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- 1732: Georgia is founded as the 13th original British colony.
- 1837: Atlanta is founded as “Terminus,” a tiny railroad settlement that is the Southern-most point of the state-owned Western & Atlantic Railroad. The settlement consists of little more than the homes and offices of the railroad workers themselves.
- 1843: Terminus changes its name to Marthasville to honor Martha Lumpkin, the daughter of a former Georgia governor.
- 1845: Atlanta finally becomes “ Atlanta,” a name that some hypothesize is a feminine version of the Western & Atlantic Railroad and that others claim was derived from Martha’s middle name, Atalanta.
- Atlanta evolves into the transport hub of the South, with four railroads and a major manufacturing center.
- 1864: Because of its strategic importance to the Confederate Army, Atlanta is targeted by General Sherman’s Union Army. After the Battle of Atlanta, General Sherman’s men reduce the city to ashes, a tragedy immortalized in Gone With the Wind.
- 1865: With its rail system in ruins, buildings destroyed, and population displaced, the persistent few remaining citizens set to work, rebuilding the city from the ground up.
- 1868: Atlanta becomes the sixth city to serve as Georgia’s capital.
- 1886: Local pharmacist John Pemberton creates Coca Cola. His invention will later help save the city during the Great Depression.
- 1929: Martin Luther King Jr. is born on Auburn Avenue.
- 1960s: Atlanta becomes a hotbed for the civil rights movement, proclaiming itself the “City Too Busy to Hate.”
- 1988: Atlanta hosts the National Democratic Convention.
- 1996: Atlanta hosts the summer Olympic games.
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