Think you know the icons of campus, University history and key discoveries made in Birmingham? Do you recognise our famous alumni when you see them on screen? Test yourself with our 20 fiendishly difficult questions.
University history
- Which Queen granted the Royal Charter in March 1900 to create the University of Birmingham?
- Birmingham was the first UK university to offer courses in creating which drink?
- Which Beatle played on campus in 1972?
- What was the Great Hall, where many students sit exams, used for during the First World War?
- Birmingham was the first UK university to welcome women to study what?
Campus icons
- Which two mythical creatures feature on the University crest?
- What is the name of the University student newspaper?
- Two animals on campus are known as Roary/Rory – what are they?
- The Dubai campus forms what shape when seen from above?
- Who lives at the top of Old Joe?
Research and culture
- The Shakespeare Institute is home to a portrait of the inspiration for which Shakespeare character?
- The University cares for one of the earliest surviving fragments of which book (dated between 568 and 645)?
- What medical device, inside the bodies of around 3 million people worldwide, was developed at Birmingham
- Which health supplement, taken by millions of people every day, was first synthesised at Birmingham?
- Old Joe is said to have inspired the villain’s tower in which series of fantasy books?
Alumni on screen
- Which Birmingham graduate starred in the films Muppet Treasure Island, Clue and The Rocky Horror Picture Show?
- Which Birmingham graduate is a member of a Marvel superhero team?
- Which Birmingham graduate starred in Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps?
- Which Birmingham graduate brings the UK the news every weekday on Good Morning Britain?
- Which Birmingham graduate was quizmaster on TV show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
See the answers to the first 20 questions – and answer our big final question below!