History
Battles, empires, and the moments that changed everything.
60 answers explained
George III's declining mental health forced Parliament to pass an act in February 1811 creating what?
C. A Regency under the Prince of Wales3 min
Wellington's government rushed through the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829 mainly to avert what crisis in Ireland?
C. Unrest after Daniel O'Connell's election victory2 min
Walter Raleigh was sent to the scaffold in October 1618 after his men attacked a Spanish outpost while searching for what?
D. The legendary gold city of El Dorado2 min
Britain entered the Crimean War in 1854 chiefly to stop which empire's expansion towards the Mediterranean?
C. The Russian Empire2 min
Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, launched his failed rebellion against Elizabeth I in February 1601 largely after losing what source of income?
C. His monopoly on sweet wines2 min
Charles Dickens was pulled from school to work in a boot blacking factory in 1824 after his father was imprisoned for what?
B. Unpaid debt2 min
William the Conqueror's brutal Harrying of the North in the winter of 1069 to 1070 was launched to crush a rebellion backed by which people?
B. Danish raiders2 min
Charles I stood trial in Westminster Hall in January 1649 formally charged with waging war against whom?
D. His own Parliament and people2 min
General Galtieri's military junta ordered the invasion of the Falkland Islands in April 1982 mainly to distract from what at home?
C. Argentina's economic crisis and unpopular regime2 min
Titus Oates triggered years of anti-Catholic hysteria and terror across England from 1678 by fabricating what?
B. A Catholic plot to assassinate Charles II2 min
Eleanor of Aquitaine was imprisoned by her husband Henry II for almost sixteen years after backing a revolt led by whom?
C. Their own sons2 min
General Gordon was sent to Khartoum by the British government in early 1884 with strict orders to do what?
E. Evacuate Egyptian garrisons and civilians from the city2 min
Great Fire of London in September 1666 spread so fast through the city mainly because of what?
B. Timber houses, a long dry summer and a strong east wind2 min
Which country became the first from outside the British Isles to beat England, winning 4-3 in Madrid in May 1929?
D. Spain2 min
Blackburn Olympic became the first working-class northern club to win the FA Cup in 1883, beating an amateur gentlemen's side in the final. Who did they beat 2-1?
D. Old Etonians2 min
In which year was the penalty kick introduced into football's laws, an idea credited to Irish businessman William McCrum?
D. 18912 min
Which Norwegian king was killed at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in September 1066, days before the Battle of Hastings?
A. Harald Hardrada2 min
Which 1940 air campaign saw the RAF defend British skies against the German Luftwaffe, forcing Hitler to abandon his invasion plans?
A. The Battle of Britain2 min
Which British general led the allied forces to victory over Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815?
A. The Duke of Wellington2 min
How did Julius Caesar meet his end in 44 BC?
B. He was stabbed to death by senators in the Roman Senate2 min
What personal tragedy in 1861 led Queen Victoria to wear mourning black and withdraw from public life for years?
B. The death of her husband, Prince Albert2 min
What happened to King Charles I on 30 January 1649?
B. He was publicly beheaded outside the Banqueting House2 min
On 6 June 1944, Allied forces including British troops launched which major invasion of Nazi-occupied France?
B. The D-Day landings in Normandy2 min
How did Admiral Horatio Nelson die during the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805?
E. He was shot by a French sniper aboard an enemy ship2 min
During the Crimean War in 1854, a mistaken order led to which doomed cavalry charge at the Battle of Balaclava?
A. The Charge of the Light Brigade2 min
What is King John famously said to have lost while crossing the Wash in 1216?
E. His crown jewels and baggage train to the incoming tide2 min
Which 1746 battle crushed the Jacobite rising and became the last pitched battle fought on British soil?
B. The Battle of Culloden2 min
In May 1915, a German U-boat torpedoed which British ocean liner, killing nearly 1,200 people and outraging the world?
C. The Lusitania3 min
How did King Richard III die at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485?
A. He was killed in battle2 min
What event took place on 29 May 1660, ending over a decade of republican rule in England?
B. Charles II's triumphant return from exile2 min
After its defeat in 1588, what happened to the remnants of the Spanish Armada fleet?
C. Most ships were wrecked trying to sail home around Scotland and Ireland2 min
What happened to the British resistance leader Caratacus after he was captured and taken to Rome?
C. He was pardoned by Emperor Claudius after a speech3 min
What happened to Catherine Howard, the fifth wife of Henry VIII, in 1542?
B. She was executed for adultery2 min
Which Anglo-Saxon king became the first ruler of a united England after his victory at the Battle of Brunanburh in 937?
B. Æthelstan2 min
What disaster struck a train crossing the Tay Bridge in Scotland during a storm in December 1879?
B. The bridge collapsed, killing everyone aboard2 min
Which British ocean liner sank in the North Atlantic in April 1912 after striking an iceberg?
B. The Titanic2 min
Where did the Great Fire of London break out in September 1666?
E. A bakery on Pudding Lane2 min
According to legend, what did King Alfred the Great famously burn while hiding from the Vikings in the Somerset marshes?
B. Cakes3 min
What earned Queen Mary I her lasting nickname, 'Bloody Mary'?
B. She burned hundreds of Protestants at the stake2 min
What became of Sir Thomas More's body after his execution for treason in 1535?
E. His severed head was displayed on a spike on London Bridge2 min
In AD 410, Rome was sacked for the first time in nearly 800 years by which people?
E. The Visigoths, led by King Alaric2 min
What happened to the Roman city of Pompeii in AD 79?
C. It was buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius2 min
Who allegedly ordered the murder of the teenage King Edward the Martyr at Corfe Castle in 978?
E. His stepmother, Ælfthryth2 min
Which U.S. state was the FIRST to ratify the Constitution?
D. Delaware2 min
Which country invented paper?
China2 min
In which year was the Gin Act passed by Parliament?
17512 min
The 1918 flu pandemic became known as the Spanish Flu mainly because of what?
A. Spain's neutral press freely reported on the outbreak2 min
Cnut famously ordered his throne carried to the seashore to prove what point to his courtiers?
B. That even a king has no power over nature, unlike God2 min
Parliament passed the Poor Law of 1601 mainly to address what crisis?
B. Mass unemployment and vagrancy after failed harvests2 min
Who was the ringleader and mastermind of the 1605 Gunpowder Plot, rather than the man caught with the explosives?
Robert Catesby2 min
Attlee's government founded the NHS in 1948. What need was it created to meet?
To provide universal healthcare free at the point of use for all British citizens, regardless of their ability to pay — ensuring that medical treatment was avai2 min
When Elizabeth I died childless in 1603, which king inherited the English throne, uniting the crowns of England and Scotland?
James I of England (James VI of Scotland)2 min
Wilberforce's Slave Trade Act passed the Commons in what year?
18072 min
What was the name of Drake's ship on his circumnavigation?
The Golden Hind2 min
Staffordshire Hoard, the largest Anglo-Saxon gold collection ever found, was uncovered how in 2009?
B. By a metal detectorist searching a freshly plowed field2 min
Constantine the Great was proclaimed Roman emperor in the British city of York because of what?
B. His father Constantius died there and the army acclaimed him on the spot2 min
Britain launched the Battle of the Somme in 1916 mainly to achieve what?
A. Relieve French forces under attack at Verdun2 min
Pankhurst's daughter who co-founded the WSPU with her was named what?
Christabel Pankhurst2 min
Campaigners pushed for the Married Women's Property Act of 1882 mainly to fix what problem?
A. Wives could not legally own or control their own property2 min
Thatcher privatised major industries in the 1980s. What was her core aim?
To reduce the role of the state and increase economic efficiency through free market competition, while reducing public spending and government borrowing (broad2 min