On June 28, the 18-year-old Queen Victoria was crowned as monarch of the United Kingdom and Ireland in London’s Westminster Abbey. Some 400,000 visitors flocked to the city to witness the historic event, riding a worldwide wave of popular enthusiasm for the young queen. She would rule until her death in 1901, becoming the longest reigning monarch in British history. At the time Victoria took the throne, the role that Buckingham Palace’s chief resident should play in British politics had become unclear, and the ongoing existence of the monarchy was by no means certain. Victoria’s rule would change that--during her long reign, Britain made its transition to a constitutional monarchy, even as Victoria’s influence on British society ensured the continuance of the crown itself. One hundred and seventy-five years after her coronation, explore a few facts about the queen who lent her name to an era.

• April 25, 1845 - Queen Victoria declares Fredericton, New Brunswick, a city, in spite of its population of only 4,000; ancient ecclesiastical law required that the center of any new diocese must be a city. Windsor, England