On June 10, 1939 (81 years ago today), King George VI and Queen Elizabeth toured the New York World’s Fair.

That day, in a front-page story in the New York Times, Foster Hailey wrote, “A reception fit for a king and queen was being prepared by New York City for the five-and-a-half-hour visit today of Their Britannic Majesties, George VI and Elizabeth, as they traveled toward the city from Washington on their special train last night.”

The details of their visit—the arrangements, security, press coverage—is fascinating and can be explored more here.

In We Came Here to Shine, I feature this visit (though, for the story’s sake, it occurs on June 5) and The Today at the Fair article and event schedule are adapted directly from the June 10, 1939 issue of Today at the Fair.