Culture and History UK
(Dates: only centuries of things until 20th century, no specific dates, 1066 important, you have to know
the order → 20th century onwards → know specific dates!)
Introduction
Example questions
The last real invasion of Britain happened in the year 1066, when William the Conqueror
was victorious at the Battle of Hastings.
The 3 children of Prince William and Kate Middleton are:
1. George
2. Charlotte
3. Louis
The Roman emperor Hadrian had a wall built between England and Scotland.
Which of the two occurred first: the Great Fire of London or that of Chicago?
→ The Great Fire of London occurred in 1666, The Great Fire of Chicago was in 1871,
first settlement of US: 1607
How many wives did Henry VIII have and how many of them were named Katherine?
→ 6 wives, 3 named Katherine
Was New York City settled before or after the birth of William Shakespeare?
→ After, William Shakespeare was born in 1564, NYC was settled in 1624
What is the name of the British flag?
→ Nickname is Union Jack, official name is Union Flag, it got that nickname from the
time the flag was first introduced/used, which was under King James VI of Scotland,
who was King James I of England.
→ Jack is nickname for James
Who reigned longest: Queen Victoria or Queen Elizabeth II?
→ Queen Elizabeth II, she reigned for 69 years, Queen Victoria reigned for 63 years
Queen Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
but what additional title did she acquire in 1876?
→ Empress of India
The 1980s were the Reagan -Thatcher years. Of these two political leaders who ruled
longest and why?
→ Thatcher ruled the longest. Reagan was president of US for 8 years, Thatcher was
prime minister of UK for 11 years.
→ Thatcher ruled longer because political terms in US and UK are different, term US is 4
years, UK elections are held every 5 years.
→ US presidents are only allowed to serve a maximum of 2 consecutive terms. UK prime
ministers do not have a limit on the number of consecutive terms they can rule.
→ (If US president gets impeached, there is a possibility that that impeachment will
include him being precluded from running for office ever again.)
, Which American presidents and British prime ministers since Reagan and Thatcher can
you name?
Presidents Prime ministers
Ronald Wilson Reagan Margaret Thatcher
(Republican Party) (Cons. Party, “Tories”)
George Bush Senior John Major
(Republican Party) (Cons. Party)
Bill Clinton Tony Blair
(Democratic Party) (Labour Party)
George Bush Junior Gordon Brown
(Republican Party) (Labour Party)
Barack Obama David Cameron
(Democratic Party) (Conservative Party)
Donald Trump Theresa May
(Republican Party) (Conservative Party)
Joe Biden Boris Johnson
(Democratic Party) (Conservative Party)
Which city has the largest percentage of black residents, London or New York?
→ NY, 25% (London, 13%)
Where was ‘gay marriage’ first introduced: UK or US?
→ First introduced in 2004, US, but only legal in one state, Massachusetts.
→ UK full country 2014 (not Northern Ireland, only in January 2020), US fully legalized in
entire country in 2015
UK Culture and History: course content
1. History: From ‘pre-history’ (before 1066) to the 20th century
2. Culture: Aspects of UK culture: politics, education, international relationships,…
3. Current events: Newspaper articles from a quality newspaper, analysis in class
Introduction UK
Terminology: Locations
United Kingdom vs. Great Britain vs. The British Isles
Inhabitants: Britons or British people
Empire: the British territories during the height of colonialism
Commonwealth: remnant of the British Empire, intergovernmental organization of 53 member
states, mostly former colonies of the British Empire (e.g. Canada, India, Australia)
British Isles: Ireland + British Islands (= everything)
British Islands: UK + Isle of Man + Channel Islands (Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, Sark) (=
everything without Ireland)
Ireland: Republic of Ireland (nation on its own) + Northern Ireland (part of UK)
United Kingdom: Northern Ireland + Great Britain
Great Britain: England + Scotland + Wales (3 subnations)
,Terminology: politics
Two main parties: Labour & Conservative Party (Tories)
Other important parties: Liberal Democrats (Lib-Dems) (often seen as the third big party of
the UK), Scottish National Party (SNP) (biggest party of Scotland), Democratic Unionist Party
(DUP) (biggest party of Northern Ireland)
Parliament: House of Lords & House of Commons
MP = Member of Parliament
PM = Prime Minister
Number 10 = the office of the Prime Minister (Downing Street)
Parliamentary constitutional monarchy (=UK), they still have a monarchy, but they work on
a constitution and an elected parliament
Basic facts: the country
UK population: 65 million
UK capital: London
o (Inhabitants: 10 million (in city center London) + 14 million in metropolitan area)
Other capitals:
- Cardiff (Wales)
- Edinburgh (Scotland)
- Belfast (Northern Ireland)
, British royal family
Queen Elizabeth II + Prince Philip
o Prince Charles + Princess Diana (children) + Camilla Parker Bowles (no children)
→ Prince William + Catherine Middleton
- Prince George
- Princess Charlotte
- Prince Louis
→ Prince Harry + Meghan Markle
- Prince Archie
UK Flag
Current Union Flag first used in 1801, when Ireland was officially merged with Great
Britain (entire Island here, separation between Republic of Ireland and Northern Island only
happened later in the 20th century)
Welsh Flag (dragon) was not incorporated into the Union Flag
Anthems – the UK
An anthem is “a solemn patriotic song officially adopted by a country as an expression of
national identity”
In all, "God Save the Queen" (alternatively "God Save the King", depending on the gender of
the monarch) is felt to be the national anthem of the UK.
→ Obviously it is as well the royal anthem.
→ It is one of two national anthems used by New Zealand since 1977. It is also
the royal anthem of Australia (since 1984), Canada (since 1980), and
Barbados.
→ God Save the Queen (or King) was first used in its current form in 1744
