[Wikipedia] June 11: George I of Great Britain

   George I was King of Great Britain and Ireland, from 1 August 1714
   until his death.  At the age of 54, he ascended the British throne as
   the first monarch of the House of Hanover.  Although many bore closer
   blood-relationships to the childless Queen Anne, the Act of Settlement
   1701, which prohibits Catholics from inheriting the throne, designated
   her cousin, Sophia of Hanover, as heiress to the throne.  Sophia was
   Anne's closest living Protestant relative but died a matter of weeks
   before Anne leaving the Protestant succession to her son, George.  In
   reaction, the Jacobites attempted to depose George and replace him
   with Anne's Catholic half-brother, James Francis Edward Stuart, but
   their attempts failed.  During George's reign in Britain, the powers of
   the monarchy diminished and the modern system of Cabinet government
   led by a Prime Minister underwent development.  Towards the end of his
   reign, actual power was held by Sir Robert Walpole.  George died on a
   trip to his native Hanover, where he was buried.

Read the rest of this article:
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_I_of_Great_Britain

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Today's selected anniversaries:

1770:
   English explorer James Cook ran aground on the Great Barrier Reef.
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Barrier_Reef)

1892:
   The Salvation Army's Limelight Department, one of the world's
   earliest film studios, was officially established in Melbourne,
   Australia.