1876 - Queen Victoria became Empress of India. Queen Victoria was offered the position of Empress following the dissolution of the East India Company and on this day in 1876 The Queen accepted and began using the Title of Empress of India. The title was officially proclaimed in India on the 1st of January 1877.

Queen Victoria sat on The Ivory Throne. It had been the centrepiece of the Indian section in the Great Exhibition in 1851 and was presented to Queen Victoria in part to advertise the carving skills of Travancore in southern India.