Ed Jackson and Charles Pou

The University of Georgia

April 14

1856 Georgia politician Lamaratine Griffin Hardman was born in Harmony Grove (now Commerce), Georgia. Hardman began his career in the field of medicine, where he was innovative in further developing the field of anesthesiology begun by fellow Georgia Crawford Long. Hardman was also a very successful businessman, owning cotton and roller mills, a bank, a drug company, and founding the Commerce Telephone Company. Hardman was first elected to the Georgia legislature in 1902, serving in both the House and Senate over the next ten years. In the General Assembly, he primarily sponsored agricultural legislation, though he also introduced a bill to create a state board of health and wrote Georgia's prohibition statute. Hardman next served as Georgia's fuel administrator during World War I and directed the Georgia Experiment Station in Griffin.

In 1926, after two unsuccessful attempts, Hardman was elected governor. He won re-election despite being seventy-six years old and in ill health. His terms as governor were noted primarily for promoting businesslike efficiency in government, best evidenced by the Allen Commission on Simplification and Coordination, headed by Ivan Allen, Sr. Hardman died in Atlanta in 1937 of heart disease.

1865 In Washington D.C., Pres. Abraham Lincoln took his wife Mary to see the play "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theater. At 10:13 p.m., during the third act of the play, John Wilkes Booth burst into the presidential suite and shot Lincoln in the head.

Lincoln was carried to a house across the street, where doctors vainly struggled to save the president from the fatal wound. Lincoln never regained consciousness and died on the morning of April 15th. His death would impact Georgia and most other Southern states by allowing Radical Republicans in Congress to fashion a much stricter and punitive Reconstruction than Lincoln had planned.

1912 On its maiden voyage carrying 2,200 passengers from Southampton, England to New York City, shortly before midnight the RMS Titanic struck an iceberg off the coast of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and sunk.

Maj. Archibald Butt of Augusta Was One of the Passengers
Aboard the Ill-Fated Titanic

Among the more than 1,500 passengers lost was Maj. Archibald Butt of Augusta, military aide to presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft.

Archibald Butt (left in uniform) Was Military Aide to Pres. William Taft (center)

Maj. Archibal Butt Died a Hero's Death
as the Titanic Sunk

From the Project Gutenberg text on the sinking of the Titanic comes this report of Butt's heroism and bravery:

"Captain Smith and Major Archibald Butt, military aide to the President of the United States, were among the coolest men on board. A number of steerage passengers were yelling and screaming and fighting to get to the boats. Officers drew guns and told them that if they moved towards the boats they would be shot dead. Major Butt had a gun in his hand and covered the men who tried to get to the boats. The following story of his bravery was told by Mrs. Henry B. Harris, wife of the theatrical manager:

'The world should rise in praise of Major Butt. That man's conduct will remain in my memory forever. The American army is honored by him and the way he taught some of the other men how to behave when women and children were suffering that awful mental fear of death. Major Butt was near me and I noticed everything that he did. "When the order to man the boats came, the captain whispered something to Major Butt. The two of them had become friends. The major immediately became as one in supreme command. You would have thought he was at a White House reception. A dozen or more women became hysterical all at once, as something connected with a life-boat went wrong. Major Butt stepped over to them and said: "Really, you must not act like that; we are all going to see you through this thing." He helped the sailors rearrange the rope or chain that had gone wrong and lifted some of the women in with a touch of gallantry. Not only was there a complete lack of any fear in his manner, but there was the action of an aristocrat.

'When the time came he was a man to be feared. In one of the earlier boats fifty women, it seemed, were about to be lowered, when a man, suddenly panic-stricken, ran to the stern of it. Major Butt shot one arm out, caught him by the back of the neck and jerked him backward like a pillow. His head cracked against a rail and he was stunned. 'Sorry,' said Major Butt, 'women will be attended to first or I'll break every damned bone in your body.'

"The boats were lowered one by one, and as I stood by, my husband said to me, 'Thank God, for Archie Butt.' Perhaps Major Butt heard it, for he turned his face towards us for a second and smiled. Just at that moment, a young man was arguing to get into a life-boat, and Major Butt had a hold of the lad by the arm, like a big brother, and was telling him to keep his head and be a man. 'Major Butt helped those poor frightened steerage people so wonderfully, so tenderly and yet with such cool and manly firmness that he prevented the loss of many lives from panic. He was a soldier to the last. He was one of God's greatest noblemen, and I think I can say he was an example of bravery even to men on the ship.'

"Miss Marie Young, who was a music instructor to President Roosevelt's children and had known Major Butt during the Roosevelt occupancy of the White House, told this story of his heroism. 'Archie himself put me into the boat, wrapped blankets about me and tucked me in as carefully as if we were starting on a motor ride. He, himself, entered the boat with me, performing the little courtesies as calmly and with as smiling a face as if death were far away, instead of being but a few moments removed from him. When he had carefully wrapped me up he stepped upon the gunwale of the boat, and lifting his hat, smiled down at me. "Good-bye, Miss Young," he said. "Good luck to you, and don't forget to remember me to the folks back home." Then he stepped back and waved his hand to me as the boat was lowered. I think I was the last woman he had a chance to help, for the boat went down shortly after we cleared the suction zone.'"

As a memorial to the bravery of its native son, the city of Augusta in 1914 built the Archibald Butt Memorial Bridge across the Augusta Canal on 15th St. Pres. Taft personally visited Augusta to dedicate the bridge.

Archibald Butt Memorial Bridge, Augusta, Ga.

At the center of the bridge is a bronze plaque with a bas relief likeness of Butt. Reportedly, this was the first memorial to the sinking of the Titanic.

Bronze Plaque on Bridge Showing Relief Bust of Maj. Butt

For more on the life of Archibald Butt, click here.

1953 A full house of 34,357 fans welcomed the Braves to County Stadium in Milwaukee. In the 10th inning, Jim Bruton hit his only home run of the season to give the Braves a 3-2 victory.

1966 Atlanta Braves pitching great Greg Maddux was born in San Angelo, Texas. He spent part of his early life in Spain, before his family settled in Las Vegas, NV.

Maddux was taken in the second round of the Major League Baseball draft by the Chicago Cubs in 1984, and made his major league debut in 1986. After a difficult first season, Maddux soon established himself as one of the game's premier pitchers. He played for the Cubs for seven years, winning the Cy Young Award as the best pitcher in the National League in 1992. Between the 1992 and 1993 season, Maddux signed with the Braves as a free agent. He would pitch in Atlanta for eleven seasons, winning the Cy Young Award in 1993, 1994, and 1995. He was the first pitcher in history to win the award four consecutive years. Not only a great pitcher, Maddux also fielded his position exceptionally well, winning the Gold Glove as the best defensive pitcher eighteen times in his career. After leaving the Braves after the 2003 season, he had brief stints with the Cubs again, the San Diego Padres, and Los Angeles Dodgers, before retiring in 2008. On July 17, 2009 was inducted into the Atlanta Braves Hall of Fame.

1966 Atlanta Braves outfielder David Justice was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. He played outfield for the Braves from 1989 through 1995. In May 1996, he was injured with a should separation and missed the rest of the season. In the final week of Spring Training in 1997, Justice was traded to the Cleveland Indians.

Justice's tenure with the Braves is probably best remembered by his solo home run in Game 6 of the 1995 World Series that ultimately gave the Braves a 1-0 victory over the Cleveland Indians and the world championship. On Aug. 17, 2007, Justice was inducted into the Braves Hall of Fame.

1968 Bob Goalby won the Masters golf tournament after winner Roberto de Vicenzo was disqualified for signing an incorrect score card.

1970 Atlanta Braves pitching ace Steve Avery was born in Trenton, Michigan. He was drafted by the Braves in 1988 and played his rookie season in 1990. In the 1995 World Series, Avery pitched the Braves to a 5-2 win over the Cleveland Indians in Game 4. Following the 1996 season, he signed with the Boston Red Sox, later playing with the Detroit Tigers and Cincinnati Reds. Avery retired from major league baseball after the 2003 season.

1974 Gary Player won his second Masters golf tournament.

1976 The Board of Regents of the University of Georgia voted 11 to 2 on a motion offered by Judge James D. Maddox of Rome to convert Kennesaw Junior College to senior college status. By this time, enrollment had tripled from an initial student count of 1,014 in the fall of 1966 to 3,098 in the fall of 1975. Numerous local leaders were involved in the fight for four-year status, but the two politicians playing the most pivotal roles were state Representatives Joe Mack Wilson and Al Burruss of Marietta. In time the memories of both would be honored by having buildings named for them on the Kennesaw campus. In September 1977 the name of the institution was officially changed to Kennesaw College. According to the agreement, two years would be spent planning for the conversion, with junior classes beginning in Fall 1978 and senior classes in Fall 1979. [Contributed by Tom Scott, Kennesaw State University]

1980 Georgia-born Melvyn Douglas won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for the movie "Being There."

1982 The U.S. Postal Service issued a 20-cent Georgia State Bird/Flower stamp as part of a 50-stamp sheet of stamps showing the state bird and flower of each state.

First day of issue ceremonies were held in Washington D.C. and in each state capital.

1982 In 10 innings, the Atlanta Braves beat the Cincinnati Reds 5-2 to move to 8-0 in their season-opening record streak.

1985 In his first official year as a member of the PGA Tour, Bernhard Langer of West Germany won the Masters golf tournament with a score of 282, beating Curtis Strange, Ray Floyd, and Seve Ballesteros by two strokes.

1994 Turner Broadcasting System launched Turner Classic Movies cable network.

1998 University of Georgia history and law professor Edward J. Larson was awarded the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for history for his book, Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion. Larson's book examined the trial of Tennessee school teacher John Scopes, who was arrested for violating a state law that prohibited the teaching of evolution in public schools.

2002 Tiger Woods easily won his third Masters golf tournament with a 12-under-par victory becoming only the third player to win back-to-back Masters.

2008 After months of negotiations, Atlanta based Delta Air Lines and Northwest Air Lines announced an agreement had been reached on a merger between the two lines, creating the world's largest air line.

2010 One of the rarest signatures of a Georgian is that of Button Gwinnett. In a Sotheby's auction in New York, this rarity was proven when a 1776 letter signed by Gwinnett sold for $722,500. Gwinnett was one of Georgia's three signers of the Declaration of Independence, and experts say that there only 50 other documents of all types that bear his signature. The document that sold on April 14, 2010, was a letter dated July 12, 1776, to a clerk with respect to a ship under construction in Philadelphia. The letter was signed by a committee of the Continental Congress involved in naval affairs, on which Gwinnett served.

In Their Own Words on This Day. . .

1737 In London, the Earl of Egmont wrote in his journal of Trustee proceedings:

"The Queen told me at Court this day, that the Georgia Trustees had been under a mistake. I reply'd I Should be glad to know where in that we might mend it. She Said the Silk of which her gown was made last year was indeed the finest She ever Saw, but She was told it came from Italy not from Georgia. I reply'd Smiling the only ground for that report was that we had debauch'd away fro Piedmont two Italians & Sent them to Georgia where I assured her the Silk was work'd. This Shews what pains was taken to injure us at Court."

Source: Robert G. McPherson (ed.), The Journal of The Earl of Egmont: Abstract of the Trustees Proceedings for Establishing the Colony of Georgia, 1732-1738 (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1962), pp. 258-59.

1945 Atlanta Constitution editor Ralph McGill was traveling from Iran to Australia at the time of Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt's death two days earlier. He wired back the following tribute to Roosevelt:

"To a Georgian far from home there was a sudden and bitter nostalgia for home at the news of the President's passing in Warm Springs. I could see the dogwood in bloom and the green of the trees. I knew that the peach blossoms were out and that the warm Georgia sun had been like a benediction to the tired body of the ailing president. And I wanted to be home with my own fellow Georgians as they mourned him. It was said of Abraham Lincoln when death claimed him that a tree is measured best when it is down. So it will be with Franklin D. Roosevelt. The tree is down and the historians will begin to measure and will find what the hearts of millions of Americans and peoples of the world already knew, that here was the tallest man America has ever given the world."

Source: Atlanta Constitution, April 14, 1945