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Cheat Sheet

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Patron Saints & National Symbols

England

St George · 23 April

Rose

Scotland

St Andrew · 30 November

Thistle

Wales

St David · 1 March

Daffodil

Northern Ireland

St Patrick · 17 March

Shamrock

Capitals

EnglandLondon
ScotlandEdinburgh
WalesCardiff
Northern IrelandBelfast

Key Numbers

24Questions in the Life in the UK test
45 minsTime allowed for the test
18/24Pass mark (75%)
£50Test fee per attempt
67 millionApproximate population of the UK
650Members of Parliament (MPs) in the House of Commons
5 yearsMaximum term of a Parliament (since Fixed-term Parliaments Act)
18Minimum voting age
56Member states in the Commonwealth
1,000+Islands making up the UK
4,406mHeight of Ben Nevis — highest peak in the UK
1989Year Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web
1876Year Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone
1928Year Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin
12Members of a jury in a Crown Court
4Nations in the United Kingdom
59%Population identifying as Christian (2011 census)

British Inventions

World Wide Web

Tim Berners-Lee

1989

Telephone

Alexander Graham Bell

1876

Penicillin

Alexander Fleming

1928

Television

John Logie Baird

1920s

Steam engine (improved)

James Watt

1769

Theory of evolution

Charles Darwin

1859

Laws of motion/gravity

Isaac Newton

1687

Famous British People

William Shakespeare

1564–1616

Playwright & poet (Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth)

Isaac Newton

1643–1727

Laws of motion, gravity, calculus

Robert Burns

1759–1796

Scottish national poet (Auld Lang Syne)

Jane Austen

1775–1817

Novelist (Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility)

Charles Dickens

1812–1870

Novelist (Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol)

Isambard Kingdom Brunel

1806–1859

Engineer (SS Great Britain, Great Western Railway)

Florence Nightingale

1820–1910

Founder of modern nursing, Crimean War heroine

Charles Darwin

1809–1882

Theory of evolution by natural selection

Emmeline Pankhurst

1858–1928

Leader of Suffragette movement (votes for women)

Dylan Thomas

1914–1953

Welsh poet (Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night)

Winston Churchill

1874–1965

Prime Minister during WW2 ("We shall fight on the beaches")

Alexander Fleming

1881–1955

Discovered penicillin (1928)

Alan Turing

1912–1954

Pioneer of computer science; broke Enigma code in WW2

Tim Berners-Lee

1955–present

Invented the World Wide Web (1989)

J.K. Rowling

1965–present

Harry Potter series; one of world's best-selling authors

Key Dates

43 ADRomans invade Britain under Emperor Claudius
400 ADRomans leave Britain
789Vikings begin raiding Britain
1066Battle of Hastings — Norman Conquest. William the Conqueror becomes king
1215Magna Carta signed by King John at Runnymede
1284Statute of Rhuddlan — English king takes control of Wales
1314Battle of Bannockburn — Scotland defeats England; remains independent
1348Black Death arrives in Britain — kills ~1/3 of population
1455–1485Wars of the Roses — House of York vs House of Lancaster
1485Henry VII wins Battle of Bosworth — first Tudor king
1532Henry VIII breaks with Rome; establishes Church of England
1588Spanish Armada defeated by English fleet
1603Union of Crowns — James VI of Scotland becomes James I of England
1605Guy Fawkes and Gunpowder Plot to blow up Parliament
1642–1651English Civil War — Royalists vs Parliamentarians (Cavaliers vs Roundheads)
1649King Charles I executed; England becomes a republic (Commonwealth)
1660Restoration — King Charles II returns; monarchy restored
1679Habeas Corpus Act — prevents unlawful imprisonment
1689Bill of Rights — limits royal power; enshrines parliamentary sovereignty
1707Act of Union — England and Scotland unite to form Great Britain
1776American Declaration of Independence
1801Act of Union — Ireland joins Great Britain to form United Kingdom
1832Great Reform Act — expands voting rights
1833Slavery Abolition Act — slavery abolished throughout British Empire
1837–1901Victorian era — Queen Victoria's reign; peak of British Empire
1851Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace, Hyde Park
1899–1902Boer War in South Africa
1913Emily Davison (suffragette) dies after Epsom Derby protest
1914–1918First World War
1918Women over 30 (with property) get the vote
1919First woman MP takes her seat — Nancy Astor
1928All women over 21 get equal voting rights with men
1933Adolf Hitler comes to power in Germany
1939–1945Second World War
1945Labour wins election — Clement Attlee becomes PM
1947Indian independence — beginning of end of British Empire
1948NHS founded; Empire Windrush arrives (Caribbean migration)
1969Voting age lowered from 21 to 18
1999Devolution — Scottish Parliament, Welsh Senedd, NI Assembly established
2000sHuman Rights Act 1998 comes into force (October 2000)

Practice Tests

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