George II (1683–1760) was King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (Hanover) and Archtreasurer and Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire. His grandmother, Sophia of Hanover, became second in line to the British throne after about fifty Catholics higher in line were excluded by the Act of Settlement, which restricted the succession to Protestants. After the deaths of Sophia and Queen Anne, his father, George I, inherited the throne. As king from 1727, George II exercised little control over British domestic policy, which was largely controlled by parliament. He had a difficult relationship with his eldest son, Frederick, who supported the parliamentary opposition. George became the last British monarch to lead an army in battle when he participated in the Battle of Dettingen in 1743. In 1745, supporters of the Catholic claimant to the throne, James Francis Edward Stuart, led by James's son Charles Edward Stuart, attempted and failed to depose George. Frederick died unexpectedly in 1751, and George's grandson, George III, became king on George II's death in 1760. Historians initially tended to view George II with disdain, but more recently, some scholars have re-assessed his legacy and conclude that he held and exercised influence in foreign policy and military appointments.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_II_of_Great_Britain
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1147:
Reconquista: Forces under Afonso I of Portugal captured Lisbon from the Moors after a four-month siege in one of the few Christian victories during the Second Crusade. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Lisbon
1812:
War of 1812: USS United States captured HMS Macedonian, which later became the first British warship to be brought into an American harbor. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_United_States_vs_HMS_Macedonian
1944:
Heinrich Himmler ordered a crackdown on the Edelweiss Pirates, a nonconformist youth group that assisted army deserters and others hiding from the Nazis. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edelweiss_Pirates
1980:
Proceedings on the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, a multilateral treaty providing an expeditious method to return a child taken from one member nation to another, concluded at The Hague. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hague_Convention_on_the_Civil_Aspects_of_International_Child_Abduction
2010:
Mount Merapi in Central Java, Indonesia began an increasingly violent series of eruptions that lasted over a month. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_eruptions_of_Mount_Merapi
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
verily: 1. Truly, doubtlessly, in truth. 2. Confidently, certainly. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/verily
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Of studie took he most cure and most hede. Noght o word spak he more than was nede, And that was seyd in forme and reverence, And short and quik, and ful of hy sentence. Souninge in moral vertu was his speche, And gladly wolde he lerne, and gladly teche. --Geoffrey Chaucer https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Chaucer