Clashes with the Ku Klux Klan began Joseph Lowery's life long fight for equality. The man who became one of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s chief lieutenants was born in Huntsville, Alabama. Early encounters with bigotry would shape the direction of his life as a Methodist minister. Inspired by Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott, […]
Casimir Pulaski came from Poland to fight in the American Revolution and is one of only seven people to be granted honorary U.S. citizenship. Pulaski was born an aristocrat in Warsaw in 1745. He first led men in battle as a freedom fighter in Poland. After meeting Ben Franklin in France, he came to America […]
He made history when he flew solo across the Atlantic. On this day in 1927, just months after his historic flight, Charles Lindbergh arrived in Atlanta for Lindbergh Day. The "Lone Eagle" came to Atlanta thanks to city alderman and aviation enthusiast William Hartsfield. Lindbergh landed the Spirit of St. Louis–the same plane he flew […]
He's the only Georgian to ever be elected president of the United States, Jimmy Carter was born in Plains and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy. To his wife Rosalynn's dismay, Carter left a promising naval career after his father's death in 1953 and returned to Plains to take over the family peanut business. Successful […]
He was a high school dropout who would be governor. Born in Atlanta, Lester Maddox worked at the Bell Bomber factory in Marietta during World War II. He opened the Pickrick Restaurant in Atlanta in 1947. It became the focal point of his fierce opposition to integration and civil rights. He famously chased black patrons […]
Three Georgians died on the Titanic. One of them was Archibald Butt. He was born in Augusta on this day in 1865. Archie Butt became a journalist for the Macon Telegraph. The Atlanta Constitution made him its Washington correspondent. The U.S. State Department appointed him Secretary of the American Embassy in Mexico. He was there […]
When Robert Benham was appointed the first African American on the Georgia Supreme Court, it was only one of a long line of firsts. Benham was born in Cartersville in 1946. He majored in political science at Tuskegee University and attended Harvard before graduating from the University of Georgia's School of Law in 1970. After […]
The man who helped Henry Grady promote Atlanta as the heart of the “New South” was born in South Carolina. Georgia newspaper editor Clark Howell was the son of a former Confederate artillery captain. His father bought a half–interest in the Atlanta Constitution in 1876 and hired Henry Grady and Joel Chandler Harris to work […]
On September 16, 1779, the Siege of Savannah began during the American Revolution. Captured in December 1778, Georgia was the only colony the British re-conquered. The following September, America's new French allies anchored a fleet of 47 ships offshore carrying 5,000 soldiers, including 500 Haitians. Their commander, Admiral Charles–Hector d'Estaing, linked up with American General […]
The beginnings of the infamous Cherokee Trail of Tears could well be traced to a Lawrenceville courtroom. During the 1820s, Governor George Gilmer made Cherokee removal a top priority. But in 1827, the Cherokee Nation established a government and declared themselves sovereign. In response, furious Georgia leaders abolished Cherokee government, and annexed Cherokee land. Meanwhile, […]
