Independence Day (United States)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day_(United_States)
Independence Day of the United States, also referred to as Fourth of July or July Fourth in the USA, is a federal holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, the date on which the United States formally separated from Great Britain. Independence Day is commonly associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, fairs, picnics, concerts, baseball games, family reunions, and political speeches and ceremonies, in addition to various other public and private events celebrating the history, government, and traditions of the United States. Independence Day is the National Day of the United States. Independence Day itself has nothing to do with the military, or soldiers
During the American Revolution, the legal separation of the Thirteen Colonies from Great Britain occurred on July 2, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence that had been proposed in June by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia declaring the United States independent from Great Britain. After voting for independence, Congress turned its attention to the Declaration of Independence, a statement explaining this decision, which had been prepared by a Committee of Five, with Thomas Jefferson as its principal author. Congress debated and revised the wording of the Declaration, finally approving it on July 4. A day earlier, John Adams had written to his wife Abigail:
The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.
Adams's prediction was off by two days. From the outset, Americans celebrated independence on July 4, the date shown on the much-publicized Declaration of Independence, rather than on July 2, the date the resolution of independence was approved in a closed session of Congress.
Historians have long disputed whether Congress actually signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, even though Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin all later wrote that they had signed it on that day. Most historians have concluded that the Declaration was signed nearly a month after its adoption, on August 2, 1776, and not on July 4 as is commonly believed.
Coincidentally, both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the only signers of the Declaration of Independence later to serve as Presidents of the United States, died on the same day: July 4, 1826, which was the 50th anniversary of the Declaration. Although not a signer of the Declaration of Independence, but another Founding Father who became a President, James Monroe, died on July 4, 1831, thus becoming the third President in a row who died on the holiday. Calvin Coolidge, the 30th President, was born on July 4, 1872, and, so far, is the only U.S. President to have been born on Independence Day.
Catching Up with The Curator: The Presidential Portrait of John F. Kennedy
https://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/2015/05/29/catching-curator-presidential-portrait-john-f-kennedy
Go Inside the White House with Curator, Bill Allman, as he discusses the inspiration behind the presidential portrait of the 35th President, John Fitzgerald Kennedy.
June 2015: Photo of the Day
https://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/photogallery/june-2015-photo-day
Independence day of USA
https://www.google.hr/search?q=Independence+day+of+USA&client=opera&hs=tlF&sa=X&biw=1745&bih=857&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&ei=phaWVfW2KZKf7gafrZKgAg&ved=0CDwQsAQ
15 unique ways to enjoy Independence Day
http://college.usatoday.com/2015/07/01/15-unique-ways-to-enjoy-independence-day/
Past and Present: Celebrating July 4th at the White House
https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2015/07/02/past-and-present-celebrating-july-4th-white-house?utm_source=snapshot&utm_medium=email&utm_content=762015-topper
"It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more."
—John Adams, 1776
"This is the day when we celebrate the very essence of America and the spirit that has defined us as a people and as a nation for more than two centuries."
—President Obama, July 4, 2010
The President Honors Military Families on the Fourth of July
https://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/2015/07/04/president-honors-military-families-fourth-july?utm_source=snapshot&utm_medium=email&utm_content=762015-topper
July 04, 2015
THE US AMBASSADORS
Donald Lu U.S. Ambassador to Albania
http://tirana.usembassy.gov/ambassador3.html
Donald Lu was sworn in as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Albania on December 17, 2014. Prior to that assignment, he worked on the Ebola crisis in West Africa as Deputy Coordinator for Ebola Response in the State Department. His overseas postings include Deputy Chief of Mission in India, Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan. He also served for a year as Chargé d’Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Azerbaijan.
Mr. Lu is a Foreign Service Officer with 25 years of U.S. government service, including assignments in Pakistan, India, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan and Washington. He also served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Sierra Leone, West Africa from 1988-1990. As a Peace Corps volunteer he helped to restore hand-dug water wells and to teach health education and latrine construction.
Mr. Lu is from Huntington Beach, California. He graduated from Princeton University with both master’s and bachelor’s degrees in international relations. He is married to Dr. Ariel Ahart, a distinguished public health specialist. They have two children, Kip, age 13, and Aliya, age 9. He speaks Albanian, Russian, Georgian, Azerbaijani, Urdu, Hindi, and West African Krio. He enjoys biking, watching movies, traveling, and spending time with his family.
Ambassador Maureen Cormack
Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
http://sarajevo.usembassy.gov/ambassador.html
Ambassador Maureen Cormack officially became the U.S. Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina on 16 January 2015. Prior to arriving in Sarajevo, Ambassador Maureen Cormack served in Washington D.C. as the Executive Assistant in the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL, Principal Deputy Coordinator for the Bureau of International Information Programs, and Executive Assistant in the Office of the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. Previously, she held the position of Director of the Office of Western European Affairs, the Deputy Director for Korean Affairs, and worked as a Pearson Fellow on the Homeland Security Committee of the House of Representatives.
Overseas, she has served as Press Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, Korea, as Deputy Cultural Attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Paris, and as Consul at the American Presence Post (APP) in western France, covering the regions of Brittany, Normandy, and the Loire.
Ambassador Cormack joined the Foreign Service in 1989 and in early assignments served as Director of the American Centers in Kwangju, South Korea and Warsaw, Poland. She returned to Washington, DC as European personnel officer for the former U.S. Information Agency.
Prior to joining the Foreign Service, Ambassador Cormack worked for the Ravinia Festival, the summer home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, in fundraising, public relations, and artistic management. She also worked for the Chicago law firm of Shefsky, Saitlin, and Froelich.
Ambassador Cormack has a B.A. in performing arts management from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, an M.A. in international relations from the University of Chicago and a Diplome Semestriel from the University of Paris IV.
Ambassador Cormack speaks fluent French and has studied Bosnian, Polish, Korean, and Spanish.
Biography of Ambassador Kenneth Merten in Croatia
http://zagreb.usembassy.gov/ambassador.html
http://zagreb.usembassy.gov
Kenneth Merten, the United States Ambassador to the Republic of Croatia, presented his credentials to President Ivo Josipović on October 30, 2012.
Kenneth Merten is a career member of the senior Foreign Service; he joined the diplomatic corps in 1987 and most recently served as Ambassador to Haiti. He also served as a Deputy Executive Secretary to U.S. Secretary of State Clinton and earlier to U.S. Secretary of State Rice. He was awarded the 2011 Ryan C. Crocker Award for Outstanding Leadership in Expeditionary Diplomacy for his extraordinary leadership in the wake of the 2010 Haiti earthquake.
Ambassador Merten’s overseas assignments include the U.S. Embassy in Paris, the U.S. Mission to the European Union in Brussels, the U.S. Embassy in Bonn, and three tours at the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Ambassador Merten’s other Washington experience includes two assignments in the State Department Operations Center, which supports the daily work and travel of the Secretary of State. He also has worked in the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs and on the Cuba Desk, and worked for the Special Advisors on Haiti in 1993-1994.
Ambassador Merten holds a B.A. from Miami University in Ohio, and a Masters in Public Administration from American University. Studies at the Université d’Aix-Marseille in France and at Karl Franzens Universität in Austria complement his other academic work. He received an honorary Doctorate from Miami University in 2010. In July 2012, Ambassador Merten was decorated by Haiti’s President, Michel Martelly, with the Grande Croix of Honor and Merit, the fourth foreign diplomat to receive that honor in over 200 years of Haiti’s independence.
Ambassador Merten was born in St. Louis, Missouri and considers Hudson, Ohio his hometown. He is married to Susan Greenman Merten and has two children.
http://zagreb.usembassy.gov/ambassador/galbraith/biography.htm l
http://zagreb.usembassy.gov/ambassador/montgomery/biography.html
http://zagreb.usembassy.gov/ambassador/rossin/biography.html
http://zagreb.usembassy.gov/ambassador/frank/biography.html
http://zagreb.usembassy.gov/ambassador_bradtke_biography.html
http://zagreb.usembassy.gov/ambassador/foley/biography.htm l
Ambassador Tracey Ann Jacobson United States Ambassador to the Republic of Kosovo
http://pristina.usembassy.gov/ambassador_tracey_ann_jacobson.html
A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, Ambassador Jacobson previously served as the Deputy Director of the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) from July 2010 to July 2012, as well as the Dean of the School of Professional and Area Studies at FSI from ( 2009 – 2010). She served as the U.S. Ambassador to Tajikistan (2006-2009) and Turkmenistan (2003-2006). She also served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Riga (2000-2003). Prior to that, she was the Deputy Executive Secretary at the National Security Council at the White House. Her other overseas assignments include Seoul, South Korea; Nassau, Bahamas; and Moscow, Russia. Her domestic assignments included the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, and the Office of the Under Secretary for Management.
Ambassador Jacobson received her Bachelor of Arts from Johns Hopkins University, and her Master of Arts from the Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies. She received several State Department Meritorious and Superior Honor Awards, as well as a Presidential Meritorious Service Award. She studied Albanian, Serbian, French, Russian, Spanish, Korean, and Tajiki. She is married to David Baugh, a member of the British Diplomatic Service.
Jess L. Baily, United States Ambassador to the Republic of Macedonia
http://macedonia.usembassy.gov/ambassador-bio.html
Jess Baily was confirmed by the Senate to be the U.S. Ambassador to Macedonia in December 2014. He most recently served as Chargé d’Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, after arriving there in July 2011 to serve as Deputy Chief of Mission. Before this, he served in the State Department as Director of the Office of Southern European Affairs where he managed bilateral relations with Turkey, Greece, and Cyprus.
A career member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Minister-Counselor, Mr. Baily joined the Foreign Service in 1985 and has served in public affairs positions in Bangladesh, Senegal, Thailand, Turkey, and the Netherlands. From 2007 to 2008, he was in Erbil, Iraq as the senior U.S. government civilian representative in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. In Washington, he directed the State Department’s Foreign Press Center from 2005-2007 and coordinated U.S. policy on political issues before the UN Security Council and UN General Assembly as Director of the Office of UN Political Affairs from 2008 to 2010.
A native of Cincinnati, Mr. Baily has a BA from Yale University and an MA in European History from Columbia University. He speaks French, Turkish, and Thai. He is married to Capie Polk Baily. They have one son, Noah, a university student.
Margaret Uyehara
http://podgorica.usembassy.gov/ambassador.html
Margaret Ann Uyehara was confirmed by the Senate to be the U.S. Ambassador to Montenegro in December 2014. A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, class of Minister-Counselor, Ms. Uyehara has three decades of experience managing Department of State staff and resources.
Ms. Uyehara most recently served as Executive Director of the Bureaus of European and Eurasian Affairs and International Organization Affairs in the Department of State. Previous tours have included Austria, Germany, Ukraine, Indonesia, Japan, Philippines, United Kingdom and Mali. Ms. Uyehara is a native of Berea, Ohio. She earned a B.A. in Political Science at Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1981 and studied at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. She speaks German, French, Ukrainian and Japanese. Ms. Uyehara and her husband, Foreign Service Officer Michael Uyehara, have five children.
U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Slovenia
http://slovenia.usembassy.gov/ambassador.html
Brent R. Hartley
Brent Hartley, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, was confirmed by the Senate on November 20, 2014, to be the next U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Slovenia. He was sworn in on January 16, 2015, and presented his credentials in Ljubljana on February 12, 2015.
He served most recently as Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs from October 2012, with responsibilities for bilateral relations with Nordic and Baltic countries as well as policy issues related to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), arms control, nonproliferation, and security assistance.
His other recent assignments included Director for European Security and Political Affairs (2010-2012), Director of the Office of Pakistan Affairs (2008-10) and Counselor for Political-Military Affairs in Kabul (2007-08).
Mr. Hartley has extensive experience in European security issues, including tours as the Deputy Director for European Regional Security Affairs (2006-07), Deputy Political Advisor at the U.S. Mission to NATO (1999-2002), Political-Military Affairs Officer in Rome (1989-1993), and Desk Officer for the Conference for Security and Cooperation in Europe (1987-89). He has also served as the Director for Regional Affairs in the Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism (2003-2005), Senior Advisor for International Relations at the National Counterterrorism Center (2005-06), Cyprus Desk Officer (1997-99), policy analyst in the Bureau of Personnel, staff assistant in the Bureau for European Affairs, and political officer in the Office of Egyptian Affairs.
Mr. Hartley entered the Foreign Service in March 1981 and served his first tour at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo. He was born in Medford, Oregon. He and his wife have a daughter and a son. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in U.S. History and International Relations from Hampshire College and a Masters in Strategic Studies from the National War College.
Michael D. Kirby
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/197674.htm
U.S. Ambassador to Serbia
Term of Appointment: 09/11/2012 to present
Michael D. Kirby was sworn-in on September 11, 2012 and assumed the position of U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Serbia on September 19, 2012, after serving as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs in Washington, D.C. Prior to holding this position in Washington, he served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Moldova. He is a career Foreign Service Consular Officer with nearly 32 years of service in the State Department. Immediately prior to being named Ambassador to Moldova, he was the Consul General in the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, South Korea, which was then the State Department's largest nonimmigrant visa post.
From 2001 to 2004, Ambassador Kirby served as Consul General in the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw, Poland. He had served earlier in Poland as Chief of the Consular Section in Consulate General Krakow, from 1988 to 1991. In addition to serving in Poland and Korea, Ambassador Kirby served as Regional Consular Officer in Consulate General Frankfurt, Germany, from 1996 to 1998, assisting Consular operations in countries throughout the former Soviet Union. Ambassador Kirby also ran the consular sections in Denmark and Tanzania. His first tour was in Georgetown, Guyana. In addition to his overseas postings, Ambassador Kirby has served twice in Washington, D.C., first as a Desk Officer in the Office of Caribbean Affairs and later as Director of the Office of Intelligence Coordination in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research.
The son of a diplomat, Ambassador Kirby was raised around the world, including Hong Kong; Benghazi, Libya; and the United States. He earned a B.A. with Honors in History from the University of Pennsylvania and studied History and Biology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
photos
https://www.google.hr/search?q=Michael+D.+Kirby&client=opera&hs=KGr&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=99yVVcmZNsat7gbei6WYAw&ved=0CCMQsAQ&biw=1745&bih=857
An Interview with Michael D. Kirby, U.S. Ambassador to Serbia
http://thepolitic.org/an-interview-with-michael-d-kirby-u-s-ambassador-to-serbia /
Ambassador to Serbia: Who Is Michael Kirby?
http://www.allgov.com/news/appointments-and-resignations/ambassador-to-serbia-who-is-michael-kirby?news=844737
Michael Kirby is married to Sara Powelson Kirby and has two daughters, Katherine and Elizabeth.
U.S. Ambassador to Bulgaria Marcie B. Ries
http://bulgaria.usembassy.gov/ambassador.html
Marcie Ries was sworn in as Ambassador to the Republic of Bulgaria on September 5, 2012.
Ambassador Ries is a senior Foreign Service Officer with thirty-five years of experience in Europe, the Caribbean and the Middle East. A specialist in national security and political-military matters, she has worked on UN and NATO issues, strategic arms control, as well as bilateral relations with Western Europe, the Balkans and Iraq.
Most recently, Ambassador Ries was Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the State Department’s Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance. In connection with that assignment, she served as the Deputy Head of Delegation for the negotiation of the New START strategic arms reduction treaty with the Russian Federation.
In 2008-2009, Ambassador Ries was Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs (EUR). In that capacity, she had responsibility for offices dealing with relations with the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO), the European Union (EU) and Western Europe, as well as strategic planning and personnel. EUR includes 50 countries and 72 posts.
From 2007-2008, Ambassador Ries was Minister-Counselor for Political-Military Affairs in Baghdad, Iraq. She has also served as United States Ambassador to Albania (2005-2007); Chief of Mission, U.S. Office Pristina, Kosovo (2003-2004); and Director, Office of United Nations Political Affairs (2001-2003).
Ambassador Ries’s experience abroad also includes service at the U.S. Embassy in London, four years at the U.S. Mission to the European Union in Brussels and tours in Turkey and the Dominican Republic.
Ambassador Ries is a graduate of Oberlin College and holds a Masters Degree in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. She is a graduate of the State Department’s Senior Seminar and the Department of Defense Pinnacle Course and is a recipient of the U.S. Army’s Distinguished Civilian Service Medal, a Presidential Meritorious Service Award, and four Department of State Superior Honor awards.
Ambassador Ries is married to Ambassador (ret.) Charles Ries and has a son, Alexander, and a daughter, Meredith.
http://bulgaria.usembassy.gov/issues_07022015.html
Ambassador Mark H. Gitenstein in Bucharest
http://romania.usembassy.gov/embassy/ambassador.html
After serving for more than three years as Chief of Mission at the Embassy of the United States in Bucharest, Ambassador Mark H. Gitenstein has completed his diplomatic assignment and has returned to private life in the United States
http://romania.usembassy.gov/expo-135-years-06292015-en.html
Ambassador David D. Pearce to Greece
http://athens.usembassy.gov/ambassador.html
Ambassador David D. Pearce was nominated by President Obama to be Ambassador to Greece on June 24, 2013. He was confirmed by the Senate on August 1, 2013, and Secretary of State John Kerry swore him in as the United States Ambassador to the Hellenic Republic on September 5, 2013.
A 30-year veteran of the Foreign Service with long experience in the Middle East, he earlier held the position of Senior Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, and he served concurrently as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs.
Before that, Ambassador Pearce was the Assistant Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, one of five ambassador-level positions at the embassy. Prior to Kabul, he was the U.S. Ambassador to the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria from 2008 to 2011.He was also Chief of Mission and Consul General at the United States Consulate General in Jerusalem from 2003 to 2005.
Ambassador Pearce was born in Portland, Maine on June 9, 1950. He received his bachelor’s degree from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine in 1972 and an M.A. in journalism from Ohio State University in 1973.
He was a reporter and foreign correspondent for nearly a decade before joining the Foreign Service. From 1973 to 1979, Ambassador Pearce worked successively for the Associated Press in Ohio, the Rome Daily American in Italy, and United Press International in Brussels, Lisbon, and Beirut. He then moved to the Washington Post, serving as a copy editor on both the foreign and metro desks, and from 1980 to 1981 was a writer-editor in the book service of the National Geographic Society.
In January 1982 Ambassador Pearce entered the Foreign Service, serving first as a vice consul and political officer in Riyadh. From 1984 to 1985, he was a watch officer in the State Department Operations Center, followed by a 1985-87 tour as a country desk officer for Greece. In 1987-88, he studied Arabic at the Foreign Service Institute field school in Tunis, then became chief of the political section at the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait. During the Gulf War, Ambassador Pearce worked as a liaison officer with the Kuwaiti government-in-exile in Taif, Saudi Arabia. He returned to Washington in 1991 to become a special assistant to the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs.
In 1992 to 1993, Ambassador Pearce took sabbatical leave to write a book on diplomacy and the media, published by the Congressional Quarterly in 1994, and entitled Wary Partners: Diplomats and the Media. From 1994-1997, he was Consul General in Dubai, and from 1997-2001 he served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Damascus. From September 2001 to July 2003, he was Director of the Department of State’s Office of Northern Gulf Affairs, with responsibility for Iraq and Iran. In May-June 2003, Ambassador Pearce served with the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad. He was the Minister Counselor for Political Affairs at the United States Embassy in Rome from 2005-2008. While in Rome, he served two excursion tours to Iraq, in March-April 2007 and September 2007-March 2008, as a senior adviser to Ambassador Ryan Crocker.
http://athens.usembassy.gov/fulbright_awards2015_speech.html
The Queen Elizabeth II and the american Presidents....
https://www.google.hr/search?q=the+queen+elizabeth+II+and+the+american+presidents&client=opera&hs=kT1&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=TxmaVbvgGsLT7AbthoXwAg&ved=0CCYQsAQ&biw=1745&bih=857
http://kottke.org/13/01/queen-elizabeth-ii-with-twelve-us-presidents
Queen Elizabeth with 12 U.S. Presidents
http://lisawallerrogers.com/2009/10/18/queen-elizabeth-with-12-u-s-presidents/
Amazing! Long Live Queen Elizabeth II.
George VI passed in early 1952, and Elizabeth was coronated was June 2, 1953. She has reigned during 12 different American Presidents' tenures. Elizabeth was queen while Truman was President, but they did not meet while in those capacities. She never met with Lyndon Johnson.
http://www.horizonview.net/~beeryb/ref/queen_elizabeth.htm
Elizabeth did not travel with her father and mother (Queen Elizabeth) when they met with President Roosevelt in June 1939. The visit was historic; it was the first visit by a British monarch to North America in history.
Queen Victoria is the only British monarch to have reigned during more American Presidents' tenures. She became Queen shortly after Martin Van Buren (the 8th) took office, on June 20, 1837, and died on January 22, 1901, shortly before Theodore Roosevelt (the 26th) left office. Although she never met any of the men, she reigned over a span of 19 Presidents.
List of monarchs in Britain by length of reign
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_monarchs_in_Britain_by_length_of_reign
The following is a list, ordered by length of reign, of the monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (... Northern Ireland after 1927), the Kingdom of Great Britain, the Kingdom of England since A.D. 925, the Kingdom of Scotland since A.D. 1107, and the Principality of Wales from A.D. 1170.
Since 24 September 1896, Queen Victoria has had the longest reign of any king or queen in the various kingdoms of the British Isles.
On 10 September 2015, Elizabeth II will, if still reigning, surpass the reign of her great-great grandmother Victoria
Elizabeth II
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_II
Should she still be reigning on—
10 September 2015 (at age 89 years, 142 days), she would surpass Queen Victoria as the longest-reigning British monarch, and the longest-reigning female monarch in world history.
13 May 2016 (at age 90 years, 22 days), she would surpass the claimed reign of James Francis Edward Stuart (the "Old Pretender").
6 February 2022 (at age 95 years, 291 days), she would celebrate her Platinum Jubilee, marking 70 years on the throne.
26 May 2024 (at age 98 years, 35 days), she would surpass King Louis XIV of France as the longest reigning monarch of a major country in European history.