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Life in the UK > British names/celebrities > Flashcards

British names/celebrities Flashcards

1
Q

King Henry VIII

A
  • married 6 wives
  • established Church of England to bypass the Pope’s rejection against his divorce with his first wife
  • In this Church, the king would have the power to appoint bishops and order how people should worship
  • Wales formally united with England by the Act for the Government of Wales. The Welsh sent representatives to the House of Commons and the Welsh legal system was reformed
  • also known as the King of Ireland as he established English authority over Ireland.
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2
Q

Catherine of Aragon

A
  • Spanish princess
  • King Henry VIII’s 1st wife
  • gave birth to Mary, the only child survived
  • got divorced because she was incapable to give Henry VIII a son
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3
Q

Anne Boleyn

A
  • English
  • 2nd wife of Henry VIII
  • Gave birth to Elizabeth I
  • Was accused of taking lovers, thereby was executed at the Tower of London
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4
Q

Jane Seymour

A
  • Henry VIII’s 3rd wife

* Gave birth to Edward VI, but died shortly after the birth

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5
Q

Anne of Cleves

A
  • German princess

* Henry VIII married her for political reasons, but divorced her soon after

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6
Q

King Edward VI

A
  • son of King Henry VIII
  • strong Protestant
  • the Book of Common Prayer was writtento be used in the Church of England
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7
Q

Queen Mary

A
  • a devout Catholic

* persecuted Protestants (therefore she’s known as ‘Bloody Mary’

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8
Q

Queen Elizabeth I

A
  • a Protestant
  • Re-established the Church of England as the official Church in England.
  • She ordered everyone to attend their local church. Laws were in place to restrict the types of religious services and prayers that can be said, regardless of people’s real beliefs.
  • Elizabeth I successfully found the balance between the views of Catholic and the more extreme Protestant
  • She became one of the most popular monarchs in English history, particularly after 1588, when the English defeated the Spanish Armada, which had been sent by Spain to conquer England and restore Catholicism.
  • during her reign, England had its time of growing patriotism - as a feeling of pride in being English
  • Elizabethan period was also a beginning of the history of colonisation - the eastern coast of America was the first colony.
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9
Q

Mary, Queen of Scots

A
  • became Queen when she was 1-week-old
  • most of her childhood was spent in France. When she returned, she was the centre of a power struggle between different groups.
  • Mary fled to England when she was suspected to be the murderer of her husband.
  • Mary handed the throne to her Protestant son, James VI
  • Mary hoped Elizabeth I (her cousin) would help her, but Elizabeth I suspected she wanted to take over the English throne, thus kept her imprisoned for 20 years.
  • she was eventually executed because she was accused of plotting against Elizabeth I
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10
Q

Sir Francis Drake

A
  • one of the commanders during the Elizabethan period to defeat the Spanish Armada
  • He was one of the founders of England’s naval tradition
  • His ship, the Golden Hind, was one of the first to sail right around the world (circum-navigate)
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11
Q

William Shakespeare

A
  • 1564-1616
  • lived during the Elizabethan period
  • a Playwright and Actor
  • Most famous plays include (play; famous quote):
    * A Midsummer Night’s Dream
    * Hamlet; “To be or not to be”
    * Macbeth
    * Romeo and Juliet; “A rose by any other name”
    * As You Like It; “All the world’s a stage”
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12
Q

King James VI and I

A
  • Known as James VI of Scotland
  • got his throne from his mother Mary, Queen of Scots.
  • As Elizabeth I’s cousin, he became the heir of Elizabeth’s throne in 1603 because Elizabeth never married, thus didn’t have any children
  • James VI therefore also became King James I of England, Wales and Ireland, but Scotland remained a separate country
  • Achievement: created the King James Bible
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13
Q

King Charles II

A
  • The Scots crowned the King whilst Parliament in England opposed during the England Civil War. He led the Scottish army to England but was defeated. Charles II eventually escaped to Europe.
  • in 1660, Parliament invited Charles II to come back from exile in the Netherlands and was crowned King Charles II of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. He was informed that he would not have independent rights to act without the approval of Parliament.
  • Charles II formed the Royal Society and promote ‘natural knowledge’. Among its early members were Sir Endmund Halley (who predicted the return of the comet, Halley’s Comet) and Sir Isaac Newton.
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14
Q

Sir Isaac Newton

A
  • 1643-1727
  • born in Lincolnshire
  • alumna of Cambridge University
  • Most famous published work: Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy”
  • Newton also discovered that white light is made up of colours of the rainbow
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15
Q

Richard Arkwright

A
  • 1732-1792
  • Arkwright is well known for his efficient and profitable way to run his factories
  • originally trained and worked as a barber (job included dyeing hair & making wigs)
  • started working in textiles as the barber industry became less popular
  • Arkwright improved the original carding machine
    * Carding is a process of preparing fibres for spinning into yarn and fabric
  • Arkwright also developed horse-driven spinning mills that used only 1 machine, thereby increasing the efficiency of production. He then used the steam engine to power such machinery.
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16
Q

Robert Burns

A
  • 1759-1796
  • Known as “the Bard” in Scotland
  • Scottish poet

• revised a lot of traditional folk songs by changing / adding lyrics
• Best known work: a New Year celebratory song “Auld Lang Syne”, (also known as “Hogmanay” in Scotland)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acxnmaVTlZA&ab_channel=NoPrivacy

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17
Q

Sake Dean Mahomet

A
  • 1759-1851
  • grew up in Bengal region, India
  • served in the Bengal army, then came to Britain in 1782
  • Opened the first curry house in Britain, Hindoostane Coffee House in George Street, London
  • introduced Britain ‘shampooing’, Indian art of head massage
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18
Q

Isambard Kingdom Brunel

A
  • 1806-1859
  • Brunel was an engineer who built tunnels, bridges, railway lines and ships
  • responsible for constructing the Great Western Railway, the first major railway built in Britain
  • GWR runs from London Paddington station to SW of England, the West Midlands and Walkes.
  • Many of Brunel’s bridges are still in use today
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19
Q

Florence Nightingale

A
  • 1820-1910
  • Regarded as the founder of modern nursing
  • Italian-born English
  • trained as a nurse in Germany at age of 31.
  • worked in military hospitals in Turkey during the Crimean War
  • Nightingale and her fellow nurses improved the hospital conditions and reduced the mortality rate
  • established Nightingale Training School for nurses at St Thomas’ Hospital, London
  • many practices that Nightingale is still used today
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20
Q

Emmeline Pankhurst

A

• 1858-1928
• set up the Women’s Franchise League in 1889
p.51

21
Q

Rudyard Kipling

A
  • 1865-1936
  • Nobel Prize winner in literature in 1907
  • author & poet written about India and the UK
  • Kipling’s poems and novels reflected the idea that the British Empire was a force for good
  • Well-known books include “The Jungle Book” & “Just So Stories”
  • The poem “If” is voted to be one of the UK’s favourite poems

• Indian lived in UK and USA

22
Q

Winston Churchill

A
  • 1874-1965
  • Churchill is best known for his leadership of the UK during WW2
  • Churchill became a Conservative MP in 1900, then became Prime Minister in May 1951
  • He became an inspirational leader to the British when he refused to surrender to the Nazis
  • He was also a soldier and journalist
23
Q

Alexander Fleming

A
  • 1881-1955
  • Fleming discovered penicillin when he was researching influenza (‘the flu’) in 1928
  • Nobel Prize winner in Medicine in 1945 because of his penicillin discovery
  • Penicillin was then further developed into a usable drug, against bacterial infection, by the scientists Howard Florey and Ernst Chain
24
Q

Howard Florey & Ernst Chain

A

• Scientists who used Fleming’s discovery to develop penicillin into a usable drug, against bacterial infection

25
Q

Clement Attlee

A
  • Attlee became the Prime Minister between 1945-1951 and led the Labour Party for 20 years
  • Under his leadership, the government
    * undertook the nationalisation of major industries (like coal & steel),
    * created the NHS
    * implemented many of Beveridge’s plans for a stronger welfare state
    * introduced measures to improve the conditions of workers
  • Attlee was previously Winston Churchill’s Deputy Prime Minister in the wartime coalition government
  • Attlee gave up his career in barrister to do social work in East London. He then became a Labour MP
26
Q

Lord William Beveridge

A
  • 1879-1963
  • British economist and social reformer
  • Best known for the 1942 report “Social Insurance and Allied Services”, also known as the “Beveridge Report”
    * This report was commissioned by the wartime government in 1941.
    * It recommended that the gov should find ways of fighting the 5 Giant Evils, which provided the basis of the modern welfare state

• Giant Evils refer to:

                        - want (thieving, engage criminal activities to escape poverty)
                        - disease
                        - ignorance (the wealth ignores the homelessness / the poor)
                        - squalor (being dirty/unpleasant)
                        - idleness (being inactive)
  • Beveridge briefly served as a Liberal MP, then subsequently the leader of the Liberals in the House of Lords
  • implemented many of Beveridge’s plans for a stronger welfare state
27
Q

Lord Richard Austen Butler

A
  • 1902-1982
  • Butler became a Conservative MP in 1923, then became responsible for education in 1941
  • Butler introduced free secondary education in England and Wales using the Education Act 1944 (known as ‘The Butler Act’)
28
Q

Dylan Thomas

A

p.62

29
Q

John Logie Baird

A

television inventor

p. 64

30
Q

Sir Robert Watson-Watt p.64

A

• Invented radar

31
Q

Sir Bernard Lovell p.64

A
  • discovered astronomy

* built radio telescope

32
Q

Alan Turing p.64

A

• British mathematician

33
Q

John Macleod

A
  • Scottish physician and researcher

* co-discoverer of insulin against diabetes

34
Q

Francis Crick

A
  • 1916-2004
  • discovered the structure of DNA molecule in 1953
  • the discovery has contributed to many scientific advances and forensics
35
Q

Sir Frank Whittle

A
  • 1907-1996

* British RAF engineer officer who developed jet engine

36
Q

Sir Christopher Cockerell

A
  • 1910-1999

* British inventor for hovercraft in the 1950s

37
Q

James Goodfellow

A
  • invented the cash dispensing ATM (automatic teller machine)
  • first used by Barclays Bank in Enfield, N London
38
Q

Sir Robert Edwards & Patrick Steptoe

A
  • Edwards: physiologist & Steptoe: gynaecologist
  • invented IVF (in-vitro fertilisation) for the treatment of infertility
  • first ‘test tube baby’ was born in Oldham, Lancashire in 1978
39
Q

Sir Ian Wilmot and Keith Campbell

A
  • succeeded in mammal cloning, Dolly the sheep
  • This cloning has led to further research into possible use of cloning to preserve endanger species and for medical purposes
40
Q

Sir Peter Mansfield

A

• scientist and co-inventor of the MRI scanner

MRI: Magnetic resonance imaging

41
Q

Sir Tim Berners-Lee

A
  • inventor of WWW

* information was first successfully transferred via the web on 25/12/1990

42
Q

Mary Peters

A
  • talented athlete who won an Olympic Gold medal in pentathlon in 1972
  • Then she raised money for local athlete & became a team manager for the women’s British Olympic team
  • She continued to promote sports an tourism in Northern Ireland
  • was made a Dame of the British Empire in 2000
43
Q

Margaret Thatcher

A
  • 1925-2013
  • initially trained as a chemist and a lawyer
  • Thatcher was selected as a Conservative MP in 1959 and became a cabinet minister in 1970 as the Secretary of State for Education and Science
  • In 1975, Thatcher was elected as Leader of the Conservative Party and so became Leader of the Opposition
  • was the longest-serving Prime Minister of the 20th century (1979-1990; 11 years)

p.67

44
Q

Henry Purcell

A
  • 1659-1695
  • Organist at Westminster Abbey
  • he wrote church music, operas, etc.
  • his work continues to influence British composer
45
Q

Gilbert & Sullivan

A
  • 19th Century comic opera writers, often making fun of popular culture & politics
  • operas include:
    * HMS Pinafore
    * The Pirates of Penzance
    * The Mikado
46
Q

George Frederick Hanel

A
  • 1685-1759
  • German-born composer.
  • became a British citizen in 1727
  • wrote the “Water Music” for King George I and “Music for the Royal Fireworks” for King George II
47
Q

More celebrities in Arts & Culture chapter (p.90-91)

A
48
Q

Andrew Lloyd Webber & Tim Rice

A
  • Musical writers, often making fun of popular culture & politics
  • Musicals include:
    * Jesus Christ Superstar
    * Evita
    * Cats
    * The Phantom of the Opera

Life in the UK (7 decks)

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