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>
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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>
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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>
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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>
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