Ed Jackson and Charles Pou

The University of Georgia

October 8

1895 The Liberty Bell arrived by train in Atlanta to be exhibited for three months in the Pennsylvania Building at the Cotton States and International Exposition. Notables from Philadelphia were greeted by their counterparts from Atlanta and many toasts were raised to the occasion. The arrival of the Liberty Bell brought out the Exposition's largest crowd to date – over 50,000, plus thousands more who lined the train route as it wound its way slowly into Atlanta and onto the grounds of the Exposition.

1918 W.H. White, Jr., president of the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, urged landlords not to evict those infected with Spanish influenza, saying they had no authority to do so and added that any such evictions be reported to his office. That same day all Fulton County school children reported to class, got their books and some final instructions, then were sent home for the duration of the ban on public gathering announced the previous day.

1976 A Gallup poll indicated Jimmy Carter had "won" the second presidential debate by a margin of 50% to 27%. Campaigning in Albuquerque, NM, Carter hammered at Ford's statement that the Soviet Union did not dominate Eastern Europe; Carter challenged Ford to "come out of White House hiding and tell the truth."

1983 Jim Williams, again convicted of murder in his re-trial, was sentenced to life in prison for the killing of Danny Hansford in the case that was dramatized in the book and movie Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

1984 Veteran knuckleball pitcher Phil Niekro won his 300th game, giving up only four hits and allowing no runs. At age 45, Niekro became the oldest player to pitch a shutout. Unfortunately, it was not as an Atlanta Brave. After a long career with the Braves, Niekro was playing for the New York Yankees as they beat Toronto.

1997 The first C-5 "Galaxy" transport plane arrived at Robins Air Force Base as part of a $434 contract with Robins to become the maintenance home for the Air Force's fleet of C-5s. The contract will mean approximately 750 new civilian jobs at Robins, in addition to new military personnel. Robins was also maintenance home for the the C-130 and C-141, and the 1997 relocation of the C-5 from Kelly AFB made Robins the main airlift depot for the Air Force.

In Their Own Words on This Day. . .

1861 From Camp Bartow, Virginia, Shephard Pryor of the 12th Georgia Infantry wrote to his wife:

". . . To sit about in camp is dull business, but the most of our men have been since the fight pretty actively engaged at work cutting down trees and digging ditches. We are making this quite a strong place by fortifying. Since the fight, men work more cheerful. They know the need of it and the good it does.

"We haven't heard from the enemy but once since the fight. Two [Union] Captains and a Sergeant came in with a white flag bearing a letter to General Jackson. They wanted to move the bodies of two of their men killed the day of the fight. The General sent them back without them, as the note had some informality about it. They were nice-looking men and looked like perfect gentlemen. One of them said that he had a brother that was a Colonel of a regiment of our army somewhere in Virginia. This is an awful thing: for a brother to be fighting against brother. This war is an awful thing! To look at it the best you can it injures both parties. Even the side that has the advantage, it injures more or less. And as for the end of it, dear, I think it has just begun and would not be a bit surprised if it last four years. . . . I pray for its speedy termination. I know that I am satisfied with it. I don't want to hear any more cannon balls. I don't like the sound much. There appears to be something wicked in the sound of them, as they fly through the air."

Source: Mills Lane (ed.), "Dear Mother: Don't grieve about me. If I get killed, I'll only be dead.": Letters from Georgia Soldiers in the Civil War (Savannah: Beehive Press, 1990), p. 75.

For more, see This Week in Georgia Civil War History.