Ed Jackson and Charles Pou

The University of Georgia

April 16

1862 In Richmond, Va., Confederate Pres. Jefferson Davis approved a conscription act passed by the Confederate Congress that mandated three years of service for males between 18 and 35 years of age.

1865 Confederate general Robert Charles Tyler was killed in battle at West Point, Ga. Little is known about his early life. He was born around 1833 -- perhaps in Baltimore, Md. With the outbreak of the Civil War, Tyler enlisted as a private in the 15th Tennessee. He was quickly promoted to lieutenant colonel by the Battle of Shiloh, in which he was wounded. In May 1862, Tyler was promoted to full colonel and served as Braxton Bragg's provost marshal during his invasion of Kentucky. Subsequently, he served at the battles of Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge, where he was wounded again. In Feb. 1864, Tyler was promoted to brigadier general. On April 16, 1865, he was killed during a Union Army attack under Gen. James Wilson on Confederate forces at West Point, Ga.

1865 Columbus fell to Union General James H. Wilson in the last Civil War battle east of the Mississippi River.

1958 Arnold Palmer won his first Masters golf tournament. [Click here to read the story of his win.]

1963 Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his famous "Letter From A Birmingham Jail" while imprisoned for demonstrating in Birmingham, Alabama.

1978 Georgia-native U.S. Army Gen. Lucius D. Clay died at age 80 at Cape Cod, Mass. Born Apr. 23, 1898 in Marietta, he was the son of Georgia U.S. Senator Alexander Stephens Clay, who served in the Senate from 1896 until his death in 1910. After lying about his age, Clay entered West Point in 1915, graduating a year early in 1918. He was then assigned to the U.S. Army's Corps of Engineers and sent them to Fort Belvoir for basic engineer officer training. During World War II, Clay was in charge of all military procurement. By the end of the war he was Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Dwight Eisenhower's deputy for military government. From 1945 to 1949, Clay served as military governor of the U.S. zone of occupied Germany. When the Soviets blockaded Berlin in 1948, Clay organized the Berlin airlift. That year, he also became commander in chief of U.S. forces in Europe. With establishment of the West German government in 1949, Clay retired from the Army and shortly thereafter became president of Continental Can Company. In 1952, he helped run Dwight Eisenhower's presidential campaign. Clay later became senior and managing partner of Lehman Brothers until his retirement in 1973.

1982 In the 6th inning, the Atlanta Braves scored 5 runs against Houston Astros pitcher Nolan Ryan. The runs proved sufficient to defeat the Astros with a 5-3 victory. This marked the ninth consecutive win since the season opened, tying the Braves' franchise record for best start since the Boston Beaneaters went 9-0 in 1888.

In Their Own Words on This Day. . .

1743 Among anticipated products from the 10-year-old colony of Georgia were rice, silk, and wine. But the following 1743 journal entry from Georgia president William Stephen shows that colonists were being advised their land might best be suited for other crops:

"April 16. Saturday. Wanting something more worth note, it may not be improper to observe, that meeting with two or three Carolina Gentleman planters, who came on no other Business than to spend a day or two of pleasure in this Colony, and see what they thought good, our Discourse run chiefly upon Planting, and Improvemts, wherein they plainly confessed their Errour in pursuing almost Soley the planting of Rice for so many years, without turning their thoughts to other things, which would be as profitable, and proper a product of this land and Climate."

Source: E. Merton Coulter (ed.), The Journal of William Stephens, 1743-1745 (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1959), p. 194.