that Harold was killed by an arrow to the eye. Latest thinking is he is the poor guy getting dismembered in the Bayeux Tapestry.

No mention in contemporary reports of the famous arrow to the eye.

Still a valid question though as it's all theory and conjecture

Jango
+1
Level 62
Jul 5, 2022
One of the best quizzes I've seen on this site! Loved the mad mixture of questions and especially the way they're worded!

Now away back to see whether mad Bojo has been ousted as PM in the last few minutes...

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