Queen Elizabeth II has now spent 63 years, 7 months on the throne — surpassing her great-great grandmother, Queen Victoria, as Britain's longest-serving monarch. Her reign started when Winston Churchill was British Prime Minister and Harry Truman was President of the United States. When she became Britain's longest-serving monarch today, she was typically modest, addressing a crowd at the opening of the Borders Railway in Scotland. "Although it is not one to which I have ever aspired, inevitably a long life can pass by many milestones. My own is no exception. But I thank you all and the many others at home and overseas, for your touching messages of great kindness."
Tom Sykes is editor of the Royalist blog for the Daily Beast.