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>
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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>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
verily:
1. Truly, doubtlessly, in truth.
2. Confidently, certainly.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/verily>
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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>