Queen Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901)
Was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India.
Victoria was the daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, the fourth son of King George III. Both the Duke of Kent and the King died in 1820, and Victoria was raised under close supervision by her German-born mother Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld.
She inherited the throne at the age of 18, after her father's three elder brothers had all died without surviving legitimate issue. The United Kingdom was already an established constitutional monarchy, in which the Sovereign held relatively few direct political powers. Privately, she attempted to influence government policy and ministerial appointments. Publicly, she became a national icon, and was identified with strict standards of personal morality.
She married her first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, in 1840. Their nine children and 26 of their 34 grandchildren who survived childhood married into royal and noble families across the continent, tying them together and earning her the nickname "the grandmother of Europe". After Albert's death in 1861, Victoria plunged into deep mourning and avoided public appearances. As a result of her seclusion, republicanism temporarily gained strength, but in the latter half of her reign, her popularity recovered. Her Golden and Diamond Jubilees were times of public celebration.
Her reign of 63 years and 7 months, which is longer than that of any other British monarch and the longest of any female monarch in history, is known as the Victorian era. It was a period of industrial, cultural, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom, and was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire. She was the last British monarch of the House of Hanover; her son and successor Edward VII belonged to the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the line of his father.
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In the United Kingdom, Father's Day is celebrated on the third Sunday in June and therefore the date of the festival is never fixed. Many countries around the world celebrate Fathers Day, though not neccessarly on this date. Father's Day is one of those days where everyone gets a chance to honour his or her own father in a special way. This holiday has an interesting history which started many, many years ago. However, the holiday remains a very special day for those with fathers in their lives.
Sons and Daughters celebrate the occasion by honoring their father and expressing affection for them by presenting popular gifts like cards, flowers, chocolates and neckties. Young children often give handmade gifts to their Dad.
Earliest History of Father's Day
Scholars believe that the origin of Father's Day is not a latest phenomenon, as many believe it to be. Rather they claim that the tradition of Father's Day can be traced in the ruins of Babylon. They have recorded that a young boy called Elmesu carved a Father's Day message on a card made out of clay nearly 4,000 years ago. Elmesu wished his Babylonian father good health and a long life. Though there is no record of what happened to Elmesu and his father but the tradition of celebrating Father's Day remained in several countries all over the world.
Present Day
Father's Day is a celebration of fathers inaugurated in the early twentieth century to complement Mother's Day in celebrating fatherhood and male parenting.
After the success obtained by Anna Jarvis with the promotion of Mother's Day in the US, some wanted to create a similar holidays for other family members, and Father's Day was the choice most likely to succeed. There were other persons in the US who independently thought of "Father's Day", but the credit for the modern holiday is always given to Sonora Dodd.
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D-Day 6th June 1944 - We Shall Remember Them!
The Normandy landings, codenamed Operation Neptune, were the landing operations of the Allied invasion of Normandy, in Operation Overlord, during World War II.
The landings commenced on Tuesday, June 6, 1944 (D-Day), beginning at 6:30 AM British Double Summer Time (GMT+2). In planning, D-Day was the term used for the day of actual landing, which was dependent on final approval.
The landings were conducted in two phases: an airborne assault landing of 24,000 British, American, Canadian and Free French airborne troops shortly after midnight, and an amphibious landing of Allied infantry and armoured divisions on the coast of France starting at 6:30 AM. There were also decoy operations under the codenames Operation Glimmer and Operation Taxable to distract the German forces from the real landing areas.
Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces was General Dwight Eisenhower while overall command of ground forces (21st Army Group) was given to General Bernard Montgomery. The operation, planned by a team under Lieutenant-General Frederick Morgan, was the largest amphibious invasion in world history and was executed by land, sea, and air elements under direct British command with over 160,000[6] troops landing on June 6, 1944. 195,700Allied naval and merchant navy personnel in over 5,000 ships were involved. The invasion required the transport of soldiers and material from the United Kingdom by troop-laden aircraft and ships, the assault landings, air support, naval interdiction of the English Channel and naval fire-support. The landings took place along a 50-mile (80 km) stretch of the Normandy coast divided into five sectors: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword.
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60 years of The Queen's reign
The Queen came to the throne on 6 February 1952 and her coronation took place on 2 June 1953.
She celebrated her Silver Jubilee (25 years) in 1977 and her Golden Jubilee (50 years) in 2002.
Jubilee Weekend
The central weekend, 2-5 June
Communities all around the country will be celebrating over an extended bank holiday weekend, and there will be many ways to get involved in local events.
Events are planned across the UK over the next four days to mark 60 years since the Queen came to the throne. Last-minute preparations are under way for the many street parties, outdoor concerts and fairs being staged for the royal celebration.
Family History UK would like to congratulate the Queen on her 60 years on the throne.
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Families from Cutty Sark's history traced for reunion
Descendants of shipbuilders, sailors and captains who worked on the Cutty Sark are to gather on board the famous tea clipper in the largest reunion of families who have been involved in the vessel's history.
It is almost 143 years since Sophie Kennedy Clark's great-great-great grandfather saw the completion of his most famous ship.
Hercules Linton's design for the Cutty Sark allowed the tea clipper to become the fastest vessel of its time, capable of even outrunning the more advanced steam ships that had begun to take to the seas.
Now his descendant, an actress and model who appears in the latest Johnny Depp film Dark Shadows, will set foot on his ship for the first time to take part in the largest ever reunion of the families of the men and women who built and sailed the vessel.
Researchers have traced 400 living descendants of crew members, captains and shipwrights who worked on the Cutty Sark and at least 170 of them will be brought together for the first time on board the vessel at an event to mark the completion of an five year restoration of the ship.
"It is going to be like a giant family gathering of people I didn't know existed," said Miss Kennedy Clark, 20, who has modelled as the face of Burberry and has appeared alongside David Tennant in the TV drama Single Father.
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VE Day - End of the war - Rejoice!
After five years, eight months, and five days of massive devastation, the end of the European phase of World War II was celebrated.Victory in Europe was commemorated with celebrations all around the world in recognition of the unconditional surrender of all German forces signed in Reims, France, the previous day.
Rejoicing at end of war in Europe
The Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, has officially announced the end of the war with Germany.
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 The London Daily Mirror, May, 8, 1945
On March 7, 1945, the Western Allies—whose chief commanders in the field were Omar N. Bradley and Bernard Law Montgomery—crossed the Rhine after having smashed through the strongly fortified Siegfried Line and overran West Germany. The German collapse came after the meeting (Apr. 25) of the Western and Russian armies at Torgau in Saxony, and after Hitler's death amid the ruins of Berlin, which was falling to the Russians under marshals Zhukov and Konev. The unconditional surrender of Germany was signed at Rheims on May 7 and ratified at Berlin on May 8.
May 8 marks the formal celebration of the Allies' victory in Europe during World War II
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Banns of marriagea proclamation of intended marriage , repeated three times at weekly intervals in the parish churches of both the bride and bridegroom. To dispense with banns required a marriage licence. Both banns and licences were valid for 3 months. In 1753 , Hardwicke's Marriage Act brought Banns Registers into regular use, sometimes in separate books, sometimes in the parish marriage registers.A comparatively small number of Banns Books survive, the requirement to register banns continued until 1812. A banns record by itself is of course no guarantee that the marriage itself actually took place. People could always change their minds at the last minute, or parents might have stepped in to stopped minors marrying, or previous spouses have come forward to prevent a bigamous marriage, the list goes on. Marriages are sometimes said to take place " by certificate", before 1837 that would likely mean that one party came from another parish and had to provide written evidence[a certificate] that the banns had properly been called in the other parish too, and no objection made. After 1837 it may refer to a Registrar's certificate issued after notice of the intended marriage had been posted for the requisite 3 weeks in the RO, and when the marriage subsequently took place in a church. 
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