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Five history questions
Posted by harveyavatar • 8/10/09 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: history, knowledge
Professor Derek Matthews was so surprised to discover that the students in his economics class at Cardiff University had such a poor grasp of British history that he decided to conduct an experiment.
He set five easy questions, which he believed 'every 18-year-old should know', and over three years 284 first-year university students took the test.
The five history questions:
1 – Who was the general in charge of the British Army at the battle of Waterloo?
2 – Who was the reigning monarch when the Spanish Armada attacked Britain?
3 – What was Isambard Kingdom Brunel's profession?
4 – Name one Prime Minister of Britain in the 19th century?
5 – In what country was the Boer War of 1899-1902 fought?
To be followed.
You can take the quizz 
User Comments
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Got a 3 out of 5.
"The results confirmed his fears. Just one in six knew that the Duke of Wellington led the British army in the Battle of Waterloo, while only 11.5 per cent could name a British Prime Minister from the 19th century.
On average, the students answered just over one in five questions correctly, and those with history A-level only got two in five right.
In a report on the 'death' of school history teaching, Prof Matthews said the levels of ignorance were an "outrage".
Noting that his students were in the top 15 per cent of their age group for educational success, he said: "This implies that, all things being equal, 85 per cent of my undergraduates' age group know even less than they do.
"In other words, we are looking at a whole generation that knows almost nothing about the history of their (or anyone else's) country." -
www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/5716088/University-students-ign...
Answers:
1 – Duke of Wellington
2 – Queen Elizabeth I
3 – An engineer
4 – There were 20 – including Disraeli, Gladstone and Peel
5 – South Africa-
I got all 5 correct, but it was British History!! Of course we (who live in British countries) should get them all correct.
Now how about French history, Dutch history, German history, Italian or Spanish history? This might be a tad more embarrassing.
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Indeed! Out of the three I got right, I guessed once. I did not get a British education.
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moved
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Talking of learning history differently! I was discussing Paul Revere with some Americans who knew him as a colonial rider and scout, warning Americans about the imminent arrival of the enemy. I knew him as a member of an important Huguenot family who crafted the most gorgeous silver art objects from the colonial era.
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I knew of Revere as both...but then, I used to live in Boston...
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We can just cheat and Google it, LOL-
what would be the point?
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Knowing how to aquire knowledge is more important than memorizing as much as possible to begin with, in my opinion. -
Although these are basic chapters of British history, I do agree with you.
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for No.4 I thought of disraeli...thats about it. I dont know much about british history, I had more of an americanized education-
Yes, those would be tough for non Europeans. I thought of Disraeli too.
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I know, but some people out there run full blogs off stolen content, so they won't have any qualms Googling answers for this thread.
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Their loss. You tried the quizz? What is your assessment of the results of the British econ students?
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Well, I know which California town Scott Peterson was born in and where he went to high school. Do YOU, Mr. Smarty Pants??-
lol! I bet he doesn't!
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Well, I'm only a heathen yank, but history happens to be a favorite subject, so heregoes:
1) Wellington
2) Do you mean the monarch of England (Elizabeth I) or of Spain (Phillip of Spain)? You didn't specify!
3) don't know that one without looking it up
4) Disraeli
4) South Afrika/Orange Free State/Transvaal - although I prefer to think of it all as "Zululand"
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Now my turn - and you can't look these up on google (that's cheating...I could've done that with #3 above but didn't):
1) Who commanded the victorious Union (Federal) army at the pivotal battle of Gettysburg?
2) At what battle of the 2nd Punic War is Hannibal Barca most famous for achieving the classical "double envelopment" of the Roman flanks?
3) What tribe was chief "Little Turtle" from?
4) Who suffered a higher volume (total number rather than percentage) of casualties?
-The "light Brigade" during their famous charge at Balaclava
-the attacking column of Confederates in "Pickett's Charge"
or
-the doomed 7th Cavalry of Custer's command at Little Big Horn?
5) What famous vessel is credited with sinking the battlecruiser HMS Hood in the battle of Denmark Straight on May 24, 1941?
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Kdawg, South Afrika/Orange Free State/Transvaal and "Zululand" are all different!
South Africa (Suid Afrika) is the country; Orange Free State was an area of South Africa that is now the province of Free State; Transvaal was an area that is now known as the province of Gauteng. Zululand was (and is) in what was once known at the Natal Colony and is now the province known as Kwa-Zulu Natal, where my husband was born and raised.
In KZN, south of both the Free State and Gauteng, is an area called the Midlands where a good part of the Anglo-Boer war was fought. The battlegrounds are all over the place, and small settlements that were originally established as military outposts still exist. I drive through the area at least once a year when we go to visit my husband's family. And a couple of years back I spent a week in the Midlands, on holiday. You can see pics of the place on my Flickr account. -
I know they are -
First things first...when we say "Boer War", we must realize there were two of them.
The "First Boer War" was also called the "Transvaal War", so I felt it merited inclusion.
From memory, the first shots of the "First Boer War" were fired on british columns moving through Transvaal (potchfeterstroom?? something like that).
I included the "Orange Free State' because the "country" of South Africa (as it exists today, at least) did not yet exist when the war was fought. I Also thought it warranted mentioning as the "Orange Free State" was annexed at the conclusion of the 2nd Boer War.
As for the Zululand reference, that was tounge in cheek - as I think of the whole area as Zulu (or related peoples) prior to the arrival of white colonists. I realize it's a bit more complex than that, but I didn't want to write a mini-African history just to answer the 5th question of a "quiz" post.
Edited to add - if I ever get to Isandhlwana, you gotta come out with me! -
(heads to your Flickr account to check out pics!)
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Zululand still exists, just not as a named place. The Zulus still have a king and they are very politically strong in KZN. Jacob Zuma, the current president, is a Zulu. Unlike the peaceful and agrarian Xhosa (among whom number Mandela and Mbeki), the Zulus were a warlike nation and remain a strong-minded, aggressive people today.
Their part of South Africa is some of the most lush and fertile parts of the nation and I am completely unsurprised they did not want the white foreigners despoiling it! I thought the Midlands was like a little piece of heaven set down in Africa! I could easily see it identified as the Garden of Eden! Our hotel had a tea garden that was surrounded by a hedge of papyrus and those things were more than 12 feet tall! Boggling! It reminded me of Oregon in late spring.
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I didn't Google it, I got all 5 right, and I was educated in America, not in the UK.
But, then, I was educated in the 1950s and early 1960s...times have changed since then,-
If you had gotten the Boer War question wrong, they would've run you out of town!
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I have been to a few of the battlegrounds.
Believe it or not, there are still hard feelings here about that war...kinda like the Civil War in the US has never been fully put to rest.
I know at least one Afrikaner lady who spouts off indignantly at the way the Boer captives were treated by the English, and it all happened long, long before she was born!! -
Not surprised. I've always sort of identified with the Boers in those conflicts. Even though the English had the snappier uniforms.
I think you hit it spot on about the similarities to the U.S. Civi War - as even without consciously thinking about it, tourists arrive at those fields and immediately align themselves with one side or the other - even to this day.
I'd LOVE to get out to some of the battlefields with you at some point.
There's just something eerily foreboding about the idiotic wastes of life that would perpetuate World War 1 battlefields just years later - and you can already see the same insane tactics and "strategy" being employed at places like Spion Kop.
The Boer commando gave good account of themselves, for sure. THe British rank and file did as well, but as was often the case, their officer corps left something to be drastically desired.
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I got 2 out of five... course i'm not from the uk either
PS, do I get extra credit for being able to name a second PM?
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