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King Gustav II of Sweden; Credit – Wikipedia
January 24, 1712 – Birth of Friedrich II (the Great), King of Prussia at the Berlin City Palace in Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Brandenburg, Germany
King Friedrich II of Prussia, best known as Frederick the Great, was the son Friedrich Wilhelm I, King in Prussia and Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, daughter of King George I of Great Britain. In 1733, Friedrich married Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern, but they spent most of their lives separated, seeing each other only a handful of times after he became King. They had no children, and upon becoming King in 1740, Friedrich named his brother Augustus as Crown Prince. Augustus predeceased Friedrich so his son succeeded as King Friedrich Wilhelm II. Aside from his promotion of the arts, Friedrich proved himself a skilled military commander and is attributed with great advancements in his kingdom.
Unofficial Royalty: Friedrich II (the Great), King of Prussia
January 24, 1746 – Birth of King Gustav III of Sweden at the Wrangel Palace on Riddarholmen islet in Gamla Stan, the old town of Stockholm, Sweden
King Gustav III of Sweden is best known for being mortally wounded during a masked ball at the Royal Opera House in Stockholm, Sweden, and dying thirteen days later. The incident was the subject of Giuseppe Verdi’s 1859 opera Un Ballo in Maschera (A Masked Ball). Gustav was the eldest son of King Adolf Frederik of Sweden and Louisa Ulrika of Prussia, daughter of King Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia and Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, daughter of King George I of Great Britain. In 1766, Gustav married Princess Sophia Magdalena of Denmark and the couple had one surviving son. Gustav became King of Sweden upon the death of his father in 1771. In 1772, Gustav arranged for a coup d’état known as the Revolution of 1772 or Coup of Gustav III. The coup d’état reinstated an absolute monarchy and ended parliamentary rule. The Russo-Sweden War and the implementation of the Union and Security Act in 1789, which gave the king more power and abolished many of the privileges of the nobility, contributed to the increasing hatred of Gustav III, which had existed among the nobility since the 1772 coup. In the winter of 1791-1792, a conspiracy was formed within the nobility to kill the king and reform the government. Read more about the assassination in the link below.
Unofficial Royalty: King Gustav III of Sweden
Unofficial Royalty: Assassination of Gustav III, King of Sweden
January 24, 1779 – Birth of Louise of Baden, wife of Alexander I, Emperor of All Russia, in Karlsruhe, Grand Duchy of Baden, now in Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Full name: Louise Maria Auguste, known as Elizabeth Alexeievna after marriage
Louise was the daughter of Karl Ludwig, Hereditary Prince of Baden and Amelia Frederica of Hesse-Darmstadt. Louise, herself an empress, had seven siblings which included two queens, a grand duchess, a duchess, and a grand duke. Collectively, Louise’s siblings are ancestors of several royal families. In 1793, Louise married the future Alexander I, Emperor of All Russia. Both Elizabeth Alexeievna and her husband had affairs and their marriage produced no surviving children.
Unofficial Royalty: Louise of Baden, Empress Elizabeth Alexeievna of Russia
January 24, 1840 – Birth of Julia Abercromby, Baroness Abercromby, Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Victoria, in Naples, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
Born The Honorable Julia Haldane-Duncan, she was the eldest child of Adam Haldane-Duncan, 2nd Earl of Camperdown and married George Abercromby, 4th Baron Abercromby. She was an accomplished painter and had taken lessons from Mrs. Clarendon Smith of the Institute of Watercolours. During her service, Julia was asked to paint the first official portrait of Queen Victoria for the National Portrait Gallery, fulfilling a request made by the gallery in 1867. She painted a watercolor portrait, based on an original painting by von Angeli. It was reported to be one of Queen Victoria’s favorite portraits of herself. In later years, she exhibited some of her work at the Royal Academy in 1898. Today, her paintings are included in the collections of the National Portrait Gallery, Balliol College, Oxford, and the Britannia Royal Naval College.
Unofficial Royalty: Julia Abercromby, Baroness Abercromby
January 24, 1904 – Death of Friedrich I, Duke of Anhalt in Ballenstedt, Duchy of Anhalt, now in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany; first buried in the Dessau Mausoleum in Dessau, Duchy of Anhalt, now in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. In 1958, his remains, along with the other former royals in the Dessau Mausoleum, were moved secretly by night for political reasons (Dessau was then in Communist East Germany) to an unmarked mass grave in the Ziebigk Cemetery in Dessau. In 2019, Friedrich’s remains were moved a second time and reinterred in the Marienkirche in Dessau, the traditional burial site of the Dukes of Anhalt-Dessau dating back to the 15th century. The Marienkirche was destroyed during World War II and has since been rebuilt.
In 1854, Friedrich married Princess Antoinette of Saxe-Altenburg. They had six children including two Dukes of Anhalt. Before he became Duke of Anhalt, Friedrich had a military career. He served on the staff of his brother-in-law, Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia, during the Second Schleswig War and also served during the Franco-Prussian War, taking part in the Siege of Toul and battles at Beaumont and Sedan. In January 1871, he was present at the Palace of Versailles for the proclamation of King Wilhelm I of Prussia as the German Emperor. The day after suffering a stroke, Friedrich, aged 73, died in Ballenstedt, Duchy of Anhalt, now in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, on January 24, 1904.
Unofficial Royalty: Friedrich I, Duke of Anhalt
January 24, 1924 – Death of former Grand Duchess Marie-Adélaïde of Luxembourg at Hohenburg Castle in Bavaria, Germany; buried at Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
Marie-Adélaïde was the eldest of the six daughters of Grand Duke Guillaume IV of Luxembourg. At the time, female succession was not allowed in Luxembourg but Grand Duke Guillaume IV changed that. In 1912, when her father died, Marie-Adélaïde became the first reigning Grand Duchess of Luxembourg. In the early days of World War I, Germany violated the neutral stance of Luxembourg and invaded the country. Marie-Adélaïde issued a formal protest, but this was not effective in preventing the military occupation by Germany. Marie-Adélaïde developed a rather friendly relationship with the Germans, including hosting Wilhelm II, German Emperor at the palace. This led to her unpopularity in Luxembourg and eventually to her abdication in favor of her sister Charlotte on January 14, 1919. After her abdication, Marie-Adélaïde entered a Carmelite convent in Modena, Italy. Eventually, she became a nun, joining the Little Sisters of the Poor in Rome, taking the name Sister Marie of the Poor. Her health began to worsen so she left the convent and settled at Hohenburg Castle in Bavaria, Germany where she died of influenza on January 24, 1924, at the age of 29.
Unofficial Royalty: Grand Duchess Marie-Adélaïde of Luxembourg
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