1814 |
The U.S. military outpost Fort Gilmer was established as Standing Peachtree, an Indian village situated where Peachtree Creek flown into the Chattahoochee River . |
1821 |
Permanent settlers began moving into former Creek Indian lands that would eventually become metropolitan Atlanta. |
1837 |
The area now comprising the city was chosen as the site for a new railroad terminus connecting Georgia with Chattanooga, TN and points west, including the Chattahoochee and Tennessee Rivers. The city was dubbed "Terninus," and the termination point is now Five Points in downtown Atlanta. |
1843 |
"Terminus" was renamed "Marthasville" in honor of Martha Lumpkin, daughter of Georgia Gov. Wilson Lumpkin. The town spread out around the train depot. |
1847 |
Atlanta was incorporated as a city. |
1853 |
Atlanta was designated the county seat of the newly-created Fulton County, organized from portions of DeKalb County. A building, housing both City Hall and the Fulton County Courthouse, was erected where the capitol now stands. |
1856 |
The Atlanta Gas Light Company became the city's first corporation. |
1857 |
Atlanta was first dubbed the "Gate City of the South" for its increasing importance as a rail center. |
1861 |
The Civil War began. Atlanta was considered the transportation hub of the Southeast. |
1864 |
During the Civil War, Union General William T. Sherman burned Atlanta to the ground (about 70% of its buildings were destroyed) on his infamous "March to the Sea." The war ended the next year. |
1867 |
M. Rich and Co., the forerunner to Rich's Department Store, opened; Atlanta University was chartered; and Summer Hill School, the predecessor to Clark College, opened. |
1868 |
Atlanta replaced Milledgeville as Georgia's capital. The Atlanta Constitution was founded. |
1871 |
The Atlanta Chamber of Commerce was oranized. |
1879 |
Atlanta Baptist Seminary, the predecessor to Morehouse College, moved to Atlanta from Augusta, Ga. |
1883 |
The Atlanta Journal was founded. |
1886 |
Atlanta was chosen as the site of the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Henry Grady made his "New South" speech in New York City, calling for the North's reconciliation with the South and for economic diversification and industrialization of the region.
A local drug store, Jacob's Pharmacy, began selling a new headache and hangover tonic called Coca-Cola. The tonic was invented by John S. Pemberton.
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1889 |
Joel Hurt established Inman Park, the city's first planned suburb, and Atlanta's first electric trolley line, which ran to Inman Park. |
1891 |
Entrepreneur Asa Candler paid $2,300 to own Coca-Cola. The next year he founded the Coca-Cola Comapny. |
1895 |
The Cotton States and Internation Exposition was held in Piedmont Park, focusing national and international attention on Atlanta. |
1897 |
Built as the English-American Building, the Flatiron Building, Atlanta's first skyscraper, was completed. |
1898 |
The famed Cyclorama Civil War painting was acquired by the city and displayed in Grant Park. |
1906 |
A race riot in Atlanta killed at least 25 blacks and 1 white, though the casualty figured were likely much higher. * |
1913 |
The Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau was founded.
Leo Frank ws convicted for the murder of Mary Phagan in one of the most infamous court cases in the nation's history. *
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1914 |
A branch of the Federal Reserve Bank was established in Atlanta. |
1917 |
The worst fire since Sherman's "March to the Sea" leaves 10,000 Atlantans homeless as it burns nearly 2,000 buildings covering 300 acres. |
1919 |
Ernest Woodruff and the Trust Company of Georgia headed a syndicate that bought the Coca-Cola Company for $25 million from the Candler family. |
1922 |
Atlanta's first local radio stations, WSB and WGST, began broadcasting. |
1925 |
William B. Hartsfield selected the site of Candler Field, south of the city, for the Atlanta airport. |
1926-1928 |
The first Forward Atlanta campaign brought more than 600 new businesses to town. |
1929 |
The city purchased Candler Field (now the site of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport), which was handling 16 passenger and airmail flights daily. |
1930 |
Atlanta amateur golfer Bobby Jones won an unprecedented (and never duplicated) "Grand Slam" in golf: the British Open, the British Amateur, the U.S. Open and the U.S. Amateur - all in four months. |
1935 |
Techwood Homes, dedicated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, became the nation's first federal public housing project. |
1936 |
Margarett Mitchell's "Gone With the Wind " was published. Mitchell won the Pulitizer Prize for the novel the next year. |
1938 |
Georgia's first four-lane superhighway, U.S. 41, was completed from Atlanta to Marietta. |
1939 |
The movie "Gone With the Wind" made its world premiere in Atlanta. |
1941 |
Delta Air Lines moved its headquarters to Atlanta from Monroe, La. |
1946 |
119 people died in "America's worst hotel fire" at the Winecoff Hotel. |
1948 |
Atlanta moved into the television age with the launch of the city's first television station, WSB-TV. |
1952 |
Through its "Plan of Improvement," the city of Atlanta incoporated surrounding areas, which increased the city's population from 330,000 to 430,000 and tripled the city's size from 37 square miles to 118 square miles. |
1958 |
The Temple of the Hebrew Benevolent Congregation was bombed by what were believed to be racial extremists. No one was ever convicted in the case. |
1959 |
Lenox Square, the city's first regional shopping center, opened.
Atlanta Constitution editor Ralph McGill won a Pulitzer Prize for his editorials on the Temple bombing.
Atlanta Mayor William B. Hartsfield described Atlanta as the "city too busy to hate."
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1960 |
Elbert Tuttle was appointed Chief Judge of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. Under his leadership, the court sped up the desegregation process in Atlanta and throughout the region by rapidly overturning court orders used as delaying tactics. |
1961 |
Ivan Allen, Jr. defeated segregationist Lester Maddox in the mayoral election, and Atlanta's public schools were peacefully desegregated.
A modern terminal was completed at Hartsfield Airport.
The Forward Atlanta Campaign was conducted for the first time since 1928. Within 10 years, 240,000 jobs and 247 office buildings, 31 office parks, seven regional shopping centers and 353 warehouses were added to metro Atlanta. |
1962 |
106 Atlanta Art Association members and relatives died in a plane crash at Orly Airport in Paris. Richard Rich led a $13 million fundraising drive to build the Atlanta Memorial Arts Center, now the Woodruff Arts Center, in their memory. |
1964 |
Martin Luther King, Jr. won the Nobel Peace Prize. |
1965 |
The $18 million Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium was built in 364 days "on land we didn't own, with money we didn't have and for teams we had not signed," according to Atlanta Mayor Ivan Allen, Jr. That same year, the Braves moved to Atlanta from Milwaukee, and the Atlanta Falcons became a new National Football League expansion team. |
1968 |
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn. The funeral and burial were in Atlanta. |
1969 |
The opening of Underground Atlanta put downtown Atlanta on the entertainment anb social map. |
1970 |
MARTA (Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority) purhcased the Atlanta Transit System and began extending its routes, replacing the old buses and engineering a rapid rail system. |
1973 |
Maynard Jackson was elected Atlanta's first black mayor. |
1974 |
Atlanta Brave Hank Aaron hit his 715th home run, breaking Babe Ruth's long-held major league home run record. |
1975 |
R.E. "Ted" Turner's Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) went on the air. |
1976 |
The state of Georgia opened the Georgia World Congress Center -- the second largest convention center in the United States. |
1980 |
R.E. "Ted" Turner's Cable News Network (CNN) went on the air. |
1988 |
Atlanta hosted the Democratic National Convention. |
1989 |
Following a $143 million renovation, Underground Atlanta reopened in downtown Atlanta. |
1990 |
The National Football League announced Atlanta as host city for Super Bowl XXVII in 1994.
In Tokyo, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) names Atlanta as host city for the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games.
|
1991 |
The Atlanta Braves from "worst to first" in National League baseball by winning the National League pennant and competed in the World Series against the Minnesota Twins. |
1992 |
The Georgia Dome, the largest cable-supported stadium in the world, opened.
The Atlanta Braves repeated the 1991 baseball season by National League pennant and competing in the World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays. |
1994 |
The Dallas Cowboys beat the Buffalo Bills 30-13 on January 30 in Super Bowl XXVII, held in the Georgia Dome. |
1995 |
The Atlanta Braves won the World Series.
Olympic venue construction is finalized
|
1996 |
The Centennial Olympic Games werre held July 20-August 4. |
1999 |
The Atlanta Falcons competed in the Super Bowl, losing to the defending champion Denver Broncos. * |
2000 |
Atlanta hosted Super Bowl XXXIV;
the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Tennessee Titans.
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