Thai King Dies, Year Of Mourning Begins

King Bhumibol of Thailand, the world’s longest reigning monarch, died on Thursday in a hospital in Bangkok. He was 88 and had been on the throne for 70 years. The Prime Minister declared a year of mourning for the beloved king who united an oft-divided country. The King’s son, Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, will be the next king but has said he will wait until the appropriate time to take the throne. Most importantly, at least for our ethnocentric American readers, King Bhumibol was born in Massachusetts; he is the only monarch ever born in the United States.