1. In 1864, during the American Civil War, Union forces under General William T. Sherman captured the city of Atlanta, marking a major turning point in the conflict's outcome.

2. In 1919, Atlanta suffered one of the worst race riots in American history, sparked by false accusations against Black men after a white woman claimed to have been attacked. The riots resulted in at least 27 deaths and hundreds of injuries and arrests.

3. In 1950, Guion Bluford was born in Philadelphia, but he grew up in Atlanta and attended Georgia Tech. He went on to become the first African American astronaut and flew on four Space Shuttle missions between 1983 and 1992.

4. In 1996, the Summer Olympics began in Atlanta, marking the first time the games had been held in the southern United States since the 1904 St. Louis Olympics. The event was marred by the bombing of Centennial Olympic Park, which killed two people and injured over 100 others.

5. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, causing widespread devastation and displacement of residents. Many evacuees sought refuge in Georgia, where the cities of Atlanta and Augusta hosted thousands of people in shelters and provided support for rebuilding efforts.