October 25

Our state still bears his name, but King George II never set foot here.

He was born in Germany and when he succeeded his father, George I, in 1727, he became the second of Britain’s Hanoverian German kings.

George II signed the charter creating the colony of Georgia in 1732. James Oglethorpe persuaded the king that England needed a buffer between South Carolina and Spanish Florida, so Georgia became the first new British colony in North America in more than 50 years.

In 1743, George also earned the distinction of being the last British monarch to lead troops into battle when he fought against the French in the War of Austrian Succession. But he also battled fiercely with his son and heir, Frederick, who allied himself openly with George’s political enemies. When Frederick died prematurely, George did not attend his funeral.

The king was succeeded instead by his grandson, George III, who would become America’s last king when Georgia’s namesake died on October 25, 1760, Today in Georgia history.