WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - This Week in Western Civilization: April 20-26

Episode Date: April 20, 2026

This week, Olivia Finch discusses the anniversaries of the birth of Queen Elizabeth II, the death of William Shakespeare, and the launching of the Hubble Space Telescope.

Welcome to this week in Western Civilization on Radio Free Hillsdale, 101.7 FM. I'm your host, Olivia Finch, bringing new snapshots of history in context. Hello, everyone. Today we'll be covering one important birth, one important death, and one notable event that happened between April 19th and April 25th in Western Civ. On April 21st, 1926, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. was born in London, England. Elizabeth is best known for her remarkably long reign of 70 years and 214 days, from February 16, 1952 at the age of 25, to her death on September 8, 2022 at the age of 96.

This is the longest reign of any British monarch and of any Queen Regnant in history. February just six weeks from now, we'll see the start of my platinum jubilee year. which I hope will be an opportunity for people everywhere to enjoy a sense of togetherness. On April 23, 1564, English playwright, poet, and actor William Shakespeare died supposedly of a fever on his 52nd birthday in Stratford upon Avon, Warwickshire, England. Shakespeare is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language, writing approximately 38 plays, of which 14 are comedies, 12 tragedies, and 12 histories, 154 sonnets, and three longer narrative poems. Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate. Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, and summer's lease hath all too short a date. Some time too hot the eye of heaven shines, and often is his gold complexion dimmed. At every fare from fair sometime declines. By chance, all nature's changing course untrimmed. On April 24, 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope was launched from the Space Shuttle Discovery.

The telescope was then sent into low orbit, where it remains to this day, and has made over 1,700,000 observations of images of deep. space. The telescope has been in operation for over 30 years and is predicted to last until any time between 2030 and 2040. You've been listening to this week in Western Civilization with Olivia Finch on Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM. I hope you enjoyed this episode and I'll see you next week.