Queen Elizabeth II has died at 96. She was Britain’s longest-reigning monarch in history.

 Queen Elizabeth II has died at 96. She was Britain’s longest-reigning monarch in history.

She has witnessed:- World War II - Cold War -The independence of British colonies - The collapse of the Soviet Union - 9/11 attacks - Brexit - The death of the Soviet Union’s final leader Mikhail Gorbachev (last week),-- The rise of China and India (India surpassed the UK to be the world’s 5th largest economy this week).-- And what else?

She became Queen on 1952 at the age of 26, at a time when the Cold War began. Her coronation ceremony was the first to be broadcast live on television. Over 27 million people in UK watched the ceremony.

At a time when the British Empire’s global influence declined amid decolonization after World War II, she helped build “special relationships” between the UK and its former territories or colonies by founding the Commonwealth of Nations. Countries like South Africa and India remained in the special ties with the UK for decades, and countries like Canada, Australia, and New Zealand accept Queen Elizabeth as their head of state.

In 1980s, over 40 countries, formerly part of the British Empire, have gained independence during the queen’s reign. Most of them did not recognize Queen as their head of state.

In late 1984, the UK agreed to return Hong Kong to China beginning July 1, 1997.

In 1986, Elizabeth became the first British monarch to visit the Chinese mainland. She toured in Xi’an’s army of terracotta warriors, climbed the Great Wall in Beijing, and visited Kunming, Guangzhou, and Shanghai.

The Queen is the best travelled monarch. She has travelled over 1,032,513 miles as Queen, equivalent to 42 journeys around the entire circumference of the Earth.