He was called the “World’s Fastest Human,” and he excelled on and off the track. Ralph Metcalfe was born in Atlanta in 1910 and became one of the fastest track stars in the world. He won a host of national titles and tied the world record in the 100 and 200 meters. Metcalfe competed in […]
Detractors called it the Chicken Noodle Network, but it revolutionized the way the world gets its news. Ted Turner launched the Cable News Network—CNN—in Atlanta as the world’s first 24-hour all news network. Turner had already revolutionized cable television by beaming Superstation TBS around the globe by satellite. Convinced there was a market for an […]
On this date in 1962, 113 Georgians died at Orly Airport in Paris. It was the worst single airplane crash of that time—and it led to one of Atlanta’s cultural landmarks. The Air France jetliner crash killed 130 people—including 103 members of the Atlanta Art Association. Only the mid-air collision of two planes over New […]
As an actor, he was defined by two roles: the eldest of Ben Cartwright’s sons and the chief of medicine at a San Francisco hospital. Pernell Roberts was born in Waycross in 1928. He attended Georgia Tech and the University of Maryland with a two-year stint in the Marines in between. Roberts made his stage […]
“Peachtree Bart” was the Atlanta Falcons answer to Broadway Joe and he was just what the struggling team needed. Steve Bartkowski was born in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1952 and was a two-sport star at the University of California. The Atlanta Falcons made the All-American the first pick in the 1975 draft—ahead of Walter Payton—and […]
He holds the dubious distinction of having been thrown out of more ballgames than anyone in baseball history—but few managers ever won more games. Bobby Cox was born in Oklahoma in 1941 and played two years for the New York Yankees before beginning his managerial career in the minor leagues. The Atlanta Braves hired him […]
Her artwork hangs in distinguished company. Lucy May Stanton was born in Atlanta in 1875. She grew up across the street from the Wren’s Nest, Joel Chandler Harris’ home. Stanton majored in Greek and Latin at Southern Female College in LaGrange. Most of her formal art training came in Paris. Her work appeared in exhibitions […]
She was a Southern icon whose byline appeared in the Atlanta Constitution for 58 years. Celestine Sibley was born in Florida in 1914. She got her first job at the Mobile Press Register before moving to Atlanta and going to work at the Constitution in 1941. The manpower shortage caused by World War II provided […]
Here’s something for Georgians to look forward to — if you plan on being around 6,000 years from now. In 1936, a new phrase was born — time capsule, thanks to Oglethorpe University president Thornwell Jacobs. Motivated by the opening of the pyramids, Jacobs proposed collecting as much of modern society as possible and sealing […]
“Pop music is sex and you have to hit them in the face with it.” So said the Rolling Stones’ manager as they rolled onto the music scene in 1962. They were the vanguard of the British Invasion, a new breed of pop stars influenced by Elvis and Chuck Berry. The Stones made the Beatles […]
