What the world was like when Queen Elizabeth was born

Matthew WilsonApr 16, 2020, 00:21 IST

Queen Elizabeth.Samir Hussein/Hulton Deutsch/Getty Images

The world was quite different in 1926 when Queen Elizabeth II was born.
At the time, Calvin Coolidge was the US president and Stanley Baldwin was the British prime minister.
There were an estimated 2 billion people alive in the world at the time, compared to the more than 7.5 billion today.
Women in the UK did not yet have the same voting rights as men.
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When Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor — the future Queen Elizabeth II — was born in 1926, the world was quite a different place.

Calvin Coolidge was still the president of the United States. There were an estimated 2 billion people in the world at the time — far fewer than the 7.5 billion alive today — and the average US worker was paid around 75 cents an hour.

A viral epidemic was coming to an end, and Prohibition was still in effect in the US. Inventions, such as the television, were on the cusp of changing the world.

To celebrate the Queen's upcoming 94th birthday, take a look at what the world was like when she was born.

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The famous red K2 telephone box was introduced around London in 1926.

When the future Queen was about 6 months old, the first volume of "Winnie-the-Pooh" was published by A. A. Milne.

The same year the Queen was born, mystery novelist Agatha Christie was involved in a real life disappearance.

The Great Stork Derby was held in Toronto, Canada, where women competed to have the most babies.

In 1926, General Motors introduced the Pontiac brand of automobiles.

In September 1926, a Category 4 hurricane ravaged Miami, Florida.

A viral epidemic was coming to an end the same year that the Queen was born.

The famous Harry Houdini also died at the age of 52 from an appendicitis.

That year, silent actor Rudolph Valentino passed away at 31 from appendicitis complications, causing chaos among his fans.

The Queen shares her birth year with celebrities like Playboy mogul Hugh Hefner and Hollywood legend Marilyn Monroe.

Germany and Russia signed a neutrality agreement, the Treaty of Berlin.

In Japan, Hirohito was crowned emperor.

NBC started broadcasting in 1926.

The US began work on the interstate Route 66 that year.

... and Gertrude "Trudy" Ederle became the first woman to swim the English Channel.

... scientist Robert Goddard launched the first successful liquid fuel rocket ...

In 1926, John Logie Baird gave the first public demonstration of a television ...

Construction on the Empire State Building wouldn't begin for another four years.

Women had only recently won the right to vote in US elections. It would be two more years before women in the UK had the same voting rights as men.

Prohibition was still in effect across America, banning the manufacture and sale of alcohol.

... and Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin was in his second term in the United Kingdom.

Calvin Coolidge was halfway through his term as US president ...

Ford Motors became one of the first companies to issue a 40-hour, five-day workweek.

... and the average American worker earned 75 cents an hour.

A loaf of bread cost just 9 cents ...

When she was born, the world's population was around 2 billion people, almost a quarter of the population today.

Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor — the future Queen Elizabeth II — was born on April 21, 1926.

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