20 Handshakes That Completely Changed History

Queen Elizabeth II shook millions of hands during her long reign, but few carried as much weight as one in 2012. In Belfast, she shook the hand of Martin McGuinness, Northern Ireland’s Deputy First Minister. He was also a former commander in the IRA, the group that had fought a bitter war against British rule for decades. The Troubles, as we called them, had seemed endless. That quiet, deliberate handshake between the monarch and the former paramilitary leader was a profound symbol of reconciliation after so much conflict.