1. Who was the first female Speaker of the House of Commons?
2. What was the biggest hoax perpetrated in 1912 (although not discovered for some 40 years)?
3. Which country was ruled by a king called William the Lion?
4. Which Swedish prime minister was assassinated in 1986?
5. After which battle is Charles II supposed to have hidden in an oak tree?
6. Who was our first Conservative (as opposed to Tory) prime minister?
7. Who was president of Nicaragua from 1985 – 1990?
8. Which French general did Wolfe defeat to take Quebec?
9. The Rev. John Smith famously decoded ….. what?
10. What was the first name of Russian president Brezhnev?
11. St. Patrick’s, Dublin was the first to do what in 1918?
12. What breed was Laika, the first dog in space?
13. What title did William IV hold immediately prior to becoming king?
14. George IV was by all accounts particularly found of which alcoholic drink?
15. Après moi, le deluge (after us, the flood) – words attributed to which woman?
16. Which African country was established as an independent colony in 1792 and became a home for former slaves?
17. Whom did Harold Wilson meet aboard HMS Tiger in 1966?
18. The St Valentine’s Day Massacre is well remembered, but which gangster’s men were the victims?
19. The Turks were beaten at the battle of Megiddo in 1918 by which general?
20. Which of the ‘wives’ of Henry VIII died last?
21. In which year did Princess Margaret get married?
22. Who was the last British king to die on the field of battle?
23. Name the English king who met a particularly painful end at Berkeley castle
24. What name was given the first complete bible printed in America and published 1663?
25. At which battle did Lord Nelson lose his life?
26. Which king famously tried sitting on a beach and ordering the waves to turn back?
27. What was the name of Christopher Columbus’s flagship?
28. What name was given the force commanded by Orde Wingate in Burma in WW2?
29. Which Dutchman discovered and first rounded Cape Horn?
30. Who was Britain’s first Jewish MP?
ANSWERS
1. Betty Boothroyd
2. Piltdown Man
3. Scotland
4. Olof Palme
5. Worcester
6. Robert Peel
7. Daniel Ortega
8. Montcalm
9. Samuel Pepys’ diary
10. Leonid
11. Elect a female MP (who didn’t take her seat)
12. Samoyed (husky)
13. Duke of Clarence
14. Cherry brandy
15. Madame de Pompadour
16. Sierra Leone (not Liberia)
17. Ian Smith
18. Bugs Moran
19. Allenby (World War I)
20. Anne of Cleves
21. 1960
22. James IV (of Scotland)
23. Edward II
24. The Eliot OR Indian bible
25. Trafalgar
26. Canute
27. Santa Maria
28. Chindits
29. (Willem) Schouten (with Jakob Le Maire)
30. (Lionel) Rothschild
Image Credits: Rye News library .