A number of significant historical events have occurred in Georgia during the month of October.
1750-1799
1765
Naturalists John and William Bartram discovered a small grove of trees with white flowers along the southern reaches of the Altamaha River; the species became commonly known as the Franklin tree.
From Travels, by W. Bartram
1776
Georgia held its first constitutional convention in Savannah.
1779
During the Revolutionary War, a fierce battle known as the Siege of Savannah took place between the city’s British occupiers and combined American and French troops. Polish count Casimir Pulaski was killed in the fighting.
1800-1849
1807
The state capital moved from Louisville to Milledgeville.
1829
The Medical College of Georgia (later Georgia Health Sciences University) opened in Augusta.
1832
The first drawing of the Georgia land lottery was held in Milledgeville.
Artwork by George I. Parrish Jr. Courtesy of Cindy Parrish, Maryville,TN
1836
Entrepreneur Nelson Tift founded the city of Albany, today the seat of Dougherty County.
1842
Construction of Central State Hospital in Milledgeville was completed.
1850-1899
1879
Governor Alfred H. Colquitt signed legislation creating Georgia’s first official state flag.
1881
Georgia native John Henry “Doc” Holliday participated in the gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona.
Courtesy of Georgia Archives.
1888
The Georgia Institute of Technology opened in Atlanta.
1889
A sham Civil War battle, an early form of reenacting, took place during an Atlanta cotton exposition.
1890
The Salvation Army began its work in Georgia.
1899
Ruskin Commonwealth, a short-lived Utopian community in Ware County, was incorporated.
1900-1949
1906
Voters elected to ratify an amendment to the state constitution creating the Court of Appeals of Georgia.
1918
During World War I, troops began arriving at a new military camp outside Columbus, which would later be called Fort Benning.
1918
On October 6, approximately 130 soldiers from Fort Screven died onboard the Otranto, which sank en route to England during World War I.
Courtesy of Todd Womack
1923
The first incarnation of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra premiered on October 7.
1924
Franklin D. Roosevelt, paralyzed after an attack of polio, visited Warm Springs for the first time. He subsequently built a home there, which was known during his presidency as the “Little White House.”
1927
On October 11, aviator Charles Lindbergh arrived for “Lindbergh Day” in Atlanta to celebrate his record-breaking transatlantic flight.
Courtesy of Atlanta History Center.
1928
The Cloister hotel opened on Sea Island.
1929
The University of Georgia football team defeated the Yale University team in the inaugural game at Sanford Stadium (named for the educator Steadman V. Sanford).
1940
The first troops arrived at Camp Stewart (later Fort Stewart), outside Savannah.
1941
An official groundbreaking and flag-raising ceremony took place at Fort Gordon (later renamed Fort Eisenhower in 2023) in Augusta.
1941
Governor Eugene Talmadge declared October 23 to be “Swamp Water Day” in honor of the Hollywood movie Swamp Water, which premiered in Waycross that evening.
Courtesy of Jekyll Island Museum
1947
The state of Georgia purchased Jekyll Island, which subsequently became Jekyll Island State Park.
1949
WERD, Atlanta’s first Black radio station, started broadcasting.
1950-1999
1950
Evangelist Billy Graham brought his crusade to Atlanta for the first time, and he drew the largest crowd of his career there on October 29.
1958
The Temple, Atlanta’s oldest and most prominent Jewish synagogue, was bombed on October 12, likely in response to Rabbi Jacob Rothschild’s stance against segregation.
Courtesy of Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
1963
Savannah city leaders desegregated public and private facilities on October 1.
1964
Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. became the youngest Nobel Peace Prize recipient in history.
1968
In Atlanta, the Alliance Theatre held its debut performance.
1973
Maynard Jackson was elected mayor of Atlanta, becoming the first Black mayor of a major southern city.
1973
and the Pips’ “Midnight Train to Georgia” went to number one on the pop singles chart.
1980
Heavyweight boxing champion Larry Holmes scored an eleventh-round technical knockout over the former titleholder Muhammad Ali.
1986
The Jimmy Carter Library and Museum was dedicated in Atlanta.
1990
Evander Holyfield took the heavyweight title for the first of three times he would win it, a record matched only by Muhammad Ali.
1990
A Conyers housewife first claimed to have received messages from the Virgin Mary; her visions ceased in October 1998.
1991
Georgian Clarence Thomas was sworn in as a justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
1992
The Fernbank Museum of Natural History opened in Atlanta.
Image from Jeremy Brooks
1995
The Atlanta Braves won the World Series, the team’s first series win in thirty-eight years.
1998
On October 24, the Atlanta Braves played their last game in Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium before moving to Turner Field (later Center Parc Stadium).
2000-Present
2002
U.S. president Jimmy Carter became the second Georgia native to win the Nobel Peace Prize, setting a record for the most recipients of the award from one state.
2004
Filming began on the feature film Warm Springs, which chronicles the life of Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1921 to 1928.
2008
In Atlanta, filmmaker Tyler Perry opens the nation’s first major film studio solely owned by an African American.
October Birthdays
- October 22, 1766 David B. Mitchell, Georgia governor
- October 22, 1780 John Forsyth, politician
- October 3, 1790 John Ross, Cherokee chief
- October 3, 1791 Adiel Sherwood, religious leader
- October 14, 1797 Charles Rinaldo Floyd, military leader
- October 30, 1798 Garnett Andrews, politician
- October 29, 1802 Hiram Warner, politician
- October 12, 1815 William J. Hardee, military leader
- October 24, 1823 James M. Smith, Georgia governor
- October 28, 1831 Charles C. Jones Jr., historian
- October 29, 1837 Harriet Powers, quilter
- October 16, 1847 Sam Jones, religious leader
- October 1852 David C. Barrow Jr., educator
- October 5, 1854 Joseph Standing, religious leader
- October 31, 1860 Juliette Gordon Low, Girl Scouts founder
- October 7, 1866 Martha Berry, educator
- October 23, 1869 John Heisman, football coach
- October 8, 1890 G. Lombard Kelly, medical scholar
- October 24, 1892 D. Abbott Turner, businessman
- October 2, 1895 Roy V. Harris, politician
- October 20, 1895 Athos Menaboni, artist
- October 26, 1898 Beryl Rubinstein, musician
- October 16, 1899 Marian McCamy Sims, writer
- October 12, 1900 Evelyn Hanna, writer
- October 18, 1900 Lamar Trotti, writer
- October 18, 1902 Miriam Hopkins, actress
- October 2, 1904 Earl Mann, baseball manager
- October 12, 1906 Robert B. Greenblatt, medical scholar
- October 10, 1909 Moonshine Kate, musician
- October 2, 1910 James V. Carmichael, businessman
- October 5, 1911 Vereen Bell, writer
- October 19, 1911 Willie Lee Perryman, musician
- October 1, 1914 Daniel Boorstin, historian
- October 5, 1916 Stetson Kennedy, writer
- October 31, 1918 Griffin Bell, U.S. attorney general
- October 10, 1920 Frank Sinkwich, football player
- October 11, 1922 William Bradley Turner, businessman
- October 15, 1923 Gene Patterson, journalist
- October 1, 1924 Jimmy Carter, U.S president and Georgia governor
- October 6, 1924 Joseph Lowery, civil rights activist
- October 21, 1924 Bill Lowery, music producer
- October 20, 1926 Edward Daugherty, landscape architect
- October 13, 1931 Eddie Mathews, baseball player
- October 8, 1932 Pete Drake, music producer
- October 17, 1932 Paul Anderson, athlete
- October 31, 1932 Van K. Brock, writer
- October 6, 1940 Wyche Fowler, politician
- October 7, 1940 Larry Jon Wilson, musician
- October 8, 1940 Beverly Buchanan, artist
- October 4, 1942 Bernice Johnson Reagon, civil rights activist
- October 26, 1945 Pat Conroy, writer
- October 20, 1946 Lewis Grizzard, writer
- October 8, 1955 Bill Elliott, athlete
- October 17, 1958 Alan Jackson, musician
- October 19, 1962 Evander Holyfield, boxer
- October 28, 1967 Julia Roberts, actress
- October 7, 1968 Toni Braxton, musician
- October 14, 1978 Usher, musician
