Do English People Know The 10 Greatest Britons? | Easy English 99

Who is this historical figure?

Er…

Oh no!

Who is that?

Is that Einstein?

Is it?

No.

Who… who is it?

I don’t… I don’t…

If it’s modern, we might not know. - No.

Er… I can’t tell from them.

Oh, I’ve got no idea.

Some scruffbag.

Hello, welcome to Easy English.

So ''Wikipedia'' has a list of the  ''100 Greatest Britons of All Time'',

which you’re seeing here. And it made me think;

how many of these great Britons  do typical Britons know?

I’m on Brighton beach to find out, here we go.

Who is this Britain? - Winston  Churchill. - Winston Churchill.

Can you tell me; who is this Britain?

Oh, I think it's Winston Churchill. - Okay.

And er… what… what do you know…  what do you know about him?

Any facts? - He was the prime  minister when I was young. - Yeah?

So yes, I’ve remembered him from  years and years. - That’s good

D’you know any fun facts about Winston Churchill?

Fun facts, he like… he's like me;  a bricklayer. - Really? - Yeah.

Really? What, before… - He  built all his garden walls,

around his property, apparently.  - That is a fun fact.

Apart from being the prime minister. - Yeah.

Right c’mon, let’s… we’re gonna  go a bit… bit more modern.

A nice big one for ya. - Ah! Well there you are,

David Beckham isn’t it.

Oh, David Beckham. - David Beckham.

Oh, that looks like David  Beckham. - A long time ago.

David Beckham. - Very good. -  Okay. - Are you a fan… of his work?

Er… Do I admire David Beckham's  work? Well, he was a goo…

he was a good footballer. - Yeah?

I'm not really a football fan, but  I mean, I recognise him, obviously.

We do like football, but… - We do like football

but not Man United. - No.

He owns a football franchise in Miami. - Nice.

Yeah, that will do.

His wife is a successful fashion designer,

having been a pop singer in the first place.

So yeah, one of the glory…  glamorous couples of our time.

Shakespeare. - William Shakespeare. - Yeah.

Okay, William Shakespeare. - Okay.

Probably the best playwright  ever… ever to have lived.

Any facts you know about William Shakespeare?

Where shall we three meet, upon the heath?

Fun facts? - Did one of his plays at school,

which was ''As you like it''  which was quite a comedy, yeah.

A lot of further education is  built around a lot of his works

and studies. And erm… so many contemporary things

have been based on his works.

Is this a dagger I saw in front  of me? Yeah! Yeah, that's the one.

Who's that? - Lady Diana.

Who’s that? - Princess Diana. - Perfect.

Yeah, Lady Di of course.

Who’s she?

Who’s she!? She was… - Just  in case people don’t know.

She was the first wife of Prince Charles.

Okay, obviously the mother of William and Harry.

Yeah erm… married Prince Charles. - Yeah.

Came to a… a… a sticky end, unfortunately.

Died much too early, maybe didn't necessarily,

fit into the royal family, but  probably the first of the royals

to sort of, break ranks as it  were and become more popular,

make the monarchy more popular.

I think she had a miserable life,

while she was with Charles  and the royal family. - Yeah?

And I think she… yeah, had a lot  of depressions and frustrations.

And, I think she was unhappy  with the… this whole royal… s**t.

That was well summarised. -  Yeah! Yeah! - This royal s**t.

Okay, next one. - Okay, Sir  David Attenborough, yeah.

Oh yes, David Attenborough. -  Yeah? - Well, he’s the… well,

he tells us everything  about nature and everything,

he’s a wonderful man, yes.  - You like him? - Oh yes.

More recently, about climate  change and saving the planet.

Erm… you know, probably the most  recognised voice, I would say, on TV.

Yeah, true! - And a fantastic voice,

that he's got and very soothing  and loved by everybody.

And he’s a true, I think, English icon.

Who is this historical figure?  - Er… Queen Elizabeth the first.

Very good, fantastic. And, do  you… what do you know about her?

Any little facts or… - She was  daughter of Henry the eighth,

she was queen in the 16th century,

about the time William Shakespeare was around.

But he obviously went into James as well.

Favourite people for her, were people like Riley,

who was a privateer or pirate or great sailer,

depending on your point of view.

And yeah, she was unmarried, no  children, which is why we then,

had a Scottish king, afterwards.

But all related, because James  was son of Mary, Queen of Scots,

or something like that.

Oh, I’ve got no idea.

Some scruff bag.

I've got no idea who he  is. I'm not into pop songs.

He’d probably like it if he  was referred to as a scruffbag.

Who is he? Let’s have a look.

Oh, Johnny what’s-his-face. - Rotten.

Johnny Rotten. - Johnny Rotten, well done.

It’s not Johnny Rotten… is it? - Yeah! Bang on!

You can tell you read the newspaper. - Go on then,

tell us what you know about erm… Johnny Rotten.

Johnny Rotten; punk. - Yes.  - That’s about it really.

John Lydon or Johnny Rotten. - Never heard of him.

D’you like the ''Sex Pistols''?  - I’ve heard of them,

but I've never heard of him.

''Sex Pistols'', punk. - Yeah, loud, offensive.

Obnoxious. - Yeah, selling… selling butter.

Selling butter, yeah.

No, I don’t know who that is, let’s have a look.

That’s Isamgar… Isambard Kingdom Brunel

Oh that’s Isambard Kingdom Brunel. - Wow!

You’re the first one to get that  so far, from the people I’ve asked.

Oh right. - I mean, once I  said his name, they knew.

But, I don’t think people  generally knew what he looked.

That’s one of the most famous pictures of him.

Yeah right, that’s all I could find.

Maybe you’d know it if I said the  name, Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

Oh Brunel, yeah. That’s the chap  who did all the lovely bridges

and railways and things. - Oh,  so you know who he is then?

Yeah, the Bristol… Bristol area. - Yeah! Perfect.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel was  definitely one of the greatest er…

engineers of the Victorian era.

A great er… engineer the  ''Great Western Railway''.

But, he championed broad-gauge  (railway) to start with,

which went to normal-gauge, which was what;

four-foot eight and a half or something.

And he also pioneered a vacuum  railway on the south coast,

he also built things like Clifton  Suspension Bridge and also ships;

(SS) Great Western, (SS) Great Eastern.

And one of those; (SS) Great  WesternSLASH(SS) Great Eastern,

(SS) Great Western, I think. Ended up… no, no.

SS Great Britain, sorry, ended  up on the Falkland Islands

and is now back in Bristol,  having been fully restored.

Yes, so you can visit it.

John Lennon.

Ah, John Lennon. - Perfect.

Okay, John Lennon; member of ''The  Beatles'', wrote some fantastic songs.

You a fan? - ''Imagine'' probably,  is the best one he’s ever written.

Er… yeah, I mean ''The Beatles''  were very good, in earlier times.

I thought they went a bit off in the late 60’s.

But yes, they were a pretty good  band. From Liverpool, of course.

You a fan? - Kind of, yeah. - Yeah, early.

We’re music fans, so basically…

When he was in ''The Beatles''  but not really after that…

well, not me, personally. -  Non of his later stuff? - No.

I wasn’t a fan of ''The Beatles'', no.

Never really liked ''The Beatles'' no, not at all.

Didn’t particularly like their music.

But erm… obviously, he was  erm… you know, one of a kind.

Yes, started off in the ''Cavern Club''

and places like that in the  north… north west of England.

And yeah, very popular, very  successful across the world,

lots of little screaming girls following them

and meeting them at airports  and things like that, yes.

Unfortunately, he did get  shot in New York and killed,

which was a great shame.

Er… Darwin? -  

Yeah! Wow, well done.

Who is this? - I would guess  that’s George Bernard Shaw.

It's wrong, but it’s… I can see  where you think… where you’re going.

Oh, Charles Darwin. - Wow! Very good.

Might be Darwin. - No, I  don't know. - You’re correct.

Second guess; Charles Darwin.

And er… what do you know about Darwin?

Yeah, his most er… popular theory about species

and survival of the fittest.

Er… evolution, basically.  - Yeah… he invented it er…

Well, I don’t know if he invented  it, Ahe’s part of it, himself.

It’s his theory wasn’t it. - Yeah.

Beagle. - Oh yeah, HMS Beagle.  - Oh, is that his… tell me more.

I don’t know this. - I think he… he…

I’m fairly sure he sailed on HMS  Beagle with Banks and all that lot.

Yeah, he could have done.  Yes, that's possibly true.

He might not be making that up.

That’s one for ''Wikipedia'' as well, isn’t it.

Better check your facts.

Erm… that… is that… that’s  not erm… is that Nelson?

It is Nelson! - Horatio Nelson, yeah. - Well done.

I didn’t even know that. - No…  no, that’s yeah, Nelson so erm…

battle of Trafalgar was it? -  Yeah. - battle of Trafalgar;

came to a sticky end.

Oh er… Rowling. - Wow.

And other than… other than  the obvious, d’you know any…

any facts about her? - She writes  as… what is it? Calbrai… no.

(Robert) Galbraith or something.

She does have pseudonym other than  J.K. Rowling, but I can’t remember.

It’s a detective series which  have been done on the TV.

Thanks for watching this week’s episode,

let us know in the comments below,  how many of the Brits you knew.

And we’ll see you next week, bye.