Every Major World Event That Happened During The Queen's Reign

Queen Elizabeth II ruled for seven decades — making her the longest-reigning monarch in British history. And during that time she saw the world go through an incredible amount of change. Wars, political strife, scientific breakthroughs, assassinations, natural disasters, and financial crises: you name it, she lived through it. In truth, it’s humbling to list every major world event that happened during her reign. The Queen really did see it all!

1. The world’s first commercial jet service

Elizabeth had been on the throne for less than three months when the first entry on our list occurred. On May 2, 1952, the world’s first commercial flight took place. The British Overseas Airways Corporation commissioned a de Havilland Comet aeroplane to fly paying customers from London to Johannesburg, and the path toward air travel as we know it today began.

Problems with the Comet

These Comet planes were a lot more spacious and comfortable than most commercial planes today — they only carried between 36 and 44 passengers, yet were the size of Boeing 737s! Unfortunately, problems with the Comets persisted throughout the ’50s, and the very plane which made that first commercial flight crashed on January 10, 1954. Tragically, there were no survivors.

2. Discovery of DNA’s double-helix structure

In 1953 two scientists made a discovery they dubbed “the secret of life.” James Watson and Francis Crick, from King’s College in London, had identified the double-helix structure of human cells. Their discovery was also known as the deoxyribonucleic molecule — or DNA! Genetic engineering, molecular biology, exploring the human genome — it all sprang from this breakthrough.

Controversy over credit

Crick was awarded the Queen’s Medal for his work, and Watson won a Nobel Prize. Over the years, though, it’s come to light that their work expanded upon that of a colleague who never received their level of credit. Rosalind Franklin was an expert in X-ray diffraction and had taken images which showed DNA protein structure as a helix. It’s claimed these pictures were secretly shown to Crick and Watson by her students.