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Interesting Questions, Facts and Information
- There are a total of 60 general entries. We are selecting 30 for display.
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 Interesting Questions, Facts, and Information
 UK History
3500bc. The Skara Brae Neolithic village was discovered in the middle of the last century after a terrible storm shifted huge quantities of sand from the well preserved stone age village.
122ad. Hadrian's wall eventually stretched for 73 miles from Newcastle on Tyne to the Solway Firth.
| Kenneth McAlpin united two tribes or states in c.843ad thus founding the ancient state of Scotia, which two did he unite? | Some Scottish History Facts
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Dalriada and the Picts. Kenneth McAlpin, the first king of a united Scotland, ruled between c.825-860ad. He moved the capital to Scone in Perthshire where he installed the stone of destiny which was used to crown all Scottish kings.
Falkirk. William Wallace, after being betrayed and captured, was taken to London where he was tried and found guilty of treason. He was hanged, drawn and quartered, his head was spiked on London Bridge and the four quarters of his corpse displayed at key points in Scotland to try and quell any further treason against the English crown.
Henry VIII. After years of warmongering and raids, one against the other, James IV of Scotland and Henry VIII of England signed a treaty of perpetual peace sealed with a marriage between James IV and Margaret Tudor, Henry VIII's sister.
3. First was Francois, son of Henry II of France who died three years later from an inflammation of the brain. Second was Henry, Lord Darnley, great grandson of Henry VII of England who was subsequently found strangled to death. Third was the Earl of Bothwell, a ruthless adventurer who abducted and raped Mary leaving her no alternative but marriage. After Mary's imprisonment by Elizabeth I, Bothwell was outlawed,and fled to Denmark where he died insane after six years of imprisonment.
Henry, Lord Darnley. Mary had only one child, fathered by Henry Lord Darnley. She was rumoured to have been two months pregnant when she was captured and imprisoned and was said to have either miscarried or had a stillbirth but no documented proof has ever been found.
| 1746 saw the destruction of the Jacobite cause and the virtual end of the ancient Scottish nation, which battle accomplished this? | Some Scottish History Facts
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Culloden. On the 16th of April 1746, the Scottish Highlanders faced their worst ever defeat, this was to be the final straw which broke the clan system in the Highlands.
Robert the Bruce. The declaration read: For as long as one hundred of us remain alive, we shall never in any wise consent to submit to the rule of the English, for it is not for glory we fight, for riches or for honours, but for freedom alone, which no good man loses but with his life.
| Which King was killed together with most of his nobles on the 9th of September 1513 at the battle of Flodden Field? | Some Scottish History Facts
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James IV. Flodden was a disastrous defeat for Scotland depriving the country of most of the nobility and leaving a two year old King on the throne.
Battle of Hastings. William, Duke of Normandy, led the Normans to victor over King Harold II of England, thus beginning Norman rule in England. William was crowned King William I of England on Christmas Day iin 1066.
Rory O'Connor. O'Connor's quarrel with Dermot McMurrough, who brought the English to Ireland, led to his submission as vassal to Henry II of England by the Treaty of Windsor in 1175. He continued on as High King in name only, but his power declined and he later retired to a monastery.
Treaty of Perth. The present-day western isles were ceded to Scotland by the Norse under this treaty. Scotland had defeated the Vikings at the Battle of Largs three years earlier.
Irish and English. The Statutes of Kilkenny were the first in a series of futile attempts to stop English settlers in Ireland from adopting Gaelic culture. They were increasingly speaking Irish, intermarrying and fostering their children with Gaelic families.
Henry VII. Elizabeth married Henry VII in 1486. Their marriage symbolically brought an end to the War of the Roses.
James I. This was a bit of a trick question. Mary's son was King James VI of Scotland, but King James I of England. He commissioned the King James version of the Bible in 1611.
A fire. The Great Fire of London, as it has come to be known, began on September 2 and raged for five days. The damage included the destruction of 13,200 houses and 87 churches in an area of over 400 acres.
Hydrogen. Cavendish was the first to isolate 'inflammable air,' as he called it. He showed that it produced a dew, which appeared to be water, upon being burned.
Labour Prime Minister. A group of socialists formed the Independent Labour Party in 1893 and MacDonald joined them one year later. He first ran for office as the candidate for Southampton in 1895 and was soundly defeated, along with other members of the ILP. However, over the years, the ILP merged with other socialist groups, became more moderate, and grew in popularity. MacDonald first became Prime Minister in 1923.
Party of Wales. The Party of Wales, the Welsh nationalist party, gained a foothold in UK politics in 1966 when Gwynfor Evans won a seat in Parliament.
Cinque Ports. Later Winchelsea and Rye were added. Their role was to "defend" the English Coast. In exchange for the expenses they had to incur, they got certain privileges.
They are not all Kentish, and "Channel Ports" applies to more than just those five on the British side of the Channel.
House of Tudor. The Court of Star Chamber (1487-1641) was named for the star pattern painted on the ceiling of the room at Westminster Palace, where its meetings were held. It did not have the power to impose the death sentence.
By having the Monmouth rebels hanged. The Lollards were the followers of John Wycliffe. The Chartist Movement (from 1836 on) wanted equal electoral districts,universal manhood suffrage, vote by ballot, annual parliaments, abolition of the property qualifications for MPs and payment of MPs. An ordinance of 2 Sept. 1642 commanded the closing of the theatres and the total suppression of stage plays. Judge George Jeffreys was born on May 15,1645 (?), at Acton,near Wrexham, Denbighshire, Wales. Nicknamed "hanging Judge Jeffreys". Became Lord Chief Justice of England at the age of 33. In 1688 after his protector, James II, had fled the country, he was thrown into the Tower. Some say that in this way, intentionally or not, his life was saved. Anyway the following year he died of kidney disease.Merely 44 years old.
The Duke of Monmouth had tried to seize the throne after Charles II's death. Via Judge Jeffrey's "Bloody Assize" ample revenge was taken.
The Queen refused to accept the new "ladies of the household" the government had appointed for her. It was the Peel government that got into this spot of 'domestic trouble' at court.
Soldiers attacking a meeting at St. Peter's Fields, Manchester. The event took place in 1819. The high number of people attending a meeting had made the authorities very nervous.Their decision to use cavalry to arrest the "ringleaders" and to "disperse the crowd" of some 50,000 people led to a completely unnecessary bloodbath. Later it was claimed that the soldiers had been drunk. The 'victory' of the soldiery over the unarmed crowd of civilians was mockingly named Peterloo after the Battle of Waterloo.
Kaiser Bill by calling them a contemptible little army. Joffre (1852-1931) was the French chief of Staff during WW1. Sir John French(1852-1925) was his English counterpart. His evident incapability to collaborate with the French, and his emotional instability, made his replacement in 1915 by Douglas Haig a necessity.
Kaiser William (1859-1941), once an adored leader in Germany, lost all his credibility in the course of the war. He was lucky enough to be given shelter in the Netherlands, which had stayed out of the World War and refused to hand him over to the victors. Recent history gives some support to his claim that he had not wanted the war. It cannot be denied however that he played a major role in the build-up of a German Navy and of a submarine fleet, and in the outrageous behaviour of that Navy, as was shown in the case of the execution of Captain Fryatt.
British monarchs must be Church of England. It was the Irish-born victor of Waterloo, the Duke of Wellington, who as Tory Prime Minister, decided to support Catholic emancipation. The Bill was passed in 1829. The Sovereign also being Head of the Church dates back to the Act of Supremacy (1534). The Act of Settlement dates back to 1701.
William III. William of Orange fell off his horse when stumbling on a molehill.
William III ruled England jointly with Mary II - from 1689 till 1702.
William IV was King from 1830 till 1837.
George I (1714-1727) and George II (1727-1760) were the two first of the Hanoverian Kings. They both had been born in Germany and had been educated as German rather than English princes.
Lord Nelson. Lord Nelson won the Battle of Trafalgar(1805) but did not survive it. William Pitt the Elder (1708-1778) was Earl of Chatham and became Prime Minister of England on 30 July 1766. He stayed in office till 14 October 1768.
Arthur Wellesley,the Duke of Wellington (1769-1852) first served as a general in India, became Chief Secretary for Ireland (1807-1809), fought against the French in Portugal. He represented Britain at the Congress of Vienna. He won a decisive victory over Napoleon at Waterloo (1815) and later was asked to become Prime Minister of England (1828).
Nicholas Hawksmoor,(1661-1736) first worked for Sir Christopher Wren and was involved in the re-building of St. Paul's Cathedral, and the building of Greenwich Hospital and Hampton Court Palace. With van Brugh he built Blenheim Palace.Was also involved in the building of Kensington Palace. He designed the great towers which were added to the western front of Westminster Abbey.
Great Train Robbery. The Great Train Robbery happened on August 8, 1963, in Cheddington, Buckinghampshire, UK. A 15-member gang, led by Bruce Reynolds got away with £ 2.6 million. Bad luck however : their hide-out was discovered and all of them soon were arrested. Later Bruce Reynolds and Ronald Biggs managed to escape. They finally reached Brazil. Another member of the gang, Charlie Wilson, escaped to Canada. A long time later Ronald Biggs returned to Britain and gave up himself to the authorities.
On 3d of July 1969 the founder member of the Rolling Stones, Brian Jones died at the age of 27.
The Profumo Affair was a political scandal in 1963. John Profumo was a high-ranking Conservative cabinet minister who had got involved with one Christine Keeler. Keeler herself was involved with an attaché of the Soviet Embassy.Profumo's lying about the whole affair was his downfall.On June 5th he finally decided to resign.
A month later the Prime-Minister Harold Mac Millan also resigned.
The next year, in 1964, Labour won the elections and Harold Wilson (°1916-1995),their party leader, became Prime Minister. Wilson unexpectedly resigned in 1976.
By causing the Great Fire. The Great Fire in September 1666 started in a baker's shop owned by Thomas Farriner, who was the King's Baker. The maid had failed to put out the ovens at the end of the night. After a while the heat created by the ovens began to cause sparks to ignite Farriner's wooden house. Though at first the Lord Mayor had not expected this fire to be any reason for concern, strong winds soon worsened the situation. Also the after-effects of the summer drought helped the fire to spread much faster and much further than expected.
Fortunately, King Charles II was very determined in his intervention and when the wind turned again the fire could finally be conquered. There were surprisingly few casualties but nearly the whole city-centre had to be re-built.
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