Mary of Teck (1867–1953) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Empress of India as the consort of King-Emperor George V. At the age of 24 she was betrothed to Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale, the heir to the British throne, but six weeks after the engagement was announced he unexpectedly died of pneumonia. The following year she became engaged to the new heir, Albert Victor's brother, George. As his queen consort from 1910, she supported her husband through World War I, his ill-health, and major political changes arising from the aftermath of the war and the rise of socialism and nationalism. After George's death in 1936, her eldest son Edward became King-Emperor, but to her dismay he abdicated the same year in order to marry twice-divorced American socialite Mrs. Wallis Simpson. She supported her second son, Albert, who succeeded to the throne as George VI, until his death in 1952. She died the following year, at the beginning of the reign of her granddaughter, Elizabeth II. Queen Mary was known for setting the tone of the British Royal Family, as a model of regal formality and propriety, especially during state occasions.
Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_of_Teck
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1154:
Henry II was crowned King of England in London's Westminster Abbey. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_II_of_England
1843:
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens , a novella about the miser Ebenezer Scrooge and his conversion after being visited by three Christmas ghosts, was first published. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Christmas_Carol
1920:
Constantine I returned as King of the Hellenes after the death of his son Alexander I and a plebiscite. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_I_of_Greece
1984:
The People's Republic of China and the United Kingdom signed the Sino-British Joint Declaration, agreeing to the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong to China on 1 July 1997. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-British_Joint_Declaration
1997:
The film Titanic was released, eventually becoming the highest-grossing film of all time with a worldwide total of over US$1.8 billion. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanic_%281997_film%29
1998:
The U.S. House of Representatives passed articles of impeachment against President Bill Clinton over the Lewinsky scandal. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impeachment_of_Bill_Clinton
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
contiguous (adj): 1. Connected; touching; abutting. 2. Adjacent; neighbouring. 3. Connecting without a break http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/contiguous
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
After the final no there comes a yes
And on that yes the future world depends. --Wallace Stevens http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wallace_Stevens