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Prince Laurent of Belgium

Born Laeken, 19 Oct 1963

5 facts1 source

Living person. The family sees only the name, dates and photo; everything else stays private unless they choose to share it.

Facts and their sources

A life in time

  1. 19 Oct 1963

    Born in Laeken

Family

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Parents

During his lifetime

He has lived through 7 decades. Pick one to hear and see what it was like around Laeken.

General history, not a record about the family: each item says where it comes from.

The 1960s · Prince is born in Laeken

In the news1962

First nuclear electricity connected to grid

The BR 3 reactor, Belgium's first electricity-producing nuclear reactor, was connected to the power grid.

Getting around

Transition from trams to buses in Brussels

During the 1950s, public transport in Brussels and other regions relied heavily on trams, but many lines were rapidly replaced by bus services, causing service frequencies to drop; for instance, waiting times increased from six or seven minutes to about twelve minutes.

At the table

Door-to-door fresh milk delivery

Milk was delivered door-to-door by a milkman using a horse and cart; he ladled fresh milk from aluminum cans directly into the housewife's pan. Children often detested the layer of skin that formed after boiling the milk, whereas fathers frequently considered it a delicacy.

People walk on the Moon. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the Moon, watched live on television by some 600 million people.Around the world · 1969

People walk on the Moon. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the Moon, watched live on television by some 600 million people.

Neil A. Armstrong · public domain

What people wore

Belgian boys' clothing in the 1950s-1960s

In the 1950s and early 1960s, Belgian boys frequently wore short pants until they were 12 or 13 years old, sometimes even until age 16 for school uniforms. By the 1960s, American-style casual wear like T-shirts began to gain popularity among the youth.

Music

Traditional Flemish Instruments and Community Music

Traditional Flemish folk music featured instruments such as the doedelzak (bagpipe), the hommel (stringed zither), and the diatonic accordion. These instruments were often hand-crafted and played at local community gatherings and festivals.

Daily life

Weekly bathing and public shower houses

Bathing was a weekly ritual, often taking place on Saturdays in an oval tub that narrowed at the feet, with the same water frequently used for the entire family. In some communities, public shower houses existed, such as one in Zaventem where a shower cost 1.50 BEF.