Back to the Twentieth Century Trivia Quiz

Answer: Victoria

Queen Victoria died on the Isle of Wight while her daughter, and eldest child, died in Germany. Princess Victoria was Empress of Germany and mother of Wilhelm II, who was leader of Germany (Kaiser) during World War I. Queen Victoria and her husband, Prince Albert, had nine children in all. Three of them died before their mother - Alice in 1878, Alfred in 1900 and Leopold in 1884.

Answer: Hawley Crippen

Crippen was American born but had been living in London since 1897 with his wife, Cora. Cora performed on the stage and was known to have affairs. In the meantime, Crippen met Ethel le Neve with whom he began an affair. In 1910, Cora disappeared with Crippen claiming she had returned to America. Following police interest, Crippen panicked and he and Ethel left, by ship, for Canada.

The captain recognised them and sent a telegram to Britain, enabling the British police to take a faster ship and intercept Crippen's vessel before he could disembark. Following a trial in the UK, Crippen was found guilty of murder and hanged in 1910.

Answer: Empire Stadium

The question refers to the original stadium on the site, which was demolished between 2002 and 2003 and replaced by a new stadium, opened in 2007. Its official name was the British Empire Exhibition Stadium, as it was built as part of an exhibition staged in 1924/5, but soon became known as Wembley Stadium.

It was primarily known for staging football (soccer) matches, but other sports were catered for including speedway, rugby league and the 1948 Olympics. The replacement stadium is on the same site, and most people in the UK just call it Wembley - it's assumed that anyone who says they're going to Wembley is referring to a sporting event.

Answer: Supermarine

It's surprising to know that the plane destined to play such a major role in the Battle of Britain in 1940 was rejected by Air Ministry on submission of the first design in 1931, with the Gloster Gladiator being chosen instead. After the designer R J Mitchell had made several alterations, the aircraft was approved in late 1934. Supermarine was founded in 1913, near Southampton, and produced seaplanes.

The Spitfire became iconic, although the Hawker Hurricane was equally important in the air battles which put an end to Hitler's plans to invade Britain.

Answer: Desert Island Discs

The show, which began in the middle of the Second World War, was devised by Roy Plomley who presented it from its inception until 1985. It began life on the British Forces Programme, to give service personnel some escapism. Still running in 2021, the programme invites its guests to imagine that they are castaways on an island and have to choose eight recordings (discs at the time, of course) and explain their reasons for their picks.

This gives an insight into the lives of the castaways, who are also allowed to pick one book in addition to a Bible or similar work and Shakespeare's complete works. One luxury can be taken as well, but nothing practical like a boat.

Answer: Alan Turing

Alan Turing was an expert in mathematics and cryptology, creating a machine which was instrumental in cracking the codes used by the Germans during World War II. His work laid the foundations for the development of computer technology. Turing, though, was a homosexual and to be caught in sexual activity was, at the time, a criminal act.

In 1952, Turing was arrested and accepted medical treatment to curb his libido. He died in 1954, ruled to be suicide at the time. The British Government issued an official apology in 2009 for the way he was treated, followed by an official pardon.

In June 2021 his reputation was completely restored when his image appeared on the UK's newly designed £50 bank note.

Answer: Coventry

Coventry is situated in the Midlands of England and has known for its industries since the nineteenth century. The city had munitions factories, so was a prime target for the Luftwaffe during the Second World War. A major bombing raid took place in November 1940 which destroyed most of Coventry's cathedral, which dated from the early fifteenth century.

The remaining parts of the building were left as a memorial, with architects invited, in 1950, to submit plans for a new cathedral. Basil Spence was chosen, with his modern design providing a contrast to the remnants of the original structure.

Answer: Decimalisation of currency

On the 15th of February, the UK moved from its traditional currency of pounds shillings and pence to a decimal system. Pounds and pence still existed, but now one pound sterling was made up of 100 pence rather than 240 old pennies, making calculations much easier. The old shilling became worth 5p, with a new coin valued at 50p having been introduced in 1969 to replace the 10 shilling note. A later addition to the coins came in 1982 with a 20p coin, while pound notes disappeared in 1988 having been replaced by coins in 1983.

Margaret Thatcher became Britain's PM in 1979 and colour television began (in a limited fashion) in 1967 before becoming available on all channels in 1969. Concorde's first commercial flight was in 1976.

Answer: Zeebrugge

The circumstances of the tragedy are close to unbelievable. The ferry transported vehicles, and their passengers, and it had become common practice for the vessel to set sail before the loading doors were fully closed. Disaster struck when the crew member responsible for closing them overslept, with no failsafe mechanism in place. Water rushed in, the ship turned on its side, and passengers (and crew) were drowned. Luckily, and avoiding an even bigger loss of life, the ship ended up lying on its side on a sandbar so was not totally submerged.

Inevitably, major changes have since been made.

Answer: Barings

Barings was established in London in 1762 by Francis and John Baring. Having survived an earlier crisis in 1890, which nearly brought about its downfall, the bank was finally brought to financial collapse by Nick Leeson, a trader in their Singapore office. Leeson had made deals, mostly hidden, which had led to losses of over eight hundred million pounds.

A lack of supervision and independent checking had allowed him to continue his trading, hoping to recoup the losses but making them far bigger. Barings was declared insolvent and was taken over by another banking group, ING, for a nominal amount.

The 1999 film 'Rogue Trader' was a fictionalised version of the bank's downfall.