Modern Britain |
1902 |
Britain defeats Dutch settlers in Boer War in South Africa |
1902
|
The first old age pension |
1914 - 1918
|
First World War
Compulsory military service and food rationing introduced |
1920
|
Republic of Ireland gains independence |
1937 |
Sir Frank Whittle invents the Jet Engine |
1939 - 1945 |
The Second World War |
1951
|
Festival of Britain |
1952
|
Elizabeth II becomes Queen |
1953
|
Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II |
1973 |
Britain joins the European Community |
1979 |
Margaret Thatcher becomes Britain's first woman prime minister |
1982 |
Falklands War |
1991 |
Gulf War |
1991 |
Sir Tim Berners Lee invents the World Wide Web |
1994 |
Channel Tunnel links Britain back to the European continent |
1999
|
Welsh national assembly and Scottish parliament |
2003
|
The Second Gulf War |
2003
|
England Wins the Rugby World Cup
|
People from all cultures and ethnicities can be found in every corner of Britain and each person in his or her own way has contributed to make Britain the place it is today.
If you walk down a street in Britain, especially in the bigger cities you will usually see people with different hair, skin and eye colours. They may have white, brown or black skin and blonde, brown, black, or red hair, with blue, black, brown or green eyes. Many of the people you will see will be British people but they all look different because the people of Britain are a mixed race.
How Britain became a mixed race society
Britain is and has always been a mixed race society. Early in our history we were invaded by Romans ( ) , Saxons ( ), Vikings ( ) and Normans () armies and later Africans were brought to Britain by force in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries as slaves or servants. Over the years, thousands of people have arrived in Britain as refugees from France, Ireland, Russia, and other countries, escaping from persecution or famine in their own countries.
There are British people whose parents first came to Britain in the 1950s and 1960s from the Caribbean, India, Pakistan, Hong Kong and other places. Their homes are mainly in the big English cities like London, Birmingham and Manchester.
About 8% of the population of Britain today are people from other cultures and ethnicities. That is 4.6 million people.
According to a BBC Report in September 2005, immigration made up more than half of Britain's population growth from 1991 to 2001.
People moving to Britain have brought their own cultures and try to keep two cultures alive. An excellent example of this is the Notting Hill Carnival which is celebrates the Caribbean Culture and is now a very big part of the British life today.
Источник: http://resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/questions/history.html |