Bow down because Queen Elizabeth II just made history. No, really, you do need to genuflect, should you ever cross the monarch's path.
On Sunday, Feb. 6, Her Majesty marked 70 years on the throne. On this day, back in 1952, the then-25-year-old royal was on a Commonwealth tour in Kenya with new husband Prince Philip when she learned her father, King George VI, had died. Suddenly, Princess Elizabeth was Queen and her entire life had royally changed.
Formally proclaimed queen at an Accession Council session held at St. James's Palace in London later that day, it would be more than a year until she was officially coronated with that nearly five-pound crown in a June 2 ceremony at Westminster Abbey. But she felt the weight immediately, the then-27-year-old mom to Prince Charles, 4, and Princess Anne, 2, instantly assuming her new duties and life of service.
A year-long Platinum Jubilee celebration will be held in the U.K., the Commonwealth and around the world to mark the anniversary, making the queen the first British monarch to reach this major milestone.
And we're certainly celebrating across the pond, honoring her 70 years with 70 facts about Her Majesty and her reign.