Prehistory
Britain was the part of the continent of Europe until the end of the last Ice Age (6,000 BC). The earliest structures at Stonehenge were built about 3050 BC by the Iberian people, though there is still controversy as to who constructed the megalithic tombs (long barrows). The main structure of Stonehenge may date from the end of the Neolithic or the beginning of the Bronze Age. Stonehenge was a probably place of worship and a celestial calendar made of giant stones. The archeologists have recently establis that the stones were transport by sea from Wales.
History of London
London is a wonderful place to be! It has great museums with priceless exhibits, old markets, clean green parks and the best shops and night clubs i Europe. There is something for everyone. London is on the River Thames about 40 miles from the sea. It was founded by the Romans in AD 43 d became a successful and important city. After 1066 William the Conqueror constructed one of the most famous landmarks of the city – the Tower of London. In 1500 it had a population of about 50,000 was much bigger than the original medieval boundarien. Shakespeare’s theatre was built within this new area of London. In 1666 the Great Fire destroyed nearly all the city. It was once more ruined during the Second World War, when bombs destroyed the docklands.
Now London has around 7 milion people living in and around it. It is a financial and cultural centre but it is probably most famous for being the home of the British monarchy. You can see the Changing of the Guard everyday outside Buckingham Palace.
London also has some of the world’s department stores including Harrods. But the most visited place is the British Museum with exhibits from all over the world. In the evening you can go to one of the many theatres and see one of the many musicals. You can travel on the bus, train, the underground or taxi to get to different places in the centre and around the town. London has 3 main airports: He athrow which is the biggest, Gatwick and Stansted.
A lot of popular actors, actresses and musicians live in London, for example Mick Jagger, George Michael, Annie Lennox, Jamie Lee Curtis or John Cleese. Even if you do not see them in the street, you can “meet” them or other famous people as wax figures at Madame Tussaud’s. Dr Johnson once said: “When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life”.
The Tower of London
The approach to the Tower is by way of Tower Hill, the site of so many public executions in the past, but where today the public are more peacefully entertained by politicians, preachers, and "buskers" . There is more of London's history in the Tower than anywhere else. It is the oldest surviving building in London, dating from the Norman Conquest, and even before that the site had been used by the Romans, and later by the Saxonsas a fortress. From the eleventh century onwards the Tower has served many purposes - always a fortress but, at various periods of history, also as a royal palace (King Charles II was the last king to stay here and before him, King Henry III); a prison (the long list of unfortunate inmates includes Kings, Queens, Princes and Nobles); a treasury; a mint until 1810 an arsenal; the first royal observatory in the reign of King Charles II; and for three hundred years there was a royal zoo which was moved to Regent's Park in the 1830's.
The oldest part is the White Tower built as a fortress and family residence by William the Conqueror in 1070. The name is said to have originated in the reign of King Henry III who ordered the Tower to be whitewashed. Today the White Tower houses a unique collection of arms and armour and instruments of torture. The Chapel of St. John, on the first floor, is one of the finest surviving specimens of pure Norman architecture - a wonderful combination of immense strength with an impressive simplicity of line. Apart from the windows, which were enlarged by Sir Christopher Wren, the chapel is virtually in its original state.
The House of Parliament
Dominating the eastern extremity of the complex of buildings known as the House of Parliament, but more correctly the Palace clock. Famed throughout the world Big Ben (actually the name of the bell), it was reputedly so call after Sir Benjamin Hall, the burly Comissioner of Works when it was installed in 1858. A light above the clock signifies that the House of Commons is sitting during the night, whilst during the day the Union Jack is flown from the Victoria Tower.
This has been the seat of government since the early part of the eleventh century but not until 1547 did it become the permanent home of Parliament.
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey is one of the most famous, historic and widely visited churches not only in Britain but in the whole Christian world. There are reasons other for its fame apart from its beauty and its vital role as a centre of the Christian faith in one the of world’s most important capital cities. These include the facts that since 1066 every sovereign apart from Edward V and Edward VIII has been crowned here and that for many centuries it was also the burial place of kings, queens and princes.
The royal began connections even earlier than the present Abbey, for it was Edward the Confessor, sometimes called the last of the English kings and canonised in 1163, who established an earlier church on this site. His great Norman Abbey was built close to his place on Thorney Island. It was completed in 1065 and stood surrounded by the many ancillary buildings by the need community of Benedictine monks who pass their lives of prayer here. Edward’s death near the time of his Abbey’s consecration made it natural for his burial place to be by the High Altar.
Only two hundred years later, the Norman east end of the Abbey was demolished and rebuilt on the orders of Henry III, who had a great devotion to Edward the Confessor and wanted to honour him; the new apse, transepts and Choir (as far west as the present Choir screen) were consecrated in 1269. The central focus of the new Abbey was a magnificent shrine to house St Edward’s body; the remains of this shrine, dismantled at the Reformation but later reerected in rather a clumsy and piecemeal way, can still be seen behind the High Altar today.
Scotland
History
Scotland’s history is very long and it goes back to prechistoric times. The Celts were the first people who lived in Scotland. Later the Romans came and they called Scotland Caledonia. The Kingdom of Scotland was founded in 1018. The bravest warrior at that time was William Wallace. Thanks to James I the country became a part of the Union of the Crown in 1603. A hundred years later, in 1707, it began to be represented the British Parliament.
Geography
Scotland is a part of the United Kingdom and it is situated in the north of the main British island and includes the Hebrides, Orkney, Shetland and other smaller islands. Its landscape is varied, there are hills, rivers, forests and lakes. The most famous lake is called Loch Ness, where you can meet the very shy monster Nessie. The main cities are Edinburgh and glasgow.
Culture
One of the most characteristic things about Scots is their national garment, so called “tartan kilt”, that is a woollen, checked skirt worn by men. The bagpipes are e typical Scottish instrument.
The cultural centre of Scotland is Edinburgh, its capital city for almost 500 years. Scotland is also famous for its medieval castles like Edinburgh Castle, which is home to the Scottish Crown Jewels. Another place worth visiting is the Place of Holyrood, her Majesty the Queen’s official residence.
Famous People
Diana
Diana was born in 1961, into a very wealthy and aristocratic family. Her ancestors acquired the title of earl from king Charles I in the 17th century. For the next three centuries they felt comfortable at the royal court, holding various positions and bearing various titles. They became Kinghts of the Garter members of the Privy Council, ambassadors and the third earl of Spencer was even considered to be nominated prime minister. They were related to king Charles II the Dukes of Marlborough and to seben US presidents, including Franklin D. Roosevelt. Diana’s father was an equerry to king George VI and to his daughter queen Elizabeth II, whereas her grandmothers were nanny ladies-in-waiting to two queens.
In 1980 Diana appeared on the world stage as future bridge of Charles, the next king of England. They married on July 29th 1981 in St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. The wedding, watched by ¾ billion people worldwide, was a fairytale begin to a story that did haven’t a happy ending. Even though they had two children, William and Harry, Diana and Charles soon became unhappy together. Diana was a very modern woman who enjoyed pop music, romantic novels and charity work. Charles enjoyed many different interests, but their age difference and mentalities clashed. After a very public separation in 1989, an wqually public divorce followed in 1996.
As a single woman Diana put all of her energy into her two sons and her charity works. She raised money and made people sensitive to causes like AIDS, the homeless and landmines. In 1997 she started a romance with Dodi Fayed, son of the owner of Harrods. Soon after the two were tragically killed in a car crash in Paris. Throughout the world people mourned her death, especially the many whose lives she had helped to improve. She was a very English Rose, whose early death stunned a nation into silence.
The Beatles
The Beatles were the most famous pop group of the 1960 s. Their music was not only popular in Britain, but all over the world. Members of the band were John Lennon, Ringo Starr, George Harrison and Paul McCartney. They were working-class boys from Liverpool. Their first record, “Love Me Do” was a top-30 hit in 1962. Some well-known songs by the Beatles are “Yesterday”, “Strawberry Fields Forever”, “Lucy In the Sky with Diamonds” and “Michelle Ma Belle”.
They also starred in two films, A Hard Day’s Night in 1964 and Help! In 1965. Their songs were used in the animated film Yellow Submarine, which was made in 1968. The Beatles ballad “Yesterday” was covered by 1,186 different performers in the first 10 years after its release in 1965.
Paul McCartney who used to sing and play bass for the Beatles, established his own group called Wings which played for ten years. His solo hits included collaborations with Michael Jackson and Elvis Costello. In 1991 he also wrote his first piece of classical music called the Liverpool Oratorio. Paul’s daughter Stella is top British fashion designer.
John Lennon learn to play harmonica at the age of 12 byt he wanted to be a millionaire not a musician. He lived with his uncle and aunt in Liverpool. He meet Paul McCartney in the 1955 and they started the Beatles in 1960. Two years later John married Cynthia nad they had a son called Julian. John Lennon was shot in New York outside his own house on March 8th 1980.
George Harrison also played in a band called The Travelling Wilburys together with other male vocalists like Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty and Jeff Lyne.
Ringo Starr is the voice for Thomas the Tank Engine, a very popular children’s programme.
Poets
William Shakespeare – Poet and dramatist, he was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564, the son of the a wool-merchant. He maried Anne Hathaway in 1582 and they had three children. In the 1594 he moved to London and joined the Chamberlain’s company of players. He wrote some plays , among others : “Romeo and Juliet” , “Hamlet” , “Macbeth” , “Othello” , “King Lear”. In later life he lived in New Place, Stratford-upon-Avon. He died in 1616 and was buried in the parish churcg at Stratford. His memorial in Westminster Abbey was erected in 1740.
Lord Byron – He was born in 1788. Is probably best known for his poems Childe Harold and Don Juan. He was born in London and educated at Harrow and Cambridge, he married Anne Milbanke in 1815. The marriage was unhappy and they soon separated Byron going to lived abroad to escape the scandal which followed the separation. He died in 1824.
Geoffrey Chaucer – He was born in 1343 in London and held several court and official appointments. Employment on state mission aboard took him to Italy, France and Flandres and these visits greatly influenced his writing. Translations or adaptations from French and Italian works The Romaunt of the Rose, Troilus and Criseyde led later to great Canterbury Tales of c. 1387, for which hi is best known today. He died in 1400.