45 years ago today
Charles and Diana's Wedding Watched by 750 Million
On July 29, 1981, Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer married at St Paul's Cathedral in London in what was billed as a fairy-tale wedding watched by an estimated 750 million television viewers worldwide — one of the largest audiences in broadcasting history at the time. Diana arrived in a carriage in a billowing silk-taffeta gown with a 25-foot train, and the ceremony was broadcast in 74 countries. The marriage would prove deeply unhappy; the couple separated in 1992 and divorced in 1996, and Diana died in a Paris car crash in 1997. Yet the spectacle of that July morning remained embedded in the cultural memory of an entire generation.
This day, across time
- 1588EventEnglish Fleet Defeats the Spanish Armada at Gravelines
- 1805BornAlexis de Tocqueville
- 1836EventArc de Triomphe Inaugurated in Paris
- 1858EventU.S. and Japan Sign the Harris Treaty
- 1883BornBenito Mussolini
- 1890DiedVincent van Gogh
- 1900EventKing Umberto I of Italy Assassinated
- 1905BornDag Hammarskjöld
- 1905BornClara Bow
- 1948EventLondon Olympics Open After 12-Year Hiatus
- 1958EventNASA Established by President Eisenhower
- 1974DiedCass Elliot
- 1981FeaturedCharles and Diana's Wedding Watched by 750 Million
- 1983DiedDavid Niven
- 2005EventDwarf Planet Eris Announced
Alive in 1981
OverlapSame years; not influence
Deng Xiaopingturned 77 this year
Emmanuel Levinasturned 75 this year
Kofi Annanturned 43 this year
Margaret Thatcherturned 56 this year
Mother Teresaturned 71 this year
Nelson Mandelaturned 63 this year
Ronald Reaganturned 70 this year
Steve Jobsturned 26 this year
Wangari Maathaiturned 41 this year
On This Day in History
8 EventsEnglish Fleet Defeats the Spanish Armada at Gravelines
The English navy under Lord Howard of Effingham and Sir Francis Drake decisively defeated Philip II's Spanish Armada in the Battle of Gravelines, scattering the fleet that had been intended to escort an invasion force to England. Combined with the storms that followed, the battle ended Spain's attempt to overthrow Elizabeth I.
Arc de Triomphe Inaugurated in Paris
Napoleon had ordered the construction of the Arc de Triomphe in 1806 to honour his Grand Army, but it was not completed until 30 years later under Louis-Philippe. The great arch stands at the centre of twelve radiating avenues and has since become the most iconic monument in Paris.
U.S. and Japan Sign the Harris Treaty
The Harris Treaty (Treaty of Amity and Commerce) opened additional Japanese ports to American trade and granted extraterritoriality to U.S. citizens in Japan, accelerating the opening of Japan to the Western world that had begun with Commodore Perry's arrival five years earlier.
King Umberto I of Italy Assassinated
Italian King Umberto I was shot four times by anarchist Gaetano Bresci in Monza, dying almost instantly. Bresci had sailed from New Jersey specifically to avenge the victims of a military massacre in Milan two years earlier.
London Olympics Open After 12-Year Hiatus
The Summer Olympic Games opened in London's Wembley Stadium, the first Games since Berlin in 1936. Nicknamed the "Austerity Games," they were held in a city still rebuilding from the Blitz, with athletes housed in military barracks and rationing still in effect across Britain.
NASA Established by President Eisenhower
President Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, creating NASA and committing the United States to a civilian space programme — a direct response to the Soviet launch of Sputnik the previous year. NASA would go on to land humans on the Moon eleven years later.
Royal Wedding of Charles and Diana
Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer at St Paul's Cathedral before an estimated 750 million television viewers worldwide, making it one of the most-watched broadcasts in history.
Dwarf Planet Eris Announced
Astronomers announced the discovery of Eris, a distant trans-Neptunian object larger than Pluto, which triggered a scientific debate about the definition of a planet and led directly to Pluto's reclassification as a dwarf planet in 2006.
Born on This Day
Benito Mussolini
Italian dictator and Fascist leader
Mussolini founded the Fascist movement in Italy and ruled as Il Duce from 1922 until his overthrow in 1943. His alliance with Hitler and catastrophic military campaigns in Africa and Greece brought Italy to ruin. He was captured and executed by Italian partisans in April 1945.
Alexis de Tocqueville
French historian and political philosopher
Tocqueville's Democracy in America (1835–40), written after a nine-month tour of the United States, remains one of the most penetrating analyses of American society and democracy ever produced. His insights into individualism, majority tyranny, and civic life anticipate debates that continue to this day.
Dag Hammarskjöld
UN Secretary-General, Nobel Peace Prize laureate
Hammarskjöld served as the second UN Secretary-General from 1953 until his death in a plane crash over Africa in 1961 while mediating the Congo Crisis. He is widely regarded as the greatest Secretary-General in UN history. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize posthumously.
Clara Bow
American actress, the "It Girl"
Bow was the defining star of silent film in the late 1920s and the embodiment of the "flapper" era, starring in 46 silent films and 11 talkies. Her 1927 film It gave rise to the phrase "It girl," and she became one of the most recognisable women in the world.
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Vincent van Gogh
Dutch Post-Impressionist painter
Van Gogh died two days after shooting himself in a wheatfield at Auvers-sur-Oise, with his brother Theo at his bedside. His last words were reportedly "The sadness will last forever." He was 37 years old and had sold just one painting in his lifetime.
Cass Elliot
American singer, The Mamas & the Papas
"Mama" Cass Elliot died of heart failure in a London flat at 32, at the height of her solo career following the break-up of The Mamas & the Papas. Her powerful contralto voice had defined some of the most beloved pop songs of the 1960s, including California Dreamin'.
David Niven
English actor and author
Niven — soldier, Hollywood star, and raconteur — died of motor neurone disease at 73. His elegant wit and charm defined a certain ideal of British sophistication on screen. His memoir The Moon's a Balloon became one of the bestselling autobiographies of the 20th century.
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