Queen Victoria was born in 1819 at Kensington Palace in London. She was christened Alexandrina Victoria after her godfather, Alexander I of Russia. Her Grandfather was George III and her reign began when her uncle, King William IV, died in 1837. She was crowned at Westminster on 28th June 1838.

Victoria was only 18 years old when she came to the throne. Until then, there had been a succession of old Kings who were rather unpopular with the British people. Victoria was different because, apart from being very young, she was extremely interested in her country and wanted to do her very best.

Victoria married her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg, in 1840. Parliament wouldn’t allow him to be her King, but he was given the title of Prince Consort instead. Victoria loved Albert very much. He was both her husband and her best friend, and they had five sons and four daughters together.

Prince Albert and Queen Victoria were very interested in the great inventions and discoveries taking place in the middle of the 19th century. A huge glass building was erected in Hyde Park containing an exhibition to celebrate this. This building was known as the Crystal Palace and was later moved to South London. Today, there is a whole area in South London known as Crystal Palace.

In 1861, Prince Albert caught typhoid and died. Victoria was so upset that she hid away for more than ten years in seclusion at her various palaces. She lost interest in her duties and dressed in black while she mourned, only venturing out to open the various memorials built for her beloved husband.

While he was alive, Prince Albert planned to create one large site in London to represent achievements in the Arts and Sciences.

Queen Victoria opened a spectacular building called the Royal Albert Hall in South Kensington, London, in his memory. By the end of her reign this site also contained the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Science Museum and the Natural History Museum, together with the Imperial College, the Royal Geographical Society and the Royal Colleges of Music and Art.

She also unveiled the elaborate Albert Memorial on the edge of Kensington Gardens opposite the Royal Albert Hall. It was made using gold leaf, lots of marble and semi-precious stones. In recent years, it has been restored and was unveiled by Queen Elizabeth II in 1998.

Queen Victoria lost some popularity while she was mourning her husband, as she was not seen to be working for the British people, but she won back their love for her when she later resumed her duties and the nation celebrated her long reign with her Diamond Jubilee in 1897, marking 60 years on the throne.

Queen Victoria died at Osborne, her royal home on the Isle of Wight, on 22nd January 1901. She was 81 years old and had been on the throne for 63 years. She was buried next to Prince Albert at Windsor.

Here is a list of some of the great Inventions, Developments and Discoveries that changed the world during Queen Victoria’s reign.
1. The Telephone from Alexander Graham Bell
2. The Radio from Marconi
3. The Sewing Machine from Isaac Singer
4. The development of Railways by Victorian Engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel
5. The Pedal Bicycle from Scottish Blacksmith Kirkpatrick MacMillan
6. The development of the Car by Karl Benz
7. The Electric Light and the Record Player from Thomas Edison
8. The theory of Evolution from Charles Darwin
9. The discovery of Radiation by Marie Curie
10. The development of Photography by William Fox Talbot
11. The discovery of the Doppler Effect by Christian Johann Doppler
12. James Nasmyth’s Steam Hammer
14. The early use of Chloroform by Doctor James Simpson
15. Robert Wilhelm Bunsen, a German chemist, invented the Bunsen Burner
16. Henry Bessemer converted Iron into Steel
17. James Joule discovered how to measure Heat
18. The Typewriter was invented by Londoner Christopher Sholes
19. Joseph Swan invented the Light Bulb
20. Florence Nightingale established good Hospital Practice both home and abroad