Georgia History Timeline

Important Dates, Events, and Milestones in Georgia History

The history of what is now Georgia was influenced by two great prehistoric events: first, the upheaval that produced the mountains of the north, and second, the overflow of an ancient ocean that covered and flattened much of the rest of the state. Human beings have inhabited Georgia for at least 12,000 years. The first nomadic hunters were replaced by shellfish eaters who lived along the rivers. Farming communities later grew up at these sites, reaching their height in the Master Farmer culture about AD 800. These Native Americans left impressive mounds at Ocmulgee, near Macon, and at Etowah, north of Atlanta.

15th Century Georgia History Timeline

1498 - May 20 - Italian explorer John Cabot leaves Dursey Head (Ireland) and makes a 2nd trip to explore North America. On this trip Cabot have have explored the coast of Georgia

16th Century Georgia History Timeline

16th Century - Creek controlled almost all of Georgia

1526 - September 29 - First colony on mainland America is established by Lucas Vazques de Ayllon, believed location on Georgia's Sapelo Island

1540 - Spaniard Hernando de Soto explores Georgia

1566 - Forts built along the Atlantic coast, including the first in Georgia on St. Catherine's Island

17th Century Georgia History Timeline

1629 - Charles I grants a charter to Sir Robert Heath which includes all territory between 31 and 36 degrees N Lat. and extended from sea to sea. Approximately from Albemarle Sound in North Carolina to Jekyll Island off the coast of Georgia. Delivery of this charter is a matter of dispute. There are even claims that this charter was conveyed to Samuel Vassal in 1630.

1650 - Cherokee Nation had successfully migrated southward, occupying more than 40,000 square miles in the southern Appalachian Mountains.

1663 - March 24 - Charles II delivers the 1629 charter to the Earl of Claredon, the Duke of Albemarle, Sir George Carteret and five other favorites.

1665 - July 10 - Second charter extends the bounds of the grant to 36 degrees 30 min and 29 degrees N Lat. This is approximately from the northern border of North Carolina (36 degrees 34min) and Daytona Beach, Florida.

1670 -

• April - Charleston, South Carolina founded.
• July 18 - Treaty of peace between England and Spain, who claims the entire eastern half of North America, signed at Madrid, Spain provides that actual possession of land would determine ownership. The English have no settlements south of Charleston while the Spanish have settlements as far north as latitude 32? 30'. This is approximately the latitude of Port Royal (Santa Elena), South Carolina or about fifty miles north of Savannah.

1673 - The Spanish reoccupy Santa Catalina (St. Catherines Island) and begin constructing a fort.

1681 - February - Spanish abandon St. Catherines Island and move the garrison to Sapelo Island.

18th Century Georgia History Timeline

1717 -

• June - Sir Robert Montgomery secures a grant from the Palatine and Lords Proprietors of the Province of Carolina for the lands between the Alatamaha and Savannah Rivers. He names his colony the Margravate of Azilia.
• Sir Robert Montgomery publishes A Discourse Concerning the Designed Establishment of a New Colony to the South of Carolina, in the Most Delightful Country of the Universe.

1719 - The people of South Carolina rebel against the lords proprietors and elect James Moore governor.

1720 - Sir Robert Montgomery publishes A Description of the Golden Island.

1721 - Colonel John Barnwell, of South Carolina, builds Fort King George at the mouth of the Altamaha River. This is the first British settlement in what will be Georgia.

1729 - July, 25 - Seven of the lord proprietors surrender their rights to George II. Lord, John, Carteret later Earl of Granville, retains his one-eight interest in the soil creating a minor legal problem with title to the land. The lord proprietors receive #22,500 for their claims. This includes ?17,500 for the claims plus #5,000 for arrears in quitrents. A strip of land in North Carolina, lying between north latitudes 35? 34' and 36? 30', called the Granville district is laid off as Lord Carteret's one-eight share of Carolina.

1730 -

• February 13 - First written mention of Georgia. Earl of Egmont's diary. Georgia purchased Egmont's Journal of the Transaction of the Trustees for $16,000 in 1946. Egmont's Journal is known as Georgia's birth certificate.
• July 30 - James Oglethorpe and 20 associates petition George II for a royal charter to establish a colony southwest of Carolina.

1732 -

• January 27 - Privy Council approves Georgia's charter.
• February 28 - Lord Carteret, Baron of Hawnes, surrenders his one-eight interest, by purchase?, in all lands between the Savannah and Altamaha rivers to the Trustees.
• April - George II signs Georgia's charter.
• June 9 - The privy seal is affixed to Georgia's charter and George II grants charter with seven-eighties interest to James Edward Oglethorpe, the Earl of Egmont and 19 associates for all the land "between the Savannah and Altamaha Rivers from the Atlantic coast to the headwaters of these streams and thence to the South Seas" for 21 years.
• July 20 - Twelve trustees attend the first meeting of the Trustees for Establishing the Colony of Georgia in America at Old Palace Yard, Westminster. A total of 72 trustees will serve during the life of the charter. Six of the original Trustees will still be serving when the charter is surrendered. The Trustees are not allowed to hold office, own land or profit from Georgia in any way.
• October 3 - 114 colonists have been enrolled. Male colonists are drilled by the sergeants of the Royal Guard.
• November 17 - James Oglethorpe and 114 colonists embark on the Ann from Gravesend, England for Charles Town, Carolina. Ten tuns of Alderman Parson's best beer are on board. The Ann stops at Madeira to take on board five tuns of wine Two children die on the voyage. Four children are born.
• Parliament grants ?10,000 to colony.
• Numerous contributions are received from all classes of English society
• Limitations on land tenure.
• Colony is supposed to produce hemp, silk, grapes, olives and medicinal plants, for which England is dependent upon foreign countries. The hemp should not have been a problem. The police in Georgia currently spent most of their time preventing the cultivation of hemp.
• Silk culture had already been tried in Virginia. James I had attempted to substitute silk worms for tobacco. Virginia did produce some silk and Mrs. Washington had a ball gown of Virginia silk.
• Virginia silk provided the coronation robes for Charles I.
• Ship wreck in Shakespeare's The Tempest is based on the wreck of the Sea Venture which was wrecked while carrying in its cargo some mulberry plants to feed silk worms in Virginia.
• Georgia produced about 1,000 pounds of silk in the twenty years of Trustee rule.

1733 -

• January 13 - Ann arrives off Charles Town.
• January 14 - Ann departs Charles Town for Port Royal.
• January 14 - Oglethorpe departs Beaufort for Georgia.
• January 15 - Colonists land at Beaufort-Port Royal. South Carolina gives the colonists more than ?2,000, twenty barrels of rice, a hundred cows, thirty hogs and many horses, sheep and oxen. The residents of Edisto send 20 sheep. A Mr. Hume sends a silver spoon to be given to the first baby born in Georgia.
• January 24 - Sunday following -Day of Thanksgiving. Feast includes 4 fat hogs, eight turkeys, many fowls, English beef, a hogshead of punch, a hogshead of beer and a generous supply of wine.
• February 1 - Savannah founded by Oglethorpe with 116 colonists and Savanna becomes the first permanent English settlement.
• February - The Trustees Garden is established. This is the first public agricultural experimental garden in the colonies. The upland cotton which prolong slavery with such disastrous consequences is developed here as well as Georgia's famed peaches.
• March 17 - Birth of Georgia Close is the first recorded English birth in Georgia.
• April 6 - Death of Dr. William Cox is the first recorded English death in Georgia.
• July 7 - Oglethorpe convenes the first court in Georgia.
• July 11 - Forty Jews arrive in Savannah.
  Three Jews had received permission from the trustees to raise money for the Colony of Georgia. Instead of depositing the funds raised to the trustees account in the Bank of England, as expected, they use the money to recruit forty Jews and transport them to Georgia. The trustees were not pleased but Oglethorpe ignored their demands that the Jews be excluded. The Trustees wrote "Reward them suitable...but not with lands in Georgia."These Jews formed Mickve Israel the oldest Congregation now practicing Reform Judaism in the United States.

1734 -

• March 12 - Salzburgers arrive in Savannah and establish a town called Ebenezer which they soon abandoned for a site on the Savannah which is known briefly as New Ebenezer. The name Ebenezer means Stone of Help but is not German as often erroneously reported. It is either Hebrew or Chaldean and was a Philstine city mentioned in I Samuel, 4:1, 5:1 and 7:12.
• June - Oglethorpe arrives in England.
• Molasses Act

1735 -

• January 9 - Three laws enacted for Georgia under Trustee rule:
  1-Slaves prohibited in Georgia.
  2-Rum prohibited in Georgia.
  3-Traders required to purchase a license before trading with the Indians.
  
  Laws had to be enacted by parliament and signed by the King. The Trustees could only suggest laws.
• Augusta founded on the Savannah River.

1736

• February 6 - Oglethorpe arrives in Savannah John and Charles Wesley arrive in Georgia and a party of Moravians
• July 26 - Charles Wesley returns to England
• Oglethorpe again goes to England in late 1736.

1737

• April - William Stephens appointed by the Trustees as secretary for their affairs in Georgia.
• November - William Stephens arrives in Savannah and assumes his duties. His instructions are to provide the Trustees with detailed reports on military, civil and religious matters and to make recommendations to the magistrates. His purpose is to provide the Trustees with reliable information. When officials began to ignore instructions, forwarded, through Stephens, that conflict with Oglethorpe's commands the Trustees divide the colony.

1738 -

• February - John Wesley returns to England
• Moravians refuse military service and remove to Pennsylvania. They complete their exodus in 1740.
• March - William Stephens notes with disapproval that the "Malcontents"as he called the disaffected are mostly Lowland Scots. Georgia will ban Scots, both Highland and Lowland, from the state after the revolution.

1739 -

• October - England declares war on Spain. War of Jenkins Ear.
• November 15 - News reaches Frederica that a party of Spanish, Negroes and Indians recently landed on Amelia Island during the night, killed two unarmed Highlanders and mutilated the bodies.

1740 -

• January 1 - Oglethorpe invades Florida.
• June - Oglethorpe bombards St. Augustine for three weeks with out effect.
• July 5 - South Carolina troops at the siege of St. Augustine begin a disorderly retreat and Oglethorpe lifts siege.

1741 -

• April 15 - Trustees divide Georgia into two counties: Savannah and Frederica. William Stephens is appointed president of Savannah.
• October 7 - William Stephens is made President of Savannah County in an attempt to keep the Savannah officials under Trustee control. Oglethorpe is left in command of Frederica County.

1742 -

• July 7 - The Battle of Bloody Marsh was the last Spanish action in the War of Jenkins' Ear. The Spanish were prevented from taking Charleston. Almost all authors speak of a great slaughter and numerous dead but no one quotes actual casualties figures. Oglethorpe reports killing 170 to 200 Spaniards. Both English and Spanish sources report the action as being especially bloody. Georgia desperately needed a victory and the Spanish needed an excuse. The Boston Post October 4, 1742 p2 reported: "They both did meet, they both did fight, they both did run away, they both did strive to meet again, the quite Contrary Way."In any event it was a Glorious Victory.
• July 14 - Parliament directs the trustees to rescind the prohibition on rum. The officers charged with enforcing the rum prohibition were using their position to sell rum.
• July 25 - First Thanksgiving Day in Georgia.

1743

• April 18 - Trustees abrogate constitution to the extent that it provides for a separate board at Savannah.
• July 11 - William Stephens becomes President of Georgia.

1744

• Oglethorpe departs Georgia on the Success.
• Georgia is not prospering under Trustee rule. The agricultural schemes and utopian dreams, of the Trustees, have all evaporated.
• Lord Carteret surrenders all interest in his grant.

1749

• Law prohibiting the importation of slaves rescinded. Georgia planters were hiring South Carolina slaves for life and even openly purchasing slaves at the dock in Savannah.
• July 20 - Mary Musgrove declares herself Empress of the Creeks and marches on Savannah with an Creek Army to either collect moneys due her for services rendered during the War of Jenkins' Ear or to drive the whites from Georgia. The Creeks are satisfied with a few presents and some rum. Mary's claims are settled by London for ?2,100 and title to St. Catherine's Island.

1751

• Trustees decide to surrender charter a year early but continue as a defacto government until relieved by a royal governor in 1754.
• April - William Stephens retires and becomes the first person to receive a pension from Georgia.
• April 8 - Henry Parker appointed president of Georgia.

1752

• December 6 - Patrick Graham appointed president of Georgia on Henry Parker's death.
• May 16 - Puritans arrive in Georgia from Dorchester, South Carolina. They were originally from Dorchester, Massachusetts. There are 280 whites in 43 families and 536 Negro slaves. A second group of 70 bring 1,500 slaves with them. They settled Midway and the now deserted port of Sunbury.
• June 23 - Trustees hold last meeting. They sign and seal deed of surrender. The seal is then defaced.
• July - The lord justices issue a proclamation that all officers, both civil and military, are to continue in office and await the pleasure of his majesty.
• September 2 -The new style Gregorian calendar replaces the old style Julian calendar in the British Empire. Wednesday September 2, is followed by Thursday September 14. New Years Day is moved from March 25, to January 1. Riots ensue.

1754

• March 5 - Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations submit a plan for establishing a civil government in Georgia.
• May - Benjamin Franklin draws up a plan of union and publishes his famous Unite or Die cartoon. The cartoon supposedly shows a serpent divided into 10 pieces with the head labeled NE for New England and the other segments labeled NY, NJ, P, M, V, NC, SC and G. The plan of union is rejected.
• June 19 - Albany Convention assembles representatives of New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland and New England meet with the Six Nations to work out a joint plan of defense against the French.
• June 21 - Seal for Georgia approved by George II. A engraved seal of silver equal to the ones sent to North and South Carolina is ordered sent to the governor.
• October 29 - Georgia's first royal governor, Reynolds, arrives at Savannah.
• October 31 - John Reynolds takes the oath of office and becomes the first royal governor of Georgia.

1755 - January 7 - First Assembly under the British Crown meets at Savannah. First law passed by the Assembly provides for punishment of anyone who questions the decisions of the Assembly.

1756 - January - Four hundred French Arcadians arrive in Georgia. About 6,000 will be sent to Georgia and the Carolinas.

1757 -

• February 8 - The Assembly enacts a bill which permits justices of the peace to bind out all Acadians (Cajuns), that refused to work, to anyone willing to feed, lodge and cloth them in return for whatever service could be obtained of them.
• February 16 - Henry Ellis arrives in Savannah and observes the burning of William Little in effigy that evening.
• Reynolds is relieved by lieutenant Governor Henry Ellis and ordered to London for an investigation of his governorship.

1758 -

• March 17 - Georgia organized into 8 parishes: Christ Church, Saint Andrew, Saint George, Saint James, Saint John, Saint Matthew, Saint Paul and Saint Philip.
• May 17 - Henry Ellis appointed governor upon the resignation of Reynolds.

1760 -

• May 13 - James Wright appointed lieutenant governor of Georgia.
• October 11 - James Wright arrives in Savannah.
• October 25 - George II dies after a 33-year reign at 77.
  George III begins a disastrous 60-year reign.
• October 31 - James Wright takes oath of office as lieutenant governor.
• November 2 - Ellis is relieved by James Wright at his own request due to the bad effect of the weather on his health. Ellis was governor of Nova Scotia from 1761 to 1763 but never visited that colony.

1761 - May 4 - James Wright appointed governor.

1763

• February 10 - Treaty of Paris terminates the Seven Years War. France cedes Canada and all territory east of the Mississippi to Great Britain and West Louisiana to Spain. Spain cedes all territory east of the Mississippi, with the exception of New Orleans, to Great Britain.
• April 7 - Georgia Gazette begins publication. Georgia Gazette is the first newspaper in Georgia and the eight in the English colonies.
• October 7 - Settlement between northern Florida and the 50th parallel west of the Alleghenies banned.

1764 - April 5 - Sugar Act passed. First serious dispute between the colonies and Great Britain.

1765 -

• 4 additional parishes formed: Saint Mary, Saint Thomas, Saint David and Saint Patrick.
• March 22 -Stamp Act passed
• May 2 - The Georgia Gazette suspends publication due to Stamp Act.
• October 7 - Stamp Act Congress held in New York. Georgia sends an unofficial observer those sole duty is to bring back a copy of the minutes.
• October 31 - Stamp Master hanged in effigy in Savannah.
• November 1 - Stamp Act becomes effective but Georgia has no stamps, no stamp master and no official notice of the Stamp Act. Wright suspends the courts and clears ships with certificates attesting that no stamps are available. Savannah is soon crowded with ships from all over the Empire seeking passes.
  
  The main problem with the Stamp Act aside from abstract theories of taxation and representation is practical one. The Stamps must be paid for in specie which is very scarce. The medium of exchange is paper currency and there is not enough coin in Georgia to pay for the Stamps required for one year, James Habersham estimates Georgia's income in gold and silver at ?1,000 per annum and the Stamp Act requirements at ?5,000 per annum.
• November 6 - The Liberty Boys meet at Machenry's Tavern for their first meeting.
• December 4 - Port of Savannah closed.
• December 5 - Stamps arrive on the Speedwell.. Reynolds has the Stamps hidden on Cockspur Island.

1766 -

• January 3 or 6 - Mr. Angus, stamp master, arrives in Savannah
• January 7 - Sixty to seventy ships cleared from Savannah with stamped paper. Georgia only colony, including those that chose to stay in the British Empire, where stamps were sold.
• February 8 - Unsold Stamps returned to the Speedwell.
• South Carolina denounces Georgia as An infamous colony and resolves to burn all vessels trading with Georgia and to hang all persons trafficking with Georgia. Two Georgia vessels are captured before they can clear the Charleston bar and their cargoes are condemned and destroyed. South Carolina threatens to invade Georgia in order to teach Georgians to love liberty.
• March 4 - House of Commons votes to rescind Stamp Act.
• March 17 - House of Lords votes to rescind Stamp Act.
• March 18 - George III signs bill to rescind Stamp Act
• May 21,1766 - The Georgia Gazette resumes publication.

1767 - June 29 - The Townshend Revenue Act passed by Parliament The Act imposes duties on tea, glass, paint, oil, lead and paper imported into the colonies. The estimated revenue is ?40,000 per annum.
Charles, Champagne Charley, Townsend is Chancellor of the Exchequer. Townshend said, "These colonies are children of the mother country. They were planted by our care and nurtured by us. They will not grudge us their mite to help with the heavy burden we bear."

Colonel Barre scoffed, "Planted by our care indeed! They fled from our oppression and thrive by our neglect.

James Habersham warns the British, "If you persist in your right to tax the colonists, you will drive them to rebellion."

1768 -

• June 10 - The sloop Liberty, owned by the smuggler John Hancock, is seized by British custom agents at Boston. Riots ensue.
• August 1 - Boston merchants draw up a non importation agreement.

1769 - September - Jonathan Bryan leads in a vote by citizens of Savannah to boycott British goods.

1770 -

• January 19&20 - The battle of Golden Hill New York in the first clash between British forces and colonists.
• March 5 - Boston Massacre. British troops fire into a rioting mob killing five men and wounding six. Three men die instantly and two die later of wounds. The British Captain and his men are tried for murder and acquitted. The prosecutor is Robert Treat Paine and the defense attorneys are John Adams and Josiah Quincy.

1774

• September 5 - First Continental Congress in Philadelphia is attended by twelve of the nineteen continental colonies. Georgia, Canada, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, East Florida and West Florida do not attend.
• October 14 - A Declaration of Rights and Grievances adopted by the Continental Congress. George Washington writes "no thinking man in all of North America desires independence".
• October 20 - The Continental Congress adopts The Association which is an agreement to import nothing from Great Britain after December 1, and to export nothing to Great Britain, Ireland or the British West Indies after September 10 unless grievances against the Crown are redressed. The Association is ratified within six months by all colonies except Georgia and New York.
• October 26 - The Continental Congress sends a petition to King George and an address to the British people.
• December - St. Johns Parish ratifies the acts of the Continental Congress and attempt to secede from Georgia and join South Carolina. St. Johns elects its own delegate, Lyman Hall, to the Continental Congress. The Continental Congress banned all intercourse with Georgia except for St. Johns Parish.

1775

• January 18 - First Provincial Congress. Only five of the twelve parishes sent representatives.
• April 19 - Battles of Lexington and Concord
• May 10 - Second Continental Congress
• May 11 - The Royal magazine in Savannah looted by Habersham and other members of the Council of Safety. 600 pounds of powder taken.
• June 15 - George Washington appointed commander in chief of the Continental Army.
• June 22 - William Ewen appointed President of Council of Safety.
• July 4 - Second Provincial Congress. All parishes sent representatives.
• July 8 - The Continental Congress sends the Olive Branch Petition to the King.
• July 10 - Habersham and Captain Bowen accomplished the first seizure of a British ship at sea. They take Captain Maitland's armed schooner which is carrying powder. Georgia retains 9,000 pounds and sends 5,000 pounds to the Continental Army.
• August 13 - George III Proclaims the America's in a State of Rebellion.
• December 11 - George Walton appointed President of Council of Safety.

1776

• South Carolina adopts a resolution to annex Georgia and threatens to destroy Georgia by constructing a town opposite Savannah and drying up Georgia's commerce.
• January- South Carolina agents arrive in Georgia to agitate for a union of South Carolina and Georgia.
• January 18- The Council of Safety issuers a warrant for the arrest of Governor Wright and the Royal Council.
• February- The Georgia Gazette ceases publication.
• February 11- Wright and several other Royal Officials break their parole and escape on the HMS Scarborough..
• February 20- William Ewen, President of Council of Safety.
• March 2&3- Battle of the Rice Boats at Savannah
• April 15- The Third Provincial Congress adopts the "Rules and Regulations" for the government of Georgia pending advice and direction from he Continental Congress.
• May 1- Archibald Bullock, Appointed President by the Third Provincial Congress.
• July 2- The Continental Congress, with New York abstaining, declared the United Colonies free and independent states.
• July 4 -Declaration of independence justifying the action of July 2 approved.

1777

• February 5 - The twelve parishes are organized into eight counties: Burke, Camden, Chatham, Effingham, Glynn, Liberty, Richmond and Wilkes
• March 4 -Button Gwinnett, Appointed President by Council of Safety.
• May 6 - Lachlin McIntosh wounds Button Gwinette in a duel. Gwinette dies a few days later. Bad blood from the duel poisons Georgia politics for years.
• May 8 - John Adam Treutlen elected governor by the First House of Assembly.
• July 15 - Governor Treutlen issuers a proclamation offering ?100 for the arrest of William Henry Drayton or any other person or persons aiding Drayton in advocating the union of South Carolina and Georgia.
• August - Mr. Drayton accuses Governor Treutlen and the Executive Council of Georgia of being Tories.
• September 16 - An act is adopted subordinating all Georgia laws to "the resolves and regulations of the honourable the Continental Congress".
• Georgia is the only state that did not declare independence.

1778 -

• January 10 - John Houstoun elected governor by the Second House of Assembly.
• December 29 - British troops capture Savannah during the Revolutionary War.

1779

• Spain, the united States unsung ally, asks Britain to recognize the independence of the thirteen united States of America and to cease hostilities. Spain contributes over $5,000,000 to the revolution.
• Britain offers Spain Florida, Gibraltar and the New Foundland cod fishing rights for neutrality.
• The Georgia Gazette resumes publication as the Royal Georgia Gazette.
• January 7 - William Glascock, President of Executive Council.
• January 31 - British take Augusta.
• February 14 - Battle of Kettle Creek.
• March 3 - Battle of Brier Creek.
• March 3 - James Mark Prevost, lieutenant governor and acting governor.
• June 21 - Spain declares war on Great Britain.
• Spain captures Natchez. This will interfere with Georgia's efforts to establish Bourbon County Georgia in 1785.
• July 24 - Seth John Cuthbert, Appointed temporary President of Supreme Executive Council.
• August 6 - John Wereat, Appointed President of Supreme Executive Council.
• September 16 - General Lincoln and Admiral d'Estaing besiege Savannah
• September 25 - Bombardment of Savannah begins at seven a.m. but is discontinued to improve the batteries.
• October 3 - Firing resumes at midnight but is again discontinued as the French gunners are drunk.
• October 9 - Storming of Savannah complete failure with terrible loss of life.
• October 11 - Count Pulaski dies of wounds sustained during siege of Savannah.
• October 18 - Siege of Savannah abandoned after 34 days.
• November/December - George Walton chosen governor by Georgians opposed to the Supreme Executive Council.

1780

• January 4 - Richard Howley elected governor by the Fourth House of Assembly.
• The Assembly creates an Executive Council and declares acts of the Supreme Executive Council null and void.
• George Wells appointed President of Executive Council.
• February 3 - Heard's Fort designated as Capital of Georgia.
• February 16 - Humphrey Wells appointed President of the Executive Council.
• February 18 - Humphrey Wells resigns as President of the Executive Council in favor of Stephen Heard.
• February 18 - Stephen Heard, appointed President of the Executive Council.
• May 24 - Governor Howley serves as a Georgia's delegate to the Continental Congress.
• August - Myrick Davies, President of Executive Council.

1781

• August 17 - Assembly meets in Augusta and elects Nathan Brownson speaker.
• August 18 - Nathan Brownson elected governor by Assembly.
• March 1 - Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union signed.
• March 2 - The United States in Congress assembles
• October 19 - General Cornwallis surrenders.

1782

• January 3 - John Martin, governor.
• July 112 - British evacuate Savannah

1783

• The Georgia Gazette resumes publication as the Gazette of the State of Georgia.
• January 8 - Lyman Hall, governor.

1784

• January 9 - John Houstoun, governor.
• February 25 - Franklin and Washington Counties formed.

1785

• Combined Society formed.
• January 6 - Samuel Elbert, governor.
• January 28 - University of Georgia founded
• February 7 - Bourbon County Georgia formed.

1786

• January 9 - Edward Telfair, governor.
• February 36 - Greene County formed.
• July 1 - Oglethorpe dies.

1787

• January 5 - George Mathews, governor.
• September 21 - Battle of Jacks Creek.
• December 31 - Georgia ratifies United States Constitution. The fourth state to do so.

1788

• Bourbon County Act rescinded.
• January 2 - The Georgia delegates formally sign the United States Constitution at Augusta and Georgia becomes the 4th state.
• January 25 - George Handley, governor.

1789

• January 7 - George Walton, governor.
• November 9 - Edward Telfair, governor.
• December 21 - Governor Telfair signs first Yazoo Act selling 20,000,000 acres of and for $207,000 or about one cent per acre to. The Yazoo Companies attempted to pay in worthless paper money and Georgia refuses to transfer the land. The Virginia Yazoo, headed by Patrick Henry, even had the unmitigated gall to attempt to pay in worthless Georgia paper money. The South Carolina Yazoo Company sues Georgia in the US Supreme Court to compel delivery but the suit fails when Georgia is able to obtain ratification of the eleventh amendment to the US Constitution on February 7, 1795.

1790 - December 10 - Columbia and Elbert Counties formed.

1792 - Eli Whitney, 27, invents a gin capable of handling short stapled upland cotton at Mulberry Grove Plantation in Georgia. First improvement to the cotton gin since 300 BC.

1793

• February 12 - The Fugitive Slave Act passed.
• November 5/7 - George Mathews, governor.
• December 19 - Hancock, Bryan, McIntosh, Montgomery, Oglethorpe and Warren Counties formed.

1794

• April 28 - Count d'Estaing guillotined by the Paris mob
• May4 - General Elijah Clarke, dissatisfied with the Treaty of Paris, crosses the Oconee and establishes the Transoconee Republic in Creek lands. The republic is 10 miles wide and stretches for 120 miles along the Oconee River.
• September 28 - General Clarke surrenders ending the Oconee War.

1795

• January 2 - House passes Second Yazoo Bill.
• January 3 - Senate passes Second Yazoo Bill.
• January 7 - Governor Mathews signs the Second Yazoo Act selling somewhere between 35,000,000 and 50,000,000 acres of land for $500,000.
• February 7 - Eleventh amendment to the US constitution ratified foreclosing South Carolina Yazoo Company v. Georgia..

1796

• January 15 - Jared Irwin, governor.
• February 6 - Yazoo Act rescinded
• February 8 - Bullock County formed.
• February 11 - Jackson County formed
• February 18 - Yazoo records burned with Holy Fire from Heaven.
• February 20 - Lincoln County formed.
• A fine of $1,000 and permanent disbarment from any office of trust or profit is prescribed for any official taking notice of the Yazoo Act in any way.

1797 - Nineteen pages of Yazoo records discovered in a mortgage book. The pages are torn out and consigned to the flames. The missing pages are replaced by a page pasted in to explain the reason for the missing pages

1798

• Georgia forbids further importation of slaves.
• January 12 - James Jackson, governor.

1799 - February 26 - Governor Jackson announces a competition for a design for a State Seal in the Louisville Gazette.
Daniel Sturges, state surveyor, submits the winning design and wins the $30 prize.

19th Century Georgia History Timeline

1801

• March 3 - David Emanuel, President of Senate.
• November 7 - Joshia Tattnall, Jr., governor.
• December 5 - Clarke and Tatnall Counties formed.

1802 - November 4 - John Milledge, governor.

1803 - May 11 - Baldwin, Wayne and Wilkinson Counties formed.

1806 - September 23 - Jared Irwin, governor.

1807 - December 10 - Jasper, Jones, Laurens, Morgan, Putnam, and Telfair Counties formed.

1808

• January 1 - United Stares bans all importation of slaves.
• December 138 - Pulaski County formed.

1809

• Fletcher v. Peck comes before the US Supreme Court.
• November 10 - David B. Mitchell governor.
• December 14 - Twiggs County formed.

1810 - March 6 - US Supreme Court rules in Fletcher v. Peck that Fletchers title is valid and Georgia's recision of the 1795 Yazoo Act invalid.

1811 - December 5 - Madison County formed.

1812 - December 10 - Emanual County formed.

1813 - November 5 - Peter Early, governor.

1814

• Battle of Horseshoe Bend.
• December 24 - Treaty of Ghent ends War of 1812. United States and Great Britain agree to cooperate in suppressing the slave trade but Yankee Clippers built at Baltimore, Maryland and New Port, Rhode Island out sail the ponderous British man-of-wars assigned to patrol the slave lanes.

1815 - November 10 - David B. Mitchell, governor.

1816 - William H. Crawford of Georgia states' rightist and last Federalist candidate for president loses to James Monroe 183 electoral votes to 34 electoral votes.

1817 -

• First Seminole war begins as Georgia backwoodsmen attack Indians just north of the Florida border. !817-1818.
• November 47 - William Rabun, governor.

1818 -

• March 9 - Andrew Jackson arrives at Fort Scott to concentrate troops for an expedition into Spanish Florida against who have been raiding United States territory.
• December 15 - Appling, Early Gwinnett, Habersham, Hall, Irwin and Walton Counties formed.
• First Seminole War ends.

1819

• May 22 - S.S. Savannah sails from Savannah, Georgia and arrives in Liverpool, England on June 30.
• October 24 - Mathew Talbot, President of Senate.
• November 5 - John Clark, governor.
• December 21 - Rabun County formed.

1820

• March 3 - Missouri Compromise accepted by Congress. Missouri is admitted as a slave state in exchange for Maine's admittance as a free state on condition that slavery be abolished in the rest of the Louisiana Purchase.
• December 20 - Campbell and Randolph Counties formed.

1821

• May 15 - Dooly, Fayette, Henry, Houston, Monroe and Newton Counties formed.
• December 15 - Governor John Clark signs bill establishing Clinton Female Academy.

1822 - December 9 - Bibb, Dekalb and Pike Counties formed.

1823

• November 7 - George M. Troup, governor.
• December 8 - Decatur County formed.

1824 - December 15 - Upson and Ware Counties formed.

1825 -

• February 12 - Creek Chiefs cede all Creek lands in Georgia to the United States in Treaty of Indian Springs and promise to leave Georgia by September 1.
  Creek tribesmen repudiate treaty.
• June 9 - Carroll, Coweta, Lee, Muscogee and Troop Counties formed.
• December 12 - Baker County formed.
• December 23 - Lowndes and Thomas Counties formed.
• December 24 - Butts and TaliaferroCounties formed.

1826 - January 24 - Treaty of Washington abrogates Treaty of Indian Springs. The Creeks cede a smaller area and are allowed to remain on their lands until January 1, 1826.

1827 -

• November 7 - John Forsyth, governor.
• December 14, - Harris, Marion, Meriwether and Talbot.

1828 - Gold discovered in Georgia.

1829 - November 4 - George R. Gilmer, governor.

1830

• December 21 - Cherokee County formed.
• December 22 - Heard County formed.
• December 23 - Stewart County formed.

1831 -

• March 18 - US Supreme Court rules that an Indian tribe may not sue in federal court. Cherokee Nation v. Georgia
• November 9 Wilson Lumpkin, governor.
• December 26 - Sumter County formed.

1832 -

• The New England Anti-Slavery Society is founded at Boston
• March 3 - US Supreme Court rules that the US Government has exclusive authority over tribal Indians and their lands within any state, Worcester v. Georgia.
• May 9 - Seminoles in Florida sign treaty ceding all tribal land east of the Mississippi. Fifteen Chiefs sign. See 1835.
• December 3 - Bartow, Cobb, Crawford, Floyd, Forsyth, Gilmer, Lumpkin, Murray, Paulding, and Union Counties formed.

1833 -

• December 4 - The American Anti-Slavers Society is founded at Philadelphia.
• Hardy Ivy builds a cabin on land that will become Atlanta.
• December 18 - Walker County formed.

1834 - July 9 - The S.S. John Randolph, the first successful iron steamship, is launched in Savannah.

1835 -

• Second Seminole War begins. Osceola thrusts his knife through the 1832 treaty. Osceola is arrested but escapes. 1835-1842.
• November 4 - William Schley, governor.

1836 -

• Seminoles massacre Major Francis L. Dade and his 103 man command.
• February - Battle of Hitchity.
• March 27 - Colonel J.W. Fannin and his Georgian's executed by order of Santa Ana at Goliad on Palm Sunday.
• July - Battle of Brushy Creek.
• July 3 - Battle of Chickasawachee Swamp.
• July 27 - Battle of Echowanochaway Creek.
• December 19 - Emory College established. The original site was Oxford.

1837 -

• Terminus western terminal of Western and Atlantic Railroad. Will become Atlanta.
• Osceola and several followers are arrested under a flag of truce at St. Augustine on orders of General Thomas S. Jesup.
• November 8 - George R. Gilmer, governor.
• December 14 - Macon County formed.
• December 25 - Dade County formed.
• December 25 - Zachary Taylor, Old Rough and Ready, defeats Seminoles at Okeechobee Swamp.

1838 -

• Trail of Tears. Cherokees and Creek Indians are forced from the state.
• Underground railroad started.
• December 28 - Chattooga County formed.

1839 -

• May 12 - Georgia Historical Society Founded.
• November 6 - Charles J. McDonald, governor.

1842 - Crawford W. Long performs first recorded operation under general anesthesia. Ether parties are a vogue and Long notices the absence of pain in guests that fall down and bruise themselves at an ether party he hosts. He removes a cyst from James Venable's neck while Venable is under the influence of ether.

1843 -

• Terminus is renamed Marthasville after Martha Atalanta Lumpkin daughter of Governor Wilson Lumpkin. See 1847.
• November 8 - George W. Crawford, governor.

1844 - Crawford W. Long uses ether in childbirth at Jefferson, Georgia. He administers ether to his wife during the birth of their second child.

1845 - The Methodist Episcopal Church in America splits into northern and southern conferences after Georgia Bishop James O. Andrews resists an order to give up his slaves or resign his Bishopric.

1847 -

• Atlanta, Georgia is incorporated. Formally Marthasville.
• Named for Martha Atalanta Lumpkin daughter of Governor Wilson Lumpkin.
• Atalanta is a variant of Atlanta.
• November 3 - George W.B. Towns, governor.

1848 - Dred Scott sues in US Supreme Court for his freedom.

1849 -

• 1849 - Forsyth Female Collegiate Institute established in Forsyth. This institution will become Tiff College
• 1849 - Harriet Tubman escapes to the north and becomes a conductor on the underground railroad.

1850 -

• Compromise of 1850
• February 13 - Gordon County formed.
• February 14 - Clinch County formed.
• September 8,1850 - A new Fugitive Slave Act strengthens the 1793 act by substituting federal jurisdiction for state jurisdiction.

1851-

• February 16 - Clay County formed.
• November 5 - Howell Cobb, governor.
• December 20 - Polk and Spalding Counties formed.
• December 30 - Whitfield County formed.

1852 -

• Male and Female Seminary established in Barnesville. This school will become Gordon Military College in 1927.
• January 15 - Taylor County formed.

1853 -

• November 9 - Hershel V. Johnson, governor.
• December 5 - Catoosa and Pickens Counties formed.
• December 7 - Hart County formed.
• December 15 - Dougherty County formed.
• December 16 - Webster County formed.
• December 20 - Fulton and Worth Counties create.

1854 -

• January 21 - Fannin County formed.
• February 9 - Coffee County formed.
• February 13 - Chattahooche County formed.
• February 18 - Charlton County formed.
• February 20 - Calhoun County formed.
• February 28 - Republican party organized at Ripon, Wisconsin by former Whigs and disaffected Democrats opposed to the extension of slavery.
• Wisconsin Supreme Court rules Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 is unconstitutional.

1856 -

• J.C. Fremont, born in Savannah, Georgia, is the first Republican candidate for president of the United States. He is defeated by James Buchanan. Fremont will be one of two native born Georgian's to serve as Generals in the United States army during the War Between the States.
• January 26 - Haralson County formed.
• February 16 - Terrell County formed.
• February 25 - Berrien and Colquit Counties formed.
• February 26 - Miller County formed.
• March 6 - Towns County formed.

1857 -

• March 6 - Dred Scott decision rules Missouri Compromise of 1820 unconstitutional.
• November 6 - Joseph E. Brown, governor.
• December 3 - Dawson County formed
• December 18 - Milton and Pierce Counties formed
• December 19 - Glascock County formed.
• December 21 - Mitchell County formed.
• December 22 - Schley, White and Wilcox Counties formed.

1858 -

• November 30 - Clayton County formed.
• December 10 - Quitman County formed.
• December 11 - Banks, Brooks and Johnson Counties formed.
• December 13 - Echols County formed.

1859 -

• March 7
• US Supreme Court upholds the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, Ableman v. Booth reversing the Wisconsin court decision of 1854
• Georgia prohibits the post-mortum manumission of slaves by last will and testament. The state legislature votes to permit free blacks to be sold into slavery if they have been indicted as vagrants.

1860 - December 3 - President Buchanan in his message to congress denies the right of secession but asserted that the constitution gave him no right to attempt coercion.

1861 -

• January 2 - Georgia seizes Fort Pulaski.
• January 9 Star of the West attempts to resupply Fort Sumter but veers off when fired upon. Bishop Stevens claims first shot. G. E. Haynsworth fired first shot across her bow and Cadet Horlbeck fires second shot at her..
• January 10 -
  North Carolina irregulars seize Fort Johnson and Fort Caswell.
• January 14 - Forts Johnson and Caswell returned to United States forces.
• January 19- Georgia rescinds the January 2, 1788 ratification of the United States Constitution.. The motion is introduced by Judge Eugenius Nisbet and the vote is 208 to 89. All members sign but six do so under protest.
• January 24 - Georgia forces occupy the Augusta Arsenal.
• March 4 - Lincoln inaugurated.
  Lincoln informs Governor Pickens of South Carolina of his intentions to declare war if federal troops are fired upon.
  Pickens informs Montgomery and Davis orders Beauregard to reduce Fort Sumter.
  April 12 - Bombardment of Fort Sumter begins at 4:30 A.M. The bombardment lasts 33 hours and the Confederates fire 3,000 shells. No one on either side is killed and only one injured at Ford Sumter. Edmund Ruffin is credited with first shot. Captain James fired the signal shell from a ten inch mortar on Johnson's Island but the first gun from the iron clad battery on Morris Island is generally considered the first shot. Roger A. Pryor declined the honor of firing the signal shell. Ruffin later wraps himself in the Confederate Flag and commits suicide.
• April 13 - Fort Sumter surrenders at 2:30 PM on Saturday. Anderson is allowed to fire a 100 gun salute to the United States Flag. only 50 guns are fired. One of the guns explodes and Private Daniel Hough is killed and five are injured killed. Some authors say two were killed. Perhaps one died of wounds. Lt. R. K. Meade joins the Confederate Army.
• April 14 - Fort Sumter is evacuated at noon. The commanding officer at Fort Sumter is Major Anderson the artillery officer is Abner Doubleday. Doubleday will be credited, erroneously, with the invention of baseball in 1839 in Cooperstown N.Y. by the 1908 Spalding Commission . War Between the States begins.
• April 15 - Lincoln calls for 75,000 volunteers for three months service.
• April 16 - Forts Johnson and Caswell occupied by North Carolina forces.
• April 19 - Riots in Baltimore when the 6th Massachusetts Infantry passes through to Washington.
• Rail communications between Washington and the North are cut off for three weeks.
• Troops to reinforce Washington are landed at Annapolis
• September 11 -Joe Brown elected to a third term as governor.
• November 8 -Joe Brown inaugurated as governor.

1862 -

• February 10 - General Robert E. Lee requests permission from Governor Joseph E. Brown to dismantle the batteries on Jekyll Island as the inhabitants of the island and Brunswick had removed inland. Major Edward C. Anderson removes the guns and sends them to Savannah.
• March 9 - United States forces occupy Jekyll Island.
• April - Conscription Act passed by the Confederate States.
• April 12 - The Great Locomotive Chase
• July - The Griswold Cotton Gin Company produces their first revolving pistols for the Confederate Army.

1863 -

• March 3 - Conscription Act passed by the United States.
• April 11 - Fort Pulaski, Georgia captured by United States forces.
• July 13-16 - Draft Riots in New York City
• September 19&20 - Confederates Victory at the Battle of Chicamauga.

1864 -

• May 8 - Battle of Dug Gap.
• May 14-15 - Battle of Resaca, Georgia.
• May 16 - Battle of Rome Cross Roads.
• June 3 - Capture of the USS Water Witch
• June 4 - Battle of New Hope Church, Georgia
• June 27 - Battle of Kennesaw Mountain.
• July - Stoneman Raid.
• July 4 - Battle of Ruff's Mill.
• July 19 - Battle of Moore's Mill
• July 20 - Battle of Peachtree Creek, Georgia.
• July 22 - Battle of Atlanta begins.
• July 28 - Battle of Ezra Church.
• July 30 - Battle of Dunlap Farm.
• July 31 - Battle of Sunshine Church. Maj. Gen. George Stoneman, USA. and 600 men surrenders to Brig. Gen. Alfred Iverson, Jr. P.A.C.S.
• August 2 - Stoneman's Raiders repulsed at Barbers Creek outside Athens by Lumpkin's Artillery.
• August 3 - Battle of Jug Tavern or Kings Tanyard.
• August, 31 & September 1 - Battle of Jonesboro.
• September 1 - Confederates evacuate Atlanta, Georgia
• September 2 - Atlanta occupied by United States troops.
• October 5 - Battle of Allatoona, Georgia
• October 12 - Battle of Narrows.
• November 15 - Sherman's begins march to the sea.
• November 19 - United States forces occupy Buckhead and burn buildings and supplies.
• November 22 - Battle of Griswoldville.
  United States troops hold mock session of the legislature and rescind ordnance of succession.
• November 23 - United States troops enter Milledgeville.
  Secretary of State Nathan C. Barnett hides the Great seal of State under his house and the legislature minutes in a hog pen .
• November 28 - Cavalry action at Buckhead Church.
• December 12 -Battle between Confederate Gunboats on the Savannah River and United States field artillery.
• December 13 - United States troops capture Fort McAllister, Georgia.
• December 19 - Savannah evacuated.
• December 21 - United States troops occupy Savannah.

1865 -

• April 8 - Lee surrenders.
• April 14 - Lincoln shot by John Wilks Booth at Fords Theater on Good Friday.
• April 14 - General Anderson raises the same flag over Fort Sumter that he lowered 4 years ago. S3 p81.
• 1865 - President Johnson vetoes civil rights bill. Congress passes the bill over the veto.
• April 16 -Battle of Columbus. Last major land battle during the War Between the States.
• April 16 - Battle of West Point. Fort Tyler falls after an 8 hour siege.
• April 17 - United States forces burn Haiman's Sword Factory. The factory also produced Colt Navy Pistols.
• May 10 - Jefferson Davis captured by United States troops at Irwinsville, Georgia.
• May 11 - Governor Joe Brown arrested by United States troops.
• May 12 - Surrender of some 3,000 to 4,000 Confederate troops, mostly Georgians, at Kingston.
• June 17 - First Reconstruction. James Johnson appointed Provisional Governor by President Johnson
• June 29 - Governor Joe Brown resigns..
• November - Legislature and other officials elected.
• November 10 - Commandant of Confederate prisoner of war camp at Andersonville, Georgia is hanged in Washington's Old Capitol Prison in Washington D.C.
• December 9 - Legislature ratifies 13th amendment.
• December 14 - Charles J. Jenkins, governor.

1866 -

• Kentucky sends Georgia a 100,000 bushels of corn.
• April 26 - First Confederate Memorial Day.
• April 30 - Joint Committee sends 14th amendment to Congress.
• November - Georgia rejects 14th amendment.
• June 8 - Congress passes 14th amendment.

1867 -

• Atlanta University is founded. It will become a leading institution of higher learning for blacks.
• March 2 - Second Reconstruction. Georgia placed under the 3rd Military district by the Reconstruction Act of March 2.
• March 30/April 1 - General John Pope arrives in Georgia or appointed to take command of the 3rd military district.
• May - General Pope closes the University of Georgia.
• August 5 - President Johnson fires Secretary of War Edwin Stanton.
• December 9 - Constitutional Convention meets in Atlanta. 169 total delegates. 37 Negro delegates.

1868 -

• The model for RFD mail begins in Norwood.
• January - General Meade succeeds General Pope.
• January 13 - Brig. Gen. Thomas H. Ruger, Military Governor.
• January 30 - General George Meade removes Governor Jenkins from office. Jenkins takes $400,000 in State money, deposits it in a New York bank, hides the State Seal and flees to Nova Scotia.
• March 11 - Constitutional Convention adjourns.
• March 13 - President Johnson impeached. Acquitted by one vote on May 26.
• April 20-24/21-23 - Voting on new constitution.
• May 11 - First convicts leased in Georgia.
  General Thomas Ruger USA Provisional Governor of Georgia leases 100 able-bodied and healthy Negro convicts to William A. Fort.
• July 3 - Second group of 100 convicts leased to William A. Fort and Joseph J. Printup.
• July 4 - New legislature meets.
• July 4 - Rufus B. Bullock, Provisional Governor.
• July 13 - General Thomas Kruger appointed military governor of Georgia. Last governor to live in Milledgevile.
• July 21 - The 14th amendment ratified.
• July 22 - Rufus B. Bullock, governor.
• July 25 - Congress approves Georgia's re admission to the United States but adjourns before Georgia's Senators could be seated.
• September - Legislature expels 28 Negro members. Four are so light skinned that it is not possible to determine if they meet the 1/8 requirement and they are left along.
• Georgia's Representatives seated.

1869 -

• June 28 - Rufus B. Bullock, leases Grant, Alexander and Co. all convicts in the Georgia penitentiary for two years.
• March - Georgia's Representatives barred from their seats in congress. Georgia's Senators were never seated.
• December - Third Reconstruction. United States army reoccupies Georgia. General Alfred H. Terry military governor.

1870 -

• January - Terry's Purge. Negroes returned to legislature and 29 whites removed.
• February - Fifteenth amendment ratified.
• July 15 - Georgia is permanently readmitted to the Union.
• October - Bullock secretly resigns and flees Georgia.
• October 17 - Douglas County formed.
• October 18 - McDuffie and Rockdale Counties formed.
• October 26 - Dodge County formed.

1871 -

• February - Georgia represented in both houses of congress.
  Jefferson Long of Macon was the lone Negro congressman.
• October 30 - Benjamin Conley, President of Senate and acting governor.
• November 1 - Democrat controlled legislature takes office.
• December 14 - Governor authorized to farm convicts out for not less than one year or more than two years. The lease to Grant, Alexander and Co. which had expired on June 28 is extended until April 1.
• December - Special election called to replace Bullock.

1872 -

• United States forces evacuate Georgia.
• January 12 - James M. Smith, governor.
• March 7 -Governor James M. Smith leases and farms out all convicts of the state to Grant, Alexander and Co. for two years at $50 per capita per year. Contract expired April 1.

1874 - March 3 - Governor authorized to farm out convicts for not less than one year or more than five years. All convicts available leased out and as leases expired new leases were made.

1875 -

• Tennessee enacts Jim Crow law.
• February 25 - Oconee County formed.
• February 25 - Governor allowed to lease convicts for twenty years. As the leases made under the 1874 act expire the convicts are leased to Penitentiary Companies Nos. 1, 2 and 3.

1876 - Rufus Bullock arrested in New York City and returned to Georgia for trial. He is acquitted.

1877

• January 12 - Alfred H. Colquitt governor.
• December 5 - Atlanta becomes capital of Georgia. Vote is 99,147 to 55,201.

1879 - Federal Circuit Court finds Tennessee's Jim Crow law unconstitutional.

1881 -

• Tennessee passes second Jim Crow law.
• The M. Rich Dry Goods Store is opened on Whitehall Street in Atlanta by Moris Rich. It will become Rich's of Atlanta.

1882 - November 4 - Alexander H. Stephens governor.

1883 -

• New Capitol approved. It will be constructed of Indiana limestone rather than Georgia marble and completed in 1889.
• March 5 - James S. Boynton, President of Senate and acting governor.
• May 10 - Henry D. McDaniel, governor.
• October 15 - Supreme Court declared the Civil Rights Act of 1875 unconstitutional.

1885 - October 13 - The Georgia Institute of Technology is established by Act of the General Assembly.

1886

• May 8 - Coca Cola goes on sale at Jacob's Pharmacy in Atlanta, Georgia.
• November 9 - John B. Gordon, governor.

1887

• Jim Crow law passed by Florida
• November 8 - John Henry "Doc"Holiday, Atlanta dentist and gunfighter dies at Glenwood Springs, Colorado from tuberculosis at the ripe old age of 35. Doc. Holiday had went west in 1873 after being given two years to live. Just before dying he downed a large glass of whiskey, glanced at his bootless feet and exclaimed "I'll be dammed"He had always expected to die with his boots on.

1890 - November 8 - William J. Northern, governor.

1891

• Jim Crow laws enacted in Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas and Tennessee.
• First Garden Club founded In Athens.

1893 - Public hangings abolished.

1894 -

• Georgia sends food to assist farmers in the midwest. Two trainloads of flour, corn meat and cattle food to Nebraska.
• October 274 - William Y. Atkinson, governor.

1896

• May 18 - The US Supreme Court upholds racial segregation in Plessy v. Ferguson..
• December 2, 1896 - Fitzgerald incorporated.

1898 - October 29 - Allen D. Candler, governor.

1899 - The boll weevil crosses the Rio Grande from Mexico.

20th Century Georgia History Timeline

1902 - October 25 - Joseph M. Terrell governor.

1905 -

• Royal Crown Cola is bottled in Columbus, Georgia by Claude A. Hatcher, a local grocery wholesaler
• August 17 - Crisp, Grady, Jenkins and Tift Counties formed.
• August 18 - Jeff Davis, Stephens, Toombs and Turner Counties formed.

1906 - July 31 - Ben Hill County formed.

1907

• April 24 - Rufus Bullock dies in New York City.
• June 29 - Hoke Smith, governor.

1908 - Convict lease system abolished. Replaced by the notorious "Chain Gangs."

1909 - June 26 - Joseph M. Brown, governor.

1910 - July 4 - Three blacks killed at Uvalda, Georgia over James Jeffries loss to Jack Johnson in boxing match. Riots in Boston, Cincinnati, Houston, New York and Norfolk.

1911 -

• July 1 - Hoke Smith, governor.
• November 16 - John M. Slaton, President of Senate and acting governor.
• November 29 - Augusta winter quarters for Signal Corps Aviation School.

1912

• White residents of Forsyth County drive the Black population out.
• January 25 - Joseph M. Brown, governor.
• March 12 - Girl Scouts founded in Savannah.
• July 30 - Bleckley County formed.
• August 14 - Wheeler County formed

1913 - June 28 - John M. Slayton, governor

1914 -

• New Georgia Seal. Date is changed from 1799 to 1776.
• July 7 - Barrow County formed.
• July 14 - Candler County formed.
• July 27 - Bacon County formed.
• August 11 - Evans County formed.

1915 -

• June 265 - Nathaniel E. Harris, governor.
• November 18 - A new Ku Klux Klan is started November 25, Thanksgiving night, on Stone Mountain by William Joseph Simmons.

1916 - Boll weevil reaches Atlantic coast.

1917 -

• June 30 - Hugh M. Dorsey, governor.
• August 5 - Atkinson County formed.
• August 21 - Treutlen County formed.

1918 -

• July 30 - Cook County formed.
• November 9 - Moina Michael is inspired to use the Flanders Field Poppy as a memorial emblem for the W.W.I dead.

1920 -

• July 8 - Seminole County formed.
• August 7 - Lanier County formed.
• August 14 - Brantley and Long Counties formed.
• August 17 - Lamar County formed.

1921 -

• Boll weevil cuts Georgia and South Carolina Cotton production in half.
• June 25 - Thomas W. Hardwick, governor.

1922 - September 22 - Rebecca Latimer Felton appointed first female US Senator to fill the vacancy left by her deceased husband pending a special election.

1923 - June 30 - Clifford M. Walker, governor.
George Washington Carver testifies before House Ways and Means Committee on the value of peanuts which are being planted in greater quantities by Georgia and South Carolina farmers.

1924 - July 18 - Peach County formed.

1925 - February 13 - Coca-Cola magnate Asa Candler offers Candler Field to the city of Atlanta for use as an airport for a second time

1927 -

• The Georgia Warm Springs Foundation treatment for suffers of poliomyelitis is founded by Franklin D. Roosevelt. The center will be operated by the National Foundation March of Dimes.
• June, 25 - Lamartine G. Hardman, governor.

1931 - June 27 - Richard B. Russell, Jr., governor.

1933 -

• West Georgia College founded at Carrollton
• January 10 - Eugene Talmadge, governor.

1934 - The Masters golf tournament for professionals begins at Georgia's Augusta National Golf Club.

1936 - June 30 - Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell published.

1937 - January 12 - Eurith D. Rivers, governor.

1941 - January 14 - Eugene Talmadge, governor.

1942 - January 28 - The Eight Air Force is activated in Savannah.

1943 -

• January 12 - Ellis G. Arnall, governor. Wins Supreme Court Case to equalize freight rates.
• Georgia allows 18 year olds to vote

1945 - April 12 - President Roosevelt dies at Warm Springs, Georgia.

1947 - January 20 - Melvin E. Thompson, lieutenant governor and acting governor.

1948 - November 17 - Herman E. Talmadge, governor.

1955 - January 11 - S. Marvin Griffin, governor.

1956 - April 20 - First Midas Muffler shop opens at Macon, Georgia.

1957 - May 13 - The first commercial jet airliner, a French Caravelle, lands at Atlanta.

1959 - January 13 - S. Ernest Vandiver, Jr. , governor.

1961 -

• January 10 - University of Georgia enrolls two Black students, Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton Holmes, under federal court order.
• September 18 - Georgia Tech admits three Black students.

1963 - January 15 - Carl E. Sanders, governor.

1966 - January 10 - Black legislators seated for the first time in 58 years.

1967 - January 11 - Lester G. Maddox becomes governor.

1968 - April 4 - Martin Luther King, Jr. assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee.
Riots in Albany, Fort valley, Macon and Savannah.

1969 - The US declares a Georgia anti pornography law unconstitutional and says, "If the First Amendment means anything it means that a state has no business telling a man, setting alone in his own house, what books he may read or what films he may watch."

1975 -

• January 14 - George D. Busbee becomes governor.
• July 2 - The United States Supreme Court upholds Georgia's death penalty.

1983 - January 11 - Joe Frank Harris, governor.

1985 -

• April 23 - Coca Cola introduces New Coke.
• July 10 - Coca Cola reintroduces Old Coke as Coca Cola Classic.

1987 - January 24 - approximately 20,000 protesters march through Cummings, Georgia in all White Forsyth County.

1991 - Zell Miller, governor.

1993 - Atlanta is home to the Summer Olympics

1999 -

• July 29 - 9 people lie dead after Mark Barton went on a killing rampage in downtown Atlanta.
• December 14 - C. Jack Ellis becomes Macon's first black mayor

21st Century Georgia History Timeline

2003 - Georgia's governor signs legislation to redesign the state flag without the Confederate emblem, which is considered by many to be evocative of Georgia's past history as a slave state.

Sources: Compiled from the Chronology of Georgia by Richard E. Irby, Jr.