16 historic moments that happened during Queen Elizabeth II’s lifetime

Queen Elizabeth II wearing the Imperial State Crown, and the Duke of Edinburgh in uniform of Admiral of the Fleet, wave from the balcony to the onlooking crowds around the gates of Buckingham Palace after the coronation. PA Images via Getty Images Queen Elizabeth II died aged 96 on September 8 and her state funeral took place on Monday. In her lifetime, she observed 70 years of service to the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth.

The Queen succeeded to the throne aged 25 on February 6, 1952, and witnessed many historic events. Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation took place on June 2, 1953, in Westminster Abbey. It was the first to ever be televised and was viewed by 27 million people in the UK and millions more around the world.

Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Abbey during her coronation, June 2, 1953. Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty ImagesSource: The Royal FamilyOn November 22, 1963, US President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

In 1965, the Queen erected a memorial monument at Runnymede in Berkshire, the site of the sealing of the Magna Carta. Texas Governor John Connally adjusts his tie (foreground) as President and Mrs. Kennedy, in a pink outfit, settled in rear seats, prepared for motorcade into city from airport, November 22, 1963.

Getty ImagesSource: British Heritage TravelIn 1964, the passing of The Civil Rights Act was a catalyst in ending Jim Crow segregation laws in the US. It granted African American citizens access to public spaces and facilities. Members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) protesting in Washington DC, US, June 24, 1964.

Photo by Archive Photos/Getty ImagesSource: Library of CongressThe Queen was one of 600 million television viewers worldwide who watched Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walk on the moon on July 20, 1969. Buzz Aldrin on the moon with the American Flag, 1969. Photo by Heritage Art/Heritage Images via Getty ImagesSource: Biography.

comThe Queen witnessed Margaret Thatcher become the United Kingdom’s first female Prime Minister in 1979 and worked closely with her for 11 years until Thatcher resigned in 1990. Margaret Thatcher, leader of the British Conservative Party, on the threshold of becoming Britain’s first woman Prime Minister in London, England, 1978. Getty ImagesSource: UK ParliamentOn April 25 and 26, 1986, the Chernobyl disaster occurred in what is now northern Ukraine, formerly the USSR, after a reactor at the nuclear power plant exploded and burned.

It was the worst nuclear accident in history. View of the Chernobyl Nuclear power after the explosion on April 26, 1986, in Chernobyl, Ukraine. Photo by SHONE/GAMMA/Gamma-Rapho via Getty ImagesSource: National GeographicThe Berlin Wall split East and West Berlin into occupation zones until borders were opened on November 9, 1989, and the wall was torn down by East German border guards and residents.

A man waves the German national flag under the gaze of East-German border guards on top of the Berlin Wall, Berlin, Germany, November 10, 1989. Photo by Colin Campbell/Getty ImagesSource: BritannicaThe Queen witnessed the birth of the World Wide Web, created by Tim Berners-Lee, in 1989. He invented it to connect scientists around the world while working at CERN – the European Organization for Nuclear Research in Switzerland.

CERN, the European Nuclear Research Center (CERN), in Geneva, Switzerland, where the World Wide Web was born. Photo by Pallava Bagla/Corbis via Getty ImagesSource: CERNIn 1994, Nelson Mandela was elected South Africa’s first president after the collapse of apartheid in 1990. He was elected by the South African National Assembly after the African National Congress’s (ANC) victory on May 10, 1994.

ANC leader Nelson Mandela on the campaign trail during South Africa’s first democratic elections on April 16, 1994, in Ladysmith, Kwazulu Natal, South Africa. Photo by Andy Hall/Getty ImagesSource: Wilson CenterDiana, Princess of Wales died in a car accident in Paris on August 31, 1997. Her body was returned to lie in the chapel at St James’s Palace until the funeral at Westminster Abbey on September 6.

Queen Elizabeth stands with a priest at the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, seven days after she was killed in an automobile accident in Paris. Photo by Peter Turnley/Corbis/VCG via Getty ImagesSource: Westminster AbbeyThe Queen broke royal protocol to honor the victims of the September 11 attacks by allowing the American anthem to play during Buckingham Palace’s Changing of the Guard on September 13, 2001. The Queen at St Paul’s Cathedral after a memorial service for the victims of the World Trade Center twin tower attacks.

Photo by Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty ImagesSource: The TelegraphThe Queen formally declared the games open at The London 2012 Summer Olympics, after participating in a comedy sketch with Daniel Craig as James Bond. Queen Elizabeth II (right) and Jacques Rogge (left), President of the International Olympic Committee, attend the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games. Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty ImagesSource: OlympicsShe also witnessed 52% of the UK vote to leave the European Union on June 23, 2016, after the EU Referendum, which became known as Brexit.

Eddie Izzard (center), human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell (second left), and anti-Brexit activist Madeleina Kay (far left) lead the second pro-EU “March for Europe” through central London. Photo by David Cliff/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty ImagesSource: BBCOn March 23, 2020, the UK went into its first national lockdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. On April 5, the Queen addressed the nation in a coronavirus broadcast via the BBC.

Soldiers and private contractors help to prepare ExCel London, which was made into the temporary NHS Nightingale hospital. WPA Pool/Getty ImagesSource: Institute for Government, BBCThe Queen sat alone at her husband Prince Philip’s funeral at St George’s Chapel on April 17, 2021, due to COVID-19 restrictions at the time. Philip, who died aged 99, was the longest-serving British consort in history.

Her Majesty the Queen sits alone in St George’s Chapel at her husband’s funeral. JONATHAN BRADY/POOL/AFP via Getty ImagesSource: InsiderIn June, months before her death in September, the Queen observed her 70-year reign with a Platinum Jubilee weekend of celebrations in London. The Royal Family watching the fly-past at Trooping the Colour.

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