What happened on this day in history? We round up the events, births and deaths that happened this week…
Featured anniversary | 10 February 1840
Queen Victoria marries Prince Albert
The ceremony was held at St James’s Palace – “very imposing, and fine and simple”, wrote Victoria. Unusually for brides of the time, she wore a white dress, a symbol not so much of purity than of wealth, which proved immensely influential. Given her royal position, the archbishop of Canterbury had suggested leaving out the vow to ‘obey’ her husband. But she insisted on keeping it in.
Why we should remember
Historians consider key anniversaries and why they should be remembered
Why we should remember... When the paper poppy became a symbol of remembrance
Why we should remember... The day Walt Disney World Resort in Florida welcomed its first guests
Why we should remember... The pioneering use of ether
Why we should remember… the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent
Why we should remember… the first Partition of Poland
Why we should remember… The 19th amendment
Why we should remember… Direct Action Day
Why we should remember… The battle of the Bogside
Why we should remember… Rosalind Franklin’s pioneering scientific career
Why we should remember… The plot to assassinate Hitler and install a new German government
Why we should remember The Roswell Incident
Why we should remember The launch of the swimsuit that scandalised the world
Why we should remember… When Spanish conquistadors were forced to flee the Aztec capital
Why we should remember… The 1969 raid on the Stonewall Inn
Why we should remember… Richard Nixon's war on drugs
Why we should remember… Charles Babbage's Difference Engine
Why we should remember… How Chanel No 5 revolutionised the beauty business
Why we should remember… Target Zero Day
Why we should remember… the Amnesty Act of 1872
