History questions
Use these examples to check whether the topic has stuck. Review why each answer is right or wrong, then start the drill when you are ready to answer without hints.
Dolly
Dolly the sheep, cloned in 1996 by Wilmot and Campbell's team
Correct answer
Colin
A fictional name; not a cloned animal
Alice
A fictional name; not a cloned animal
Molly
A fictional name; not the first cloned mammal
Explanation
In 1996, two British scientists, Sir Ian Wilmot (1944-) and Keith Campbell (1954-2012), led a team which was the first to succeed in cloning a mammal, Dolly the sheep.
John Macleod
Scottish physician John Macleod (1876–1935) was the co-discoverer of insulin, used to treat diabetes.
Correct answer
Mary Peters
Mary Peters was a Northern Irish athlete who won Olympic pentathlon gold in 1972.
Patrick Steptoe
Steptoe pioneered IVF treatment with Robert Edwards — not insulin.
Ian Wilmot
Sir Ian Wilmot led the team that cloned Dolly the sheep in 1996 — not insulin.
Explanation
The Scottish physician John Macleod (1876–1935) was the co-discoverer of insulin, which is used to treat diabetes and remains one of medicine's most important discoveries.
Jimmy Carter
US President 1977–81, before Thatcher became PM in 1979
George Bush
US President 1989–93; Thatcher left office in 1990
Ronald Reagan
US President 1981–89; close Cold War ally of Thatcher
Correct answer
Hillary Clinton
Secretary of State and Senator; never President
Explanation
Margaret Thatcher worked closely with the United States President, Ronald Reagan, and was one of the first Western leaders to recognise and welcome the changes in the leadership of the Soviet Union which eventually led to the end of the Cold War.
Sir Christopher Cockrell
Sir Christopher Cockerell was the British inventor of the hovercraft in the 1950s; he had nothing to do with the DNA discovery.
Francis Crick
Francis Crick (1916–2004) was the British scientist awarded the Nobel Prize for discovering the structure of the DNA molecule in 1953.
Correct answer
Sir Frank Whittle
Sir Frank Whittle was a Royal Air Force engineer who developed the jet engine in the 1930s; he was not involved in genetics research.
Alan Turing
Alan Turing was a mathematician whose theoretical work underpinned modern computing; he did not work on DNA and did not receive a Nobel Prize.
Explanation
The structure of the DNA molecule was discovered in 1953 through work at London and Cambridge universities. Francis Crick (1916–2004), a British scientist, was awarded the Nobel Prize for this discovery.
Patrick Steptoe
Patrick Steptoe pioneered IVF therapy alongside Robert Edwards in the 1970s.
Ian Wilmot
Ian Wilmot led the team that successfully cloned Dolly the sheep in 1996.
Mary Peters
Mary Peters was an Olympic gold medallist in the pentathlon at the 1972 Munich Games.
John Macleod
Scottish physician John Macleod was the co-discoverer of insulin, used to treat diabetes.
Correct answer
Explanation
The Scottish physician and researcher John Macleod (1876–1935) was the co-discoverer of insulin, used to treat diabetes.
Sir Ian Wilmot and Keith Campbell
In 1996, Wilmot and Campbell led the team that first successfully cloned a mammal, Dolly the sheep.
Correct answer
Francis Crick and John Logie Baird
Crick helped discover DNA structure; Baird developed television — neither was involved in cloning.
Sir Robert Edwards and Patrick Steptoe
Edwards and Steptoe pioneered IVF therapy, leading to the world's first test-tube baby in 1978.
Sir Frank Whittle and Sir Christopher Cockerell
Whittle developed the jet engine; Cockerell invented the hovercraft — unrelated to cloning.
Explanation
In 1996, two British scientists, Sir Ian Wilmot and Keith Campbell, led a team which was the first to succeed in cloning a mammal, Dolly the sheep.
Sir Robert Watson-Watt
Sir Robert Watson-Watt was a Scottish inventor who developed radar, not a co-discoverer of insulin.
John Macleod
John Macleod was the Scottish physician who co-discovered insulin, used to treat diabetes.
Correct answer
John Logie Baird
John Logie Baird was a Scottish inventor who developed television in the 1920s, not insulin.
Francis Crick
Francis Crick co-discovered the structure of DNA in 1953; he was not involved in discovering insulin.
Explanation
The Scottish physician and researcher John Macleod was the co-discoverer of insulin, used to treat diabetes.
False
True
Correct answer
Explanation
Throughout the 1990s, Britain played a leading role in coalition forces involved in the liberation of Kuwait after the Iraqi invasion in 1990 and in the conflict in the former Republic of Yugoslavia.
To take off vertically
The Harrier jump jet was uniquely capable of vertical take-off and landing, designed and built in the UK.
Correct answer
To reach supersonic speeds
Concorde was the supersonic aircraft; the Harrier was subsonic but could hover and land vertically.
To float on water
The hovercraft, invented by Sir Christopher Cockerell in the 1950s, floats on a cushion of air above water.
To carry 1,000 passengers
No aircraft of that era carried 1,000 passengers; Concorde carried only about 100.
Explanation
The Harrier jump jet, an aircraft capable of taking off vertically, was also designed and developed in the UK.
In 1982
Argentina invaded the Falklands in 1982; Britain sent a naval taskforce to recover them.
Correct answer
In 1992
1992 is ten years after the Falklands conflict actually occurred.
In 1984
1984 is two years after the actual Argentine invasion.
In 1980
1980 is two years before Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands.
Explanation
In 1982, Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands, a British overseas territory in the South Atlantic.
John McLeod
John Macleod was the co-discoverer of insulin, used to treat diabetes, not the radar.
John Logie Baird
John Logie Baird developed television; he made the first broadcast between London and Glasgow in 1932.
Alan Turing
Alan Turing invented the theoretical Turing machine in the 1930s, foundational to computer science.
Sir Robert Watson-Watt
Watson-Watt developed radar, proposing that radio waves could detect enemy aircraft; the first test was in 1935.
Correct answer
Explanation
The radar was developed by Scotsman Sir Robert Watson-Watt (1892-1973), who proposed that enemy aircraft could be detected by radio waves. The first successful radar test took place in 1935.
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher became the UK's first female Prime Minister in 1979, serving until 1990.
Correct answer
Florence Nightingale
Nightingale was a nurse and healthcare reformer; women could not stand for Parliament in her lifetime.
Theresa May
Theresa May became the second female Prime Minister in 2016, succeeding David Cameron; Thatcher was the first.
Mary Stuart
Mary Stuart (Queen of Scots) was a 16th-century Scottish queen, not a modern British Prime Minister.
Explanation
Margaret Thatcher was the first woman Prime Minister of the UK.
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