Pop History Moment: The Delhi Durbar Was Held

On this day in 1911 King George V and Queen Mary were enthroned as Emperor and Empress of India, in commemoration of which 26,800 medals bearing their combined image (just like the one shown above) were struck...

Not only were Their Majesties the first British sovereigns to receive their titles in person, a film made of the Durbar itself was the first colour film ever made. Entitled With Our King and Queen Through India, the film was shot using the Kinemacolor process and was released theatrically in February 1912.
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Pop History Moment: The House Of Windsor Was Born

On this day in 1917, England's King George V declared the House of Windsor in response to the anti-German sentiment then afoot in England, owing to all that unpleasantness we now know as the First World War; formerly the royal family had gone by the name Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and was itself a rather illustrious branch of the House of Wettin.

Luckily, I was able to find this Punch cartoon online to demonstrate what the King was trying to do; July 17th - you may remember, going all the way back to this day's POPnews - is also the anniversary of the founding of that venerable publication. In its typically harrumphing style, the cartoon is entitled A Good Riddance.

Probably the most famous quip associated with the announcement belongs to that noted wit, German Kaiser William II, who said when told of the change, he was looking forward to going to the theatre to see Shakespeare's play The Merry Wives of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha*.

*So funny... My sides... Stop it Kaiser Bill, you're killing me...
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