1744 During Georgia's first decade, lack of adequate funding was always a problem. To meet many emergencies, James Oglethorpe first used personal funds.

When those ran out, he borrowed heavily from many different English creditors using his Godalming home, Westbrook Manor, and other property holdings in nearby Haslemere as security.

Godalming, England – James Oglethorpe's Hometown

After his final return to England in 1743, he petitioned the British War Office for reimbursement in order to pay off his loans. Otherwise, he stood to lose all of the personal properties he had earlier mortgaged on behalf of Georgia. The War Office finally agreed on a figure of £66,109 and recommended that Parliament pay this amount to Gen. Oglethorpe. Although there is some confusion over whether the date was March 20 or March 22, the House of Commons voted to reimburse Gen. James Oglethorpe the entire £66,109. [As noted in "In Their Own Words . . . " below, the Earl of Egmont recorded the day of the vote as March 20, 1744. Webb Garrison, author of Oglethorpe's Folly, however, says that according to the journal of the House of Commons, the vote took place on March 22.]

1777 Military leader Edmund Pendleton Gaines was born in Culpepper County, Va. He quickly rose through the military ranks to become a brigadier general in 1814. The following year, as commander of the Southern Division of the U.S. Army, Gaines came to Georgia to survey the boundaries of Creek land cessions. The Creeks believed the treaty had been nullified, however, and resisted. In 1816, a fort named for Gaines was erected on the Chattahoochee River to protect settlers. For a time Gaines commanded the Western Division, but returned to Georgia in 1825 to arbitrate the dispute between Georgia governor George Troup – who had signed another treaty ceding Creek lands with Creek chief William McIntosh. A majority of the Creeks did not agree to this cession and McIntosh was murdered. Meanwhile Troup insisted that the land in question belonged to Georgia. Gaines and Troup wrote angry letters to each other over the situation, but Gaines was able to ease tensions with the Creeks.

Most of the rest of his military career was spent outside of Georgia. While frequently in conflict with the Creeks and Cherokees, Gaines was one of the few military leaders who opposed the forcible removal of Indians from U.S. territory. In 1821, the new town of Gainesville, Ga. was named in his honor. Gaines died June 6, 1849, in New Orleans, Louisiana.

1889 Construction of the new Georgia State Capitol was formally completed and the keys were delivered to Gov. John B. Gordon.

1907 Politician Ellis Gibbs Arnall was born in Newnan, Georgia. He attended Mercer University and the University of the South before graduating from the University of Georgia Law School in 1931. The following year he was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives at the age of twenty-five, becoming the youngest legislator ever to serve in the General Assembly up to that time. He served two terms in the legislature before being appointed assistant attorney general in 1937, then attorney general in 1939. Arnall decided to run for governor in 1942 because of the furor over then Governor Eugene Talmadge's dictatorial treatment of the Board of Regents over the matter of firing two professors, allegedly for supporting integration in public schools. Ten state universities and colleges would lose their accreditation over this matter. In the aftermath Arnall defeated Talmadge in the gubernatorial race, once again becoming the youngest person to hold that office for his time.

Because the Georgia constitution prohibited successive terms, Arnall only served one term as governor (1943-1947) – but it was a term noted for reform and progressive legislation. Under his leadership Georgia adopted a new state constitution, created a constitutional Board of Regents, State Board of Education, State Board of Pardons and Paroles, State Game and Fish Commission, and State Ports Authority. State appropriations were increased for education, and a teachers' retirement system was begun – all while erasing the state's debt without raising taxes. Reforms were initiated in the penal system; Georgia became the first state to lower the voting age to eighteen; the poll tax was abolished, and Georgia won a major U.S. Supreme Court case (with Arnall arguing for the state) allowing the state to sue railroads over rate-fixing practices. Arnall's term ended with the "Three Governor's Affair." Arnall went on to serve as director of the Office of Price Stabilization in the Truman administration. He unsuccessfully ran for governor again in 1966, before retiring from political life. Arnall died in 1992.

1937 Singer/musician/songwriter/actor/television host Jerry Reed was born in Atlanta. He learned to play the guitar at age eight. Later, he dropped out of high school and headed to Nashville. Reed's first fame came as a songwriter, composing songs tdhat were peformed by Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Brenda Lee, the Oak Ridge Boys, Tom Jones, Dean Martin, and Nat King Cole. He was widely recognized for his skill playing the guitar, and in 1970 was voted Instrumentalist of the Year by the Country Music Association. Reed became widely known for his "good ol' boy" persona as a singer and actor. Among his best known recordings was the hit, "When You're Hot You're Hot," for which he won a Grammy Award in 1971. But Reed is probably best remembered for his supporting roles in the original and sequel of Burt Reynolds' "Smoky and the Bandit" movies.

Reed died at age 71 on Sept. 1, 2008, in Nashville, Tenn.

1943 Gov. Ellis Arnall signed a joint resolution proposing a constitutional amendment to elevate the Public Service Commission from a statutory to a constitutional agency. The distinction was that statutory agencies are totally subject to laws passed by the General Assembly and can be changed or abolished by legislative statute. Constitutional agencies, on the other hand, are provided for within the state constitution and can only be abolished by constitutional amendment.

1957 Filmmaker Spike Lee was born in Atlanta, Georgia. There, he attended Morehouse College before earning a masters degree from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.

Lee broke onto the film making scene in 1986 with "She's Gotta Have It," which won an award at the Cannes Film Festival. His next film, "School Daze," was very successful and launched the careers of several young actors. "Do the Right Thing," released in 1989, was nominated for three Academy Awards – Best Film, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Director. Other critically and financially successful Lee films include "Jungle Fever," "Mo' Better Blues," "Clockers," and "Malcolm X." Lee has also produced music videos and a number of highly popular commercials for Nike, resurrecting his character Mars Blackmon from "She's Gotta Have It."

1958 Actress Holly Hunter was born in Conyers, Georgia. Despite her short height (5'2") and her noticeable southern accent, Holly Hunter developed into a highly respected actress in Hollywood.

Hunter began her career on Broadway in "Crimes of the Heart," then broke into movies in "Raising Arizona." She received critical acclaim for her work in "Broadcast News," then won an Academy Award for her 1993 role as a mute musician in "The Piano." Hunter won an Emmy that same year for portraying a Texas mother who murdered a cheerleader opposing her daughter.

1970 Gov. Lester Maddox signed a joint resolution of the General Assembly designating the Brown Thrasher as Georgia's official state bird and the Bobwhite Quail as the official state game bird.

[To view Georgia's other state symbols, click here.]

1970 Gov. Lester Maddox signed legislation making it a felony to manufacture, process, distribute, or possess LSD. The penalty for a first offense was a fine up to $2,000 and imprisonment from 2 to 5 years.

1994 Author, newspaper columnist, and humorist Lewis Grizzard died in Atlanta. Born on Oct. 20, 1946, in Moreland, Ga., Grizzard attended the University of Georgia, where he graduated with a degree in journalism in 1968. He subsequently moved to Atlanta, where he became sports editor of the Atlanta Journal at age 23. He subsequently became sports editor of the Chicago Sun-Times, then returning to Georgia to briefly become a sports columnist for the Atlanta Constitution. Grizzard switched from sports to humor, writing a a regular column which was syndicated nationally. Grizzard's columns were collected and edited into number of books with distinctive titles like Elvis is Dead and I Don't Feel So Good Myself, They Took Out My Heart and Stomped That Sucker Flat ( a humorous look at his heart surgery), and If I Ever Get Back to Georgia I'm Going to Nail My Feet to the Ground (after his brief attempt stay in Chicago).

Click here for more information on Grizzard.

2011 Atlanta based AT&T Mobility announced its intention to purchase T-Mobile USA. If approved by federal antitrust regulators, this acquisition would make AT&T the nation's largest wireless carrier.
 

In Their Own Words on This Day. . .

1738 Salzburger minister Johann Martin Boltzius recorded in his journal a visit by one of the soldiers stationed at Fort Augusta who came to New Ebenezer to talk with Boltzius:

". . . A German man who heard us preach a couple of times some months ago and had come to a recognition of true Christianity called on me and said he was coming from the newly built fortress of this province, Augusta, via Savannah-Town, where he was serving as a soldier. They have built a fortification of palisades, together with a house for the captain and lieutenant there. They have nothing at all to fear from the Indians, who harmonize fully with the English Europeans in drinking, misbehavior, and in the most dissolute things, that no one hold against the other. He could not sufficiently describe the shameful manner of life the swinish behavior and lewdness that he had to witness there. The captain is otherwise an honorable man but has been lyin sick at his plantation near Savannah with epilepsy, which he is said to have contracted from drinking and anger. Things are miserable in that land. However, because there are still some just men and children of God there, who step up to the abyss, our merciful Father in heaven will probably withold his judgement over the country and its inhabitants. . . ."

1739 Former Georgia religious leader (and future founder of Methodism) John Wesley wrote in a letter:

"I look upon all the world as my parish."

". . . It is a melancholy thing to see how zeal for a good thing abates when the novelty is over, and where there is no pecuniary reward attending the service. Had the Government given us salaries but of £200 a year, few of our members would have been absent. . . ."

1744 In his diary, the Earl of Egmont recorded a happy event for Gen. James Oglethorpe, who now was living in England. Parliament was going to repay Oglethorpe for all of the personal money he had spent in the defense of Georgia:

". . . This day the House of Commons granted the sums expended by General Oglethorpe in the defence of Georgia, amounting to above £60,000, without any division, and with great honour to himself.

"Sir Jo. Cotton, who was ever an enemy to the colony, desired to know what use the colony was of to England, which gave the General an opportunity of shewing that on the preservation of it depends that of all the northern provinces. He was well heard by the House."

1839 From St. Simons Island, Fanny Kemble Butler wrote in her journal of the final days of her visit to our husband's plantation. The English actress was opposed to slavery and during her visit continually tried to help the slaves (despite her husband's opposition):

". . . I have been delighted, surprised, and the very least perplexed, by the sudden petition on the part of our young waiter [and slave] Aleck, that I will teach him to read. He is a very intelligent lad of about sixteen, and preferred his request with an urgent humility that was very touching. I told him I would think about it. I mean to do it. I will do it; and yet, it is simply breaking the laws of the government under which I am living. Unrighteous laws are made to be broken – perhaps – but then, you see, I am a woman, and Mr. [Pierce Butler, her husband] stands between me and the penalty. If I were a man, I would do that and many a thing besides, and doubtless should be shot some fine day from behind a tree by some good neighbor, who would do the community a service by quietly getting rid of mischievous incendiary; and I promise you in such a case, no questions would be asked, and my lessons would come to a speedy and silent end; but teaching slaves to read in a finable offense, and I am feme couverte [a married woman], and my fines must be paid by my legal owner, and the first offense of the sort is heavily fined, and the second more heavily fined, and for the third, one is sent to prison. What a pity it is I can't begin with Aleck's third lesson, because going to prison can't be done by proxy, and that penalty would light upon the right shoulders! I certainly intend to teach Aleck to read. I certainly won't tell Mr. [Butler] anything about it. . . .I'll teach Aleck to ready, for nobody is here to see, at least nobody whose seeing I mind; and I'll teach every other creature that wants to learn. I haven't much more than a week to remain in this blessed purgatory; in that last week perhaps I may teach the boy enough to go on along when I am gone."

1862 From Camp Davis, Georgia, Pvt. J.G.F. McCall of the 50th Ga. Infantry wrote his father about how pleased he was with his company:

"Dear Father, I seat myself this evening to rite you a few lines to let you no how I am getting along this leaves me enjoying good health & hope this may reach you enjoying the same blessing. We arrived on Sunday after we left Quitman I enjoyed myself finely since I have been here & the boys are all well pleased we have not been mustard in yet but I think we will be tomorrow there is about six thousand men stationed here I don't know how long we will stay here. I am well pleased with our officer & I think Capt. Sheffield a world beater. I have no news to write though I no you are anxious to hear from me. Tom is well pleased and I assure you I am pleased to have him here. I think we will be stationed at the Alapaha Bridge on the Gulf road after we drill here for a few weeks we have not had anything to do yet we have got our tents and cooking utensils we get plenty to eat such as beef bacon coffee flour sugar and corn meal. I would not quit this company to go to any other that ever could be made up. . . ."

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