Trivia 023: An Anniversary to Remember

Hey there folks. This week’s trivia is a little short, but I have padded it out by including three small bits of trivia, all related to each other.

This week, Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her platinum jubilee as crown head of England. This year marks her 70th anniversary since taking the crown. As a result, celebrations were held all over the United Kingdom and its various overseas territories. At this point, Queen Elizabeth II is now the longest-reigning current monarch of a state. Or, to put it more specifically, she 1st, 2nd, 6th, 10th – 14th, and 16th – 18th longest-reigning monarch. After all, she is no longer technically the monarch of countries such as Papua New Guinea, though they still celebrated.

However, this only puts her at #3 on the list of all-time longest-reigning monarchs. The #1 spot goes to the Sun King himself, Louis XIV of France, who ruled for a whopping 72 years and 110 days. And #2 is Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand, who reigned for 70 years and 126 days. At 70 years, 123 days (as of this writing), Elizabeth II will soon claim the #2 spot, and we’ll see if she makes it to #1. Louis XIV ascended to the throne when he was only 5 years old, and lived to be 77. Meanwhile, Elizabeth took the throne when she was already 25 years old, and is currently 96.

This being her 70th anniversary, it is celebrated as the “platinum” jubilee. Should she make it to 75, it will be the diamond and gold anniversary. This comes to us from a list of traditional anniversary gifts in the US and UK. But as with many “traditions”, the list comes to us largely thanks to the American National Retail Jewelers Association. So, you know, it’s not so much ancient history so much as it is capitalism. Same with birthstones.

And finally, did you know that you can order a free greeting from the White House to celebrate certain events? All you have to do is fill out a form online, and (as long as you’re a citizen and follow the procedure) they’ll send a greeting signed by the President. So there’s something I’m going to try to get people as much as possible.

And that’ll do it for today’s triple threat. If you know anyone who would like to receive these, please have them send an email to [email protected]. And if you don’t want three times the trivia let me know and I can take you off the list.