Life in the UK · Revision crib

Names, dates and pairs, at a glance

The headline facts the real test actually asks, laid out as who-did-what pairs so a reworded multiple choice can't catch you out.

The test: 24 questions, 45 minutes, pass 18/24, result on the day. All from the official handbook Life in the United Kingdom (3rd edition). This is a memory aid, not the handbook. Confirm anything unfamiliar against the official source.

🇬🇧 The UK and its values

Fundamental principles
Democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, tolerance of different faiths and beliefs, participation in community life.
What the UK is
Great Britain (England, Scotland, Wales) + Northern Ireland. The Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are Crown Dependencies, not part of the UK.
Capitals
London · Edinburgh (Scotland) · Cardiff (Wales) · Belfast (N. Ireland).
Patron saints
St George — England (23 Apr); St Andrew — Scotland (30 Nov); St David — Wales (1 Mar); St Patrick — N. Ireland (17 Mar).
National flowers
Rose (England), thistle (Scotland), daffodil (Wales), shamrock (N. Ireland).
Union Flag
Combines the crosses of St George, St Andrew and St Patrick. Wales is not represented.
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📜 History timeline

43 AD Romans invade under Claudius · 122 Hadrian's Wall · Romans leave ~410.

Anglo-Saxons, then Vikings from 789; Alfred the Great resists them.

1066 Battle of Hastings — William the Conqueror, the Norman Conquest (last successful invasion). Domesday Book.

1215 Magna Carta (King John) — the monarch is subject to the law.

1348 Black Death · Hundred Years War (Agincourt 1415) · Wars of the Roses 1455–1485 (Lancaster vs York) end at Bosworth → Tudors.

Henry VIII — six wives (divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived); breaks with Rome → Church of England; unites Wales with England.

Elizabeth I — defeats the Spanish Armada (1588); age of Shakespeare. Mary, Queen of Scots executed.

1603 James VI of Scotland becomes James I of England · 1605 Gunpowder Plot (Guy Fawkes).

Civil War from 1642 · Charles I executed 1649 · Cromwell / republic · Restoration 1660 · Great Fire 1666.

1688 Glorious Revolution (William of Orange) · Bill of Rights 1689 → constitutional monarchy.

1707 Act of Union → Great Britain · 1721 Walpole, first PM · 1746 Culloden (Bonnie Prince Charlie defeated).

1805 Trafalgar (Nelson) · 1815 Waterloo (Wellington beats Napoleon).

Slave trade abolished 1807; slavery abolished 1833 (Wilberforce).

Victoria 1837–1901 — Empire at its height · WWI 1914–18 · WWII 1939–45 (Churchill; Battle of Britain 1940; D-Day 1944; VE Day 8 May 1945).

1918 women over 30 vote · 1928 equal votes (21) · 1948 NHS (Bevan) · 1969 voting age 18 · 1973 joins EEC · 1979 Thatcher · 2016 vote to leave the EU.

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🔬 Science & invention — person → what

Isaac Newton
Gravity; Principia Mathematica.
Edward Jenner
Vaccination (smallpox).
Charles Darwin
Evolution; On the Origin of Species (1859).
Michael Faraday
Electricity (the generator).
James Watt
The steam engine (Scottish).
Richard Arkwright
The efficient factory / spinning.
George Stephenson
Railways; the Rocket.
I. K. Brunel
Railways, tunnels, bridges, ships (SS Great Britain).
Florence Nightingale
Founder of modern nursing (Crimean War).
Alexander Fleming
Penicillin, 1928 (Scottish).
Ernest Rutherford
Splitting the atom.
John Logie Baird
Television (Scottish).
Robert Watson-Watt
Radar (Scottish).
Frank Whittle
The jet engine.
Alan Turing
Computing; codebreaking (Enigma).
Tim Berners-Lee
The World Wide Web (1990).
Crick & Watson
Structure of DNA, 1953 (with Franklin & Wilkins).
Ian Wilmut
Dolly the sheep — first cloned mammal, Edinburgh 1996.
Edwards & Steptoe
IVF; first test-tube baby Louise Brown, 1978.
Also British firsts
Insulin · the hovercraft · the cash machine (ATM) · DNA fingerprinting · MRI scanner · Concorde (Anglo-French).
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✍️ Writers → their work

Geoffrey Chaucer
The Canterbury Tales.
Shakespeare
Stratford-upon-Avon; Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet; "To be or not to be".
Robert Burns
Scottish poet ("The Bard"); Auld Lang Syne.
Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility.
Charles Dickens
Oliver Twist, Great Expectations, A Christmas Carol.
The Brontës
Charlotte (Jane Eyre), Emily (Wuthering Heights).
Wordsworth
Romantic poet; "The Daffodils".
R. L. Stevenson
Treasure Island (Scottish).
Lewis Carroll
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
Dylan Thomas
Welsh poet; Under Milk Wood.
Agatha Christie
Crime novels.
J. K. Rowling
Harry Potter (modern).
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🎼 Music, art, film & architecture

Composers
Handel (Water Music, Messiah) · Purcell · Holst (The Planets) · Elgar (Land of Hope and Glory) · Vaughan Williams · Britten · Andrew Lloyd Webber (musicals).
Painters
Gainsborough · Turner · Constable (landscapes) · the Pre-Raphaelites · David Hockney (Pop Art).
Sculptors
Henry Moore · Barbara Hepworth.
Architecture
Sir Christopher Wren — St Paul's Cathedral (after the Great Fire, 1666).
Film
Alfred Hitchcock (director) · Charlie Chaplin · Nick Park (Wallace and Gromit) · classics like Lawrence of Arabia, Chariots of Fire.
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🏅 Sport

Roger Bannister
First sub-four-minute mile (1954).
Steve Redgrave
Five Olympic golds (rowing).
Bobby Moore
Captained England to the 1966 World Cup (won at home).
Athletes
Chris Hoy (cycling) · Andy Murray (tennis) · Kelly Holmes, Mo Farah, Jessica Ennis (athletics).
Origins
Golf — Scotland (St Andrews). Wimbledon — oldest tennis tournament.
Olympics
London hosted three times: 1908, 1948, 2012. Paralympics began at Stoke Mandeville.
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📍 Landmarks

Big Ben
The Great Bell at the Houses of Parliament (tower = Elizabeth Tower).
Tower of London
Crown Jewels; Yeoman Warders ("Beefeaters").
Ancient sites
Stonehenge (Wiltshire) · Hadrian's Wall · Giant's Causeway (N. Ireland).
Nature
Ben Nevis — highest UK mountain (Scotland) · Snowdonia (Wales) · Lake District (England).
Modern
The Eden Project (Cornwall) · The London Eye.
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⚔️ Battles → who & when

Hastings 1066
William the Conqueror vs Harold.
Bosworth 1485
Henry Tudor defeats Richard III; ends Wars of the Roses.
Agincourt 1415
Henry V (Hundred Years War).
Armada 1588
Elizabeth I / Drake defeat Spain.
Culloden 1746
Bonnie Prince Charlie defeated.
Trafalgar 1805
Nelson (naval, died).
Waterloo 1815
Wellington beats Napoleon.
Britain 1940
The RAF (Churchill), WWII.
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🏛️ PMs & named firsts

Robert Walpole
The first Prime Minister (1721).
Margaret Thatcher
The first woman PM (1979).
Robert Peel
Founded the Metropolitan Police, 1829 ("Bobbies").
Winston Churchill
WWII PM ("their finest hour").
Clement Attlee
Post-1945 welfare state; NHS founded 1948 (Bevan).
Emmeline Pankhurst
Suffragettes — votes for women.
William Wilberforce
Abolition of the slave trade / slavery.
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⚖️ Government & law

Monarch
Head of state; reigns but does not rule. King Charles III (since 2022, after Elizabeth II, 1952–2022, longest-reigning).
Parliament
House of Commons (650 elected MPs, one per constituency, the more powerful) + House of Lords. The Speaker chairs the Commons and is neutral.
Prime Minister
Head of government; leader of the party with most MPs; 10 Downing Street; appoints the Cabinet.
Elections
At least every 5 years; voting age 18; "first past the post".
Devolved bodies
Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) · Senedd (Cardiff) · N. Ireland Assembly (Stormont).
Courts / juries
Magistrates', Crown, County, High, Supreme Court. Jury: 12 in England & Wales, 15 in Scotland.
Beyond the UK
The Commonwealth (~56 states, headed by the monarch) · UN · NATO · Council of Europe (ECHR; Human Rights Act 1998).
Your responsibilities
Obey the law, respect others, pay taxes (income tax + National Insurance), serve on a jury if called, register and vote, look after the environment.
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📞 Everyday facts

Money
Pound sterling (£), 100 pence.
Emergency
999 or 112; non-emergency police 101; NHS 111.
Driving
Needs licence, insurance, road tax and an MOT (vehicles over 3 years old).
Working / TV
A National Insurance number to work; a TV licence to watch or record live TV.
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📅 Traditions & notable dates

Remembrance Day
11 Nov (poppies).
Bonfire Night
5 Nov (Guy Fawkes).
Burns Night
25 Jan; Hogmanay = Scottish New Year.
Eisteddfod
Welsh festival of music and poetry.
Others
Christmas 25 Dec, Boxing Day 26 Dec, Easter, Diwali, Hanukkah, Eid, Vaisakhi.
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Always confirm facts against the official Life in the UK handbook before your test. · Back to practice hub