Elizabeth was the daughter of King Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn. Her mother was executed when Elizabeth was just two years old, and for much of her childhood she was bounced between palaces and even briefly locked in the Tower of London by her older sister, Queen Mary.
In 1559, at age 25, she finally became queen herself. England was small, broke, and torn apart by religious fights. Over 44 years on the throne, Elizabeth steadied the country, paid down debts, sponsored sailors like Francis Drake, and supported a wave of writers including a young William Shakespeare.
Her most famous moment came in 1588, when King Philip II of Spain sent a huge fleet - the Spanish Armada - to invade England. The English navy and a wild Atlantic storm destroyed it. Elizabeth never married, which was why she was nicknamed the “Virgin Queen,” and the U.S. state of Virginia is named after her.
