7th Century to Swinging Naughties - Famous British Icons

England and Britain are famous worldwide for its many British Icons from Boudeca, Queen Chief of the Iceni Tribe, Football, Mini Skirt to the Mini Car and I thought I would tell its British history and list some of the most famous Icons from the 7th Century to the present day. British Icon's have dominated the world with British Royalty, British Music, British Fashion, British Movie Stars, British Saints, British Buildings, British inventions, British Discoveries and British Sports.

The UK, Great Britain, Albion, this Sceptred Isle - however you refer to this small island perched up on the north western edge of the European continent, one thing that is undeniable is that nowhere else on Earth, from any country, has there been such a massive global impact.

Whether in the form of symbols of power as with the British Union Flag, in the guise of the person as with W. Churchill or Princess Diana, or in the form of chic design, as with the mini and mini-skirt in the Swinging Sixties, The Beatles, or the simple yet powerful Oasis logo from the Britpop era of the Nineties, British icons have been at both the forefront and in the background of history, decorating the past and how we perceive it.

In taking a closer look at our British Icons and history, hopefully you can gain a better understanding of the United Kingdom, its people, and what makes us tick.

Below is a list of my favourite British Icons:

1. King Alfred The Great
   2) Boudeca, Queen Chief of the Iceni Tribe
   3) King Edward the Confessor ( I am Related to )
   4) Queen Elizabeth the 1st
   5) Queen Victoria
   6) Queen Elizabeth the 2nd.
   
   7) William Shakespeare
   8) Charles Dickens
   9) Agatha Christie ( Author of Miss Marple and Poiret )
   10) J.K Rowling ( Author of the Harry Potter Books )
   11) Sir Terry Pratchett ( Author of the Disc World Books )
   12) James Herbert ( Horror Story writer of many novels including The Rats )
   13) Sir Christopher Wren ( I am related to )
   13b) Sir Isambard Kingdom Brunel
   13c) James Watt ( Inventor of the Steam Engine )
   13d) George Stevenson ( Inventor of the Steam Train )
   13e) Sir Isaac Newton
   13f) Charles Darwin
   14) Rudyard Kipling ( Author of the Jungle Book )
   14b) H.G. Wells ( Author of The Time Traveller )
   14c) Arthur Conan Doyle ( Author of Sherlock Holmes )
   14d) Bram Stoker ( Author of Count Dracula )
   14e) Mary Shelley ( Author of Frakenstein )
   14) Sir Walter Raleigh
   15) Sir Francis Drake
   16) Duke Of Marlborough
   17) Admiral Lord Nelson
   18) Duke of Wellington
   19) Bernard Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein
   20) Robert Walpole, 1st. Earl of Orford ( Regarded as the first Prime Minister in the modern sense );
   21) William The Pit The Younger ( introduced the first Income tax )
   22) Charles Grey, The Earl Grey ( restriction of employment of children; reform of the poor Laws, abolition of Slavery )
   23) Sir Robert Peel ( Created the first National Police Force )
   24) Edward Smith -Stanley, The Earl Derby. ( Father of the Conservative party ).
   25) Benjamin Disraeli ( Queen Victoria's favorite Prime Minister )
   26) Sir Winston Churchill ( Saviour of the world by defeating Hitler, Mussolini and Japanese Emporer )
   27) Lady Margarat Thatcher ( First female prime minister and creator of Privatisation ).
   28) The 1966 England World Cup Winning Team
   29) The Portsmouth F.Cup Winning Team from 2008
   30) Sir Ian Botham
   31) David Beckham
   32) Lord Sebastian Coe
   33) Steve Ovett
   34) Virginia Wade
   35) David Bedford
   36) Johnny Wilkinson
   37) Torvil and Dean
   38) Jennifer Ennis
   39) Dame Kelly Holmes
   40) Freddie Mercury
   41) Elton John
   42) Queen
   43) Electric Light Orchestra ( ELO )
   44) The Beatles
   45) Annie Lennox
   45b) Pink Floyd
   45c) Genesis
   46d) The Spice girls
   46) Tom Baker
   47) Lord Olivier
   48) Sir Roger Moore
   49) Cary Grant
   50) Peter Davidson
   51) John Pertwee

British Sports and Other Icons Given To the World

Cricket

England Football Team

Portsmouth F. C. ( My Favorite Football Club - Pompey )

Sheffield F.C 1857 ( The Oldest Football Club In The World )

Wembley Stadium and Football Association ( Home of Football )

Wimbledon Tennis Championship ( Home of Tennis )

Saint Andrews ( Home Of Golf )

Lords Cricket Ground ( Home of Cricket )

The Jockey Club ( Home of Horse Racing )

Sebastian Coe

Steve Ovett

Steven Redgrave

The Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race

David Beckham

George Best

Lester Piggett

Lewis Hamilton

Ian Botham

W.G.Grace

Andrew Flintoff

The England 1966 World Cup Winning Football Team

Speedway

Football / Soccer

English Premier League

American Football - Adapted from English Rugby

Rugby League

Rugby Union

Billiards

Snooker

Croquet

Curling

The Boat Race

Squash

Bowls

Tennis

Badminton

Table Tennis

Rounders

Softball

Baseball - Adapted from Rounders and Softball

Modern Olympic Games Held from 1846 Village of Wenlock  by Dr. William Penny Brookes

Horse Racing

Polo

Show Jumpingarts

Modern Archery

Bar Billiards

Shove A Ha'penny

Golf

Skittles

Yachting and Sailing

Bobsleigh

Skeleton

Real Tennis

Hovercraft Racing

Field Hockey

Ten Pin

Darts

Boxing

Bowls

Pigeon Racing

Greyhound Racing

Stag Hunting

Fox Hunting

Otter Hunting

Angling

Formula One ( The First Ever Formula One race was Held in England in 1948 )

Boccia

A to Z British Games and Icons

British Games

Card Sharp

Ludo

Bingo

Cribbage

Crossword Puzzles

Jigsaw Puzzles

Reversi

Anexation

Snakes and ladders

Quoits

Shove Ha'penny

Shoffe Groat

Aunt Sally

Ringing The Bull

Slide thrift

Rings

Caves

3 Mens Morris

Jenga

Shut the box

Bowls

Bagatelle

Stoolball

Bat and Ball

Pitch Penny

Toad in Hole Game

English Morris Dancing

The Valentine Card

William Wordsworth

Oxford University 1096

Cambridge University 1209

Haggis - A Dish first seen in a English Receipe Book from 1615 and loved by the Scots

London Hansom Black Cab

First British canal in AD50

Double Decker Buses ( Routemasters )

History of British Post Box

Histoy of British Telephone Box

Cludge Molliers

English Folk Songs

We British Invented the Fizz and Sparkle in Champagne

Scottish, Irish and English Kilts

History of London Stock Exchange

History of English Sterling Silver and Gold Hallmarks 1300 to present

English Language

English Peoples

British Peoples

Welsh Peoples

Irish Peoples

Scottish Peoples

Union Jack

A Compleat Angler by Charles Cotton and Izaac Walton

The Magna Carta

The Doomsday Book

Anglo Saxon Chronicles

English Jury Service

The English Sherriff

The King James Bible

Beowulf

BagPipes

Tower of London's Beefeaters or Yeoman of the Guard

Saint Georges Day Englands Patron Saint

Saint Andrews Day Scotlands Patron Saint

Saint Patrick's Day Ireland's Patron Saint ( Saint Patrick was an Englishman )

Saint Davids Day Welsh Patron Saint

Listing of All Other British Saints

The City of London ( survey found that over 350 languages are spoken in London Schools )

British Telephone Box

Augustus Pugin

Sir Charles Barry

Sir Christopher Wren ( I am a direct descendent )

Carnaby Street

The Iconic English Pub

Houses of Parliament and Big ben

Number 10 Downing Street

Buckingham Palace

Windsor Castle

Oxford Street

Regent Street

Mayfair

London Theatreland

The London Eye

Madame Tussaud Waxworks Museum

Tower Of London

Windsor Castle

Whitechapel ( aka Where Jack The Ripper Killed. aka Mr Tumblety was the Ripper )

To find out more about these British Icons can I suggest to find out more please enter any of the above Icons into a search engine.

Please visit my Funny Animal Art Prints Collection @ http://www.fabprints.com

My other website is called Directory of British Icons: http://fabprints.webs.com

The Chinese call Britain 'The Island of Hero's' which I think sums up what we British are all about. We British are inquisitive and competitive and are always looking over the horizon to the next adventure and discovery.

Copyright © 2010 Paul Hussey. All Rights Reserved.