Ernst Augustus, Duke of Hanover was raised to the rank of Elector in 1692, thus giving him and his descendants a vote in the election of the Holy Roman Emperor. He died in 1698 and was succeeded by his son George. In 1714 George succeeded as King of Great Britain, thus he was both King of GB and Elector of Hanover. He was succeeded in both titles by George II and George III. In 1814, after the Holy Roman Empire had been dissolved, George III (or rather his son the Prince Regent on his behalf) divested himself of the empty title of Elector and adopted the title King of Hanover. This continued until William IV, George IV's brother, died in 1837 and was succeeded by his niece Victoria, however a woman could not inherit the Hanoverian Crown, so that passed to her uncle Ernest and the two Crowns ceased to be united.  

The union of GB and Hanover between 1714 and 1837 was the reason GB became involved in more European wars than it did formerly. As a European state Hanover found itself invaded by enemy troops or called upon to help her neighbours, thus GB too became involved with troops and money.  

Most murders in the Wild West remain unsolved it seems. 

6 February 1819 - The founding of Singapore.

The British East India Company had a number of sites in the East Indies in the early 19th century, but were in constant conflict with the Dutch who were expanding in the area at a far greater rate than the British. Only the efforts of Sir Stamford Raffles kept the British operations profitable.

As Lt-Gov of Bencoolen on the island of Sumatra Raffles was frustrated by the Company's inability or unwillingness to take on the Dutch who were threatening its very existence in the Far East. In 1818 he began looking for a site to set up a new trading station away from Dutch influence. He heard of the success of another East India Co official William Farquhar in signing a trading agreement with the Sultan of Johore on the Malay peninsula and set off to explore the possibilities himself. 

In January 1819 Raffles arrived on the island of Singhapura off the southern tip of the peninsula. It was inhabited by fishermen and only loosely under control of the Sultan of Johore. He opened negotiations immediately and on 6 February the island was signed over to Raffles. 

By the time the news of the acquisition reached London the population of the island had grown to over 5000 and it was on its way to becoming GB's greatest trading post in the Far East.  

Most murders in the Wild West remain unsolved it seems. 

Yes, or the vigilante's stringing someone up for some crime does not count as "solved." A dangerous time in which to live. 

He bought the island for an annual payment of 8000 Spanish dollars, but how long they paid it out for I don't know, nor how the money equates in pounds sterling. Whatever it was it wasn't cheap.   

He bought the island for an annual payment of 8000 Spanish dollars, but how long they paid it out for I don't know, nor how the money equates in pounds sterling. Whatever it was it wasn't cheap.   

Well Mark, this guy was quite a skilled negotiator. 

Sir Stamford Raffles was the founder of Singapore and British expansion in the Far East, no doubt on the verge of being cancelled by the enlightened ones today. 

7 February 1301 - The creation of the Prince of Wales.

Edward I, King of England conquered Wales in the 1280s, his wife accompanied him on his campaigns and two of their children were born there. The younger of the two, Prince Edward born in 1284, although his fourth son was the only one to survive infancy and thus became heir to the Throne. 

In 1300 aged 16 the young Prince joined his father on campaign against the Scots and so impressed was the King by his son's performance that upon their return to London he granted him the title Earl of Chester and revenue from the Royal lands of Wales, although the actual title Prince of Wales was not used until a subsequent charter dated 10 May. 

Since then the eldest son of the Monarch has been granted the title Prince of Wales. The title is not automatic, it has to be formally conferred, hence a number of elder sons who died young were never formally Princes of Wales. Also if a Prince of Wales dies before inheriting the Throne his eldest son can be given the title, as was the case with Prince George, eldest son of Frederick, Prince of Wales who died in 1751. George, the grandson of King George II eventually became King George III.

The current holder of the title is Prince William, the 21st Prince of Wales. Some accounts state that he is the 23rd, but the two sons of Charles I and James II were never formally created Prince of Wales even though they were styled as such. 

The story that the infant Prince Edward born in 1284 was presented to the people of Wales as their Prince by being held aloft on a shield by his father on the ramparts of Caernarvon castle is a myth, he was 16 when he was given the title in London in 1301.   

The myth only emerged hundreds of years later, it's more romantic than reality.

The myth only emerged hundreds of years later, it's more romantic than reality.

I am crestfallen, Mark. You mean all these years I have been duped along with the Garden of Eden, & an invisible being living above the clouds who knows everything that is going to happen. He has 10 things I must obey, & if I don't I will live forever in hell with fire & brimstone & endless suffering.................But He loves me????

8 February 1884 - Cetshwayo, King of the Zulus 1872-79 & 1883-84, died.

By the late 1870s only Zululand and the Boer Republics remained to be brought under British control to complete the consolidation of British power in South Africa.

The 1879 Zulu War, after a bad start, ended when British forces captured the Zulu capital of Ulundi in July. King Cetshwayo escaped and it was not until eight weeks later that he was taken in the north of his former Kingdom. He was taken a prisoner to Cape Town and Zululand divided into 13 minor chiefdoms each with a ruler appointed by the British. 

However the 13 chiefdoms, predictably, failed to live in peace with each other and it was decided that a restored but "deradicalized" Cetshwayo would be the solution, so in 1882 he was sent to England where he met and impressed Queen Victoria and his case was put to the Colonial Office. 

He returned to Zululand in 1883, but he soon discovered that true power lay with the British and furthermore his reappearance as little more than a puppet ruler meant that his authority over his Kingdom was much diminished. Civil war erupted, but Cetshwayo's troubles soon came to an end with his sudden death in February 1884. Heart disease was the official cause of death but poison was suspected. His son Dinizulu succeeded him as King of the Zulus.

No matter how much historical evidence in produced to the contrary, the left still labels the African tribes & our North American Indians as noble savages who were brutally subdued by the white Europeans. 

No matter how much historical evidence in produced to the contrary, the left still labels the African tribes & our North American Indians as noble savages who were brutally subdued by the white Europeans. 

The Zulu's originally came from around mid Africa and moved south. It is estimated they killed around 2,000,000 people creating their empire, which by any standard was utterly merciless. It's most famous leader was of course Shaka, who is lorded by the ignorant as some kind of hero when he was in fact a homicidal, psychotic maniac, who murdered thousands of his own people.