1. On December 16, 1773, a group of Georgia colonists met to protest the British Tea Act, which they felt was an unfair tax on tea. This meeting became known as the Savannah Tea Party and was one of the earliest acts of colonial resistance against British rule.

2. On December 16, 1826, the Georgia State Legislature approved the creation of a new county, named Monroe County, after the fifth President of the United States, James Monroe.

3. In 1837 on December 16, the Georgia Supreme Court overturned the conviction of the poet and journalist Edgar Allan Poe, who had been falsely accused of theft while serving as a cadet at the United States Military Academy at West Point.

4. On December 16, 1944, the Atlanta Crackers minor league baseball team announced the signing of Jackie Robinson, who would go on to become the first African American to play in Major League Baseball.

5. On December 16, 1961, the Georgia State Senate approved the creation of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA). MARTA began operating in 1972 and is now an essential part of the transportation infrastructure of the Atlanta metropolitan area.