A number of significant historical events occurred in Georgia during the month of June.
1750-1799
1781
Major military engagements this month include the capture of Augusta from the British on June 5 by Elijah Clarke and others during the Revolutionary War (1775-1783).
1850-1899
1863
In June 1863, during the Trade union blockade and coastal occupation of the Civil war (1861-1865), Confederate officer Josiah Tattnall lost the battleship Atlanta while trying to break the blockade. The Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Regiment, one of the first African-American regiments in the Union, also attacked You’re welcome and caused the greatest wartime destruction of civilian property along the Georgian coast.
1864
The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain took place on June 27, and that same month the USS water witch was captured by Confederate raiders in the waters south of Savannah.
Courtesy of the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress
1868
The Atlanta Constitution publishes its first issue.
1887
Atlanta pharmacist John Stith Pemberton filed a patent for the formula now known as Coca-Cola. Almost 100 years later, in 1985, the Coca-Cola Company announced that it would bring back its original formula, known as “Classic Coke”, after a dismal experience with the “New Coke” formula.
1892
Grady Hospital opened in Atlanta on June 1.
1900-1949
1901
A soldiers’ house for Confederate Veterans opened in Atlanta on June 3 with funds provided by the Inman Family.
1922
Robert Elliott Burns, author of I’m a fugitive from a Georgia Chain Gang!, escaped from a chain gang in Campbell County (later Fulton County). His book helped bring national attention to the abuses within the Southern Range gangs, which had replaced the outlawed convict bail system.
1923
Fannin County native “Fiddlin'” John Carson launched the country music recording industry when he recorded two songs for Okeh Records. In June 1925, his daughter, Moonshine Katemade his recording debut playing guitar on four of Carson’s songs.
1928
The Garden Club of Georgia was established in Atlanta.
1929
Delta Airlines, later based in Atlanta, began its first passenger service, from Dallas, Texas, to Jackson, Mississippi.
Reprinted with permission from Delta Air Lines
1932
On June 30, more than 1,000 out of work workers marched on the Fulton County Courthouse, demanding the resumption of relief payments that had been suspended days earlier. The protest led to a citywide investigation into communist activity in Atlanta, which resulted in the arrest of activist Angelo Herndon.
1936
Margaret Mitchell’s Iconic Novel carried away by the wind has been published.
1940
The acclaimed novel by Columbus native Carson McCullers The heart is a lonely hunter has been published.
1950-1999
1957
Weightlifter Paul Anderson, a native of Stephens County, he is believed to have lifted 6,270 pounds, becoming ‘the world’s strongest man’ according to the Guinness Book of World Records.
1962
A tragic plane crash at Orly Airport in Paris, France, killed 106 Atlanta residents, many of whom were important civic and cultural leaders in the city.
1965
Grace Towns Hamilton became the first African-American woman elected to the Georgia General Assembly.
The National Football League assigned an expansion team to Atlanta, which became the Atlanta Falcons. The National Hockey League followed suit in 1997, with a team that became the Atlanta Thrashers.
1974
The Richard B. Russell Library for Research and Policy Studies was dedicated at the University of Georgia in Athens.
1979
MARTA opened its first rail line (the Eastern Line) in Atlanta, charging a fare of twenty-five cents.
1979
Entrepreneurs Arthur Blank and Bernie Marcus opened the first two Home Depot stores in Atlanta.
1980
Ted Turner started CNN in Atlanta.
2000-present
2004
sea island, a barrier island in Glynn County, hosted the G8 Summit of World Leaders.
2006
The city of Atlanta acquired a collection of papers belonging to civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. The collection, donated to King’s alma mater Morehouse College, is housed in the Atlanta University Center Archives.
June birthdays
June 17, 1703 John Wesley, founder of Methodism
June 5, 1750 John Twiggs, military leader
June 11, 1751 John Abbot, artist
June 20, 1773 Peter Early, Governor
June 24, 1820 Henry Rootes Jackson, military leader
June 28, 1824 WT Wofford, politician
June 15, 1826 Bill Arp, journalist
June 1, 1833 Lizzie Rutherford, founder of Confederate Memorial Day
June 10, 1835 Rebecca Latimer Felton, politician
June 1857 JW Golucke, architect
June 26, 1858 Alonzo Herndon, businessman
June 2, 1861 Isa-Beall Williams Neel, educator
June 6, 1861 Joseph M. Terrell, Governor
June 28, 1863 WC Bradley, businessman
June 2, 1868 John Hope, educator
June 21, 1874 Julian Harris, journalist
June 19, 1877 Charles Coburn, actor
June 11, 1880 Jeannette Rankin, politician and philanthropist
June 30, 1883 Dorothy Rogers Tilly, civil rights activist
June 3, 1887 Roland Hayes, musician
June 3, 1900 Brainard Cheney, writer
June 16, 1913 Jackson Lee Nesbitt, artist
June 22, 1916 Eugenia Price, writer
June 30, 1917 Susan Hayward, actress
June 30, 1917 Lena Horne, musician and actress
June 26, 1918 JB Fuqua, businessman
June 30, 1922 Denmark Groover, politician
June 5, 1924 John Amos, businessman
June 20, 1924 Chet Atkins, musician
June 26, 1926 Nat Peeples, athlete
June 18, 1927 George T. Heery, architect
June 17, 1928 Willard Nixon, athlete
June 2, 1931 William A. Connelly, military leader
June 3, 1931 Bert Lance, politician
June 7, 1935 Harry Crews, writer
June 14, 1936 Mary Frances Early, UGA’s first African-American graduate
June 3, 1942 Curtis Mayfield, musician
June 17, 1943 Newt Gingrich, politician
June 3, 1944 Edith McGuire, athlete
June 12, 1945 Cornelia Bailey, Geechee preservationist
June 27, 1947 Charlie Smith, writer
June 23, 1948 Clarence Thomas, Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
June 13, 1955 Leah Ward Sears, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia
June 12, 1965 Gwen Torrence, athlete
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