(1498) Explorer John Cabot made second trip to North America; may have explored
coast of Georgia
(1526) Lucas Vazques de Ayllon established first colony on Sapelo Island
(1540) Hernando de Soto of Spain explored Georgia
(1562) French Huguenots built Charles Fort at Port Royal
(Savannah)
(1565) Spanish established missions along coastline
(1597) Gaule Indians attacked Spanish missions; Mocama Indians helped Spanish
stop rebellions
(1629) King Charles I granted charter to Sir Robert Heath, included most
of present-day Georgia
(1663) King Charles II gave 1629 charter to Earl of Claredon, Duke of Albemarle,
Sir George Carteret and five others
(1670) Treaty between England and Spain provided possession of land would
determine ownership in eastern half of North America
(1673) Spanish build fort on St. Catherines Island
(1680) English attack that fort
(1681) Spanish abandoned St. Catherines Island, moved to Sapelo Island
(1721) British build Fort King George settlement
(1729) Seven land proprietors gave their land rights over to England's King
George II
(1732) King George II issued Georgia first official charter; trustees chose
Savannah as colony's first settlement; agreement reached between Lower Creek Indians
and colonists
(Treaty of Savannah)
(1733) Jews in Savannah establish Mickye Israel, oldest congregation practicing
Reform Judaism in U.S.
(1734) German settlers founded Ebenezer
(1735) Alice Riley hanged for participation in murder, first woman to be
executed; Scot Highlanders founded New Inverness; Trustees enacted new law prohibiting
slaves; Augusta founded
(1741) Trustees divided Georgia into two counties - Savannah and Frederica
(1742) Battle of Bloody Marsh between Spanish and English; English stopped
invasion of St. Simons Island
(1749) Law prohibiting slavery rescinded
(1752) Trustees surrendered charter to British government; Georgia became
royal colony
(1754) John Reynolds appointed first royal governor
(1757) Creek Indians signed Treaty of Savannah, ceded islands of St. Catherines,
Ossabaw and Sapelo and reserve by Savannah
(1758) Georgia divided into eight parishes
(1764) Sugar Act passed by British to raise revenues from colonies; first
serious dispute between colonies and Great Britain
(1765) Controversial Stamp Act passed by British
(1766) Stamp Act rescinded; South Carolina threatened to invade Georgia,
captured two ships and destroyed cargoes
(1767) Parliament passed Townshend Acts, taxes levied on glass, lead, paint,
paper, tea
(1773) Treaty of Augusta signed by Creeks and Cherokees; ceded lands; Tea
Act passed by Parliament
(1774) First Continental Congress held in Philadelphia; Georgia only colony
not to attend
(1776) Declaration of Independence signed by all colonies, dissolved all
links with Great Britain
(1777) Georgia's first state constitution adopted; parishes replaced by counties;
British ships blockaded port of Savannah
(1779) British captured Augusta; 34-day siege of Savannah occurred
(1781) Augusta retaken by Patriot forces
(1782) British troops surrendered Savannah; troops evacuated
(1787) Georgia fourth state to ratify U S Constitution
(1788) Georgia became fourth state
(1792) Eli Whitney invented cotton gin at Mulberry Grove Plantation in Georgia
(1795) Yazoo Land Fraud took place; treaty between Spain and U. S. settled
border between Georgia and Spanish territory of Florida
(1799) First state seal adopted
(1807) State capital moved to Milledgeville; boundary between Georgia and
North Carolina established
(1811) Fight between sailors in Savannah caused three days of riots
(1812) War of 1812 began
(1815) British burned fort at Point Peter in final battle of War of 1812
(1817) First Seminole War began; Indians raided white settlements
(1818) First Seminole War ended
(1819) Steamship SS Savannah sailed from Savannah to Liverpool, England,
first steamship to cross Atlantic
(1820) Fire in Savannah destroyed 463 buildings; most residents homeless
(1824) Hurricane hit St. Simons Island; 83 killed
(1827) All Creek Indian lands ceded to Georgia
(1828) Gold discovered; gold rush began
(1835) Seminole Indians ambushed U. S. troops, killed 105; start of Second
Seminole War
(1836) Seminoles massacred Major Frances Dade and troops of 103 men
(1837) Seminole Chief, Osceola, taken prisoner
(1838) Cherokees and Creek Indians forced out of Georgia
(Trail of Tears);
Seminole Chief, Osceola, dies
(1842) Dr. Crawford Long became first person to use anesthesia during surgery
(1861) Civil War began; Savannah volunteer militia captured Fort Pulaski;
Ordinance of Secession was adopted; Georgia ratified Confederate Constitution; Georgia
took possession of U. S. mint at Dahlonega; President Lincoln orders blockade of
Southern ports
(1862) Union forces captured Fort Pulaski; Union raiders stole locomotive
to
(unsuccessfully) destroy bridges and tracks between Atlanta and Chattanooga
(Great Locomotive Chase); Atlanta became Confederate military post
(1863) President Lincoln issued Emancipation Proclamation; Confederates won
at Battle of Chickamauga, over 18,000 killed
(1864) Many Civil War battles occurred in Georgia; William T. Sherman led
armies through Georgia to Savannah
(March to the Sea); left Atlanta in flames
(1865) Civil War ended
(1868) Atlanta became capital
(1870) Fifteenth Amendment ratified; Georgia readmitted to Union
(1879) Official flag created
(1881) Hurricane struck coast, killed 700, many homeless
(1888) Coca-Cola first goes on sale at Jacob's Pharmacy in Atlanta
(1891) Jim Crow laws enacted
(1893) Hurricane struck southern coast of Georgia, 2,000 dead, more than
30,000 homeless; public hangings abolished
(1903) Tornado hit Gainesville and New Holland, 106 dead; earthquake struck
Tybee Island/Savannah
(1906) Atlanta Race Riot continued for two days; 26 killed, many wounded
(1912) White residents of Forsyth County drove black population out; Girl
Scouts founded in Savannah
(1916) Fire in downtown Augusta destroyed 32 city blocks, 600 homes and six
blocks of businesses burned, over 3,000 homeless
(1918) Spanish flu struck; thousands died
(1921) Boll weevils reduced cotton crop to half
(1924) Delta Airlines starts as crop dusting company
(1934) Masters Golf Tournament began at Augusta National Golf Club
(1936) Tornado in Cordele killed 23, destroyed 289 buildings; tornado in
Gainesville killed 187 people, left 200 homeless; Margaret Mitchell's
Gone With the
Wind published; Ty Cobb inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame
(1942) German submarine sunk ship and oil tanker in torpedo attack off St.
Simon's Island; gas rationing went into effect
(1944) Dr. Alfred Blalock performed first blue baby operation; 47 railroad
workers died in train derailment in Stockton; artist Harry Rossoll developed idea
and image of Smokey Bear
(1958) Dynamite explosion destroyed interior of Atlanta Jewish Temple
(1959) Segregated seating on Atlanta city buses ruled unconstitutional
(1960) Civil rights movement began, 200 students staged sit-ins in Atlanta;
Martin Luther King, Jr. and others arrested in sit-in demonstration in Atlanta;
Georgian Joanne Woodward first person honored with star in Hollywood Walk of Fame
(1961) University of Georgia became integrated; Atlanta's public schools
were integrated; civil rights protests took place in Albany
(1962) Civil rights protests took place in Albany, churches burned in Macon
and Albany
(1964) Civil Rights Act passed; first person prosecuted under act was future
Georgia governor, Lestor Maddox; Martin Luther King, Jr. awarded Nobel Peace Prize;
Milwaukee Braves moved to Atlanta
(1965) Atlanta awarded franchise by the NFL
(1967) Otis Redding (
Georgian) killed in plane crash
(1968) Martin Luther King, Jr. assassinated; funeral held in Atlanta; riots
occurred in Albany, Fort Valley, Macon and Savannah
(1970) Jimmy Carter elected governor; riots occurred in Augusta, six killed,
over 60 wounded
(1971) Civil rights protest in Columbus, 19 buildings burned, state of emergency
declared
(1973) Escapees from Maryland prison murdered six members of Alday family
in Donalsonville
(1974) Hank Aaron broke baseball home run record; tornadoes in northwest
Georgia killed 16, injured 109;
Atlanta Constitution editor, Reg Murphy kidnapped
and held for ransom, paper paid ransom, Murphy released
(1976) Jimmy Carter elected U. S. president
(1980) Jimmy Carter defeated by Ronald Reagan; over 1000 prison inmates at
Georgia State Prison refused to work, pled for more rights and better living conditions;
strike by bus drivers forced closing of Fulton County's public schools
(1982) New state constitution approved; Georgia based Weather Channel began
broadcasting; Hank Aaron inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame; City of Kennesaw passed
law requiring households to keep firearm and ammunition
(1987) Over 20,000 civil rights demonstrators marched in Cumming
(1992) State lottery legalized; Georgia Dome opened
(1995) Atlanta Braves won World Series
(1996) Olympic Summer Games held in Georgia; bomb set off in Centennial Olympic
Park, one killed, over 100 injured; first Olympic games with tickets sold over internet
(1997) Ted Turner made largest recorded donation in history with $1 billion
to U.N.Charities; Omni Arena and Atlanta Fulton-County Stadium imploded; Tiger Woods
became first African-American and youngest player ever to win the Masters Golf Tournament
(2002) Jimmy Carter awarded Nobel Peace Prize
(2004) G-8 Summit held on Sea Island
(2005) Judge and court reporter shot and killed in Atlanta courtroom; announcement
of plans to close four Georgia military bases; statewide ban on smoking in public
buildings instituted