1952: Elizabeth II succeeds her father George VI to the throne. During her reign the British Empire will decline from forty nations to no more than twelve with Elizabeth having a voice only in England.

Today: Elizabeth n is celebrating twenty-five years as England's queen. For the monarch, the scandals of her royal children have caused many of her subjects to question the expense of maintaining a royal household.

1952: Britain tests an atomic bomb on October 2, thus joining the United States and the Soviet Union as a nuclear power.

Today: Testing of nuclear weapons has been banned by most developed countries, and a greater awareness of the ecological damage and health risks inherent in testing leads to increasing pressure on the remaining nations who still test nuclear bombs to cease their testing.

1952: Jonas Edward Salk tests a vaccine designed to combat the epidemic of polio...