Elizabeth and Victoria:
Two Queens, Two Worlds

Queen Elizabeth II became the longest-reigning British monarch in 2015, beating the time spent on the throne by her great great grandmother Queen Victoria. Scroll down through parallel timelines of events during each of their lives.

Queen Victoria

1837 - 1901

Queen Elizabeth

1952 - Present

Coronation
1838
The UK lands on Hong Kong island and raises the Union Jack
1841
The planet Neptune is discovered
1841
The Pre-Raphaelites, a group of influential artists, first meet
1846
The Charge of the Light Brigade during the Crimean War
1854
Charles Darwin publishes "On the Origin of Species"
1859
Coronation
1953
Sudan gains independence from the UK
1956
Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first man in space
1961
The Beatles release their debut album "Please Please Me"
1963
Protests in the U.S, Europe against the Vietnam War
1968
The Rubik's Cube is invented by Erno Rubik
1974
Victor Hugo's novel "Les Miserables" is published
1862
Alexander Graham Bell invents the first working telephone
1872
Queen Victoria is crowned Empress of India
1877
The Statue of Liberty is dedicated in New York
1886
Punk anthem "God Save the Queen" released by the Sex Pistols
1977
Tim Berners-Lee invents the World Wide Web
1989
Queen Elizabeth's "annus horribilis": Windsor Castle fire, royal separations
1992
9/11 attacks on New York and Washington, D.C.
2001
Sherlock Holmes makes his debut in "A Study in Scarlet"
1887
New Zealand becomes the first country to give women the vote
1893
The first Olympic Games of the modern era open in Athens
1896
The first "Harry Potter" movie sweeps cinemas worldwide
2001
Barack Obama is elected as the first black U.S. president
2008
London Olympics: The Queen's stunt double parachutes into the stadium
2012