August 23, 1781

1781 Lawyer and well-known Georgia political John M. Berrien was born in Princeton, New Jersey. Two years later, his parents moved to Savannah, where at age 18 he began the practice of law. In 1822, he served a term in the Georgia state senate, and in 1824 the General Assembly elected him to represent Georgia in the U.S. Senate. In 1829, he resigned to serve as Pres. Andrew Jackson’s attorney general. In 1831, he returned to practice law in Savannah, where he helped form the Georgia State Rights party. In 1840, Berrien was reelected to the Georgia Senate, where he served for the next 12 years. Afterwards, he practiced law in Savannah until his death on Jan. 1 1856. The next month, the General Assembly created a new county and named it in his honor.

August 23, 1864

1864 Near Atlanta, Sherman issued Special Field Order 59 prohibiting his forces from trading with Georgia merchants except for items needed by Union troops, and setting the conditions under which Union quartermasters could obtain what they needed.

August 23, 1870

1870 H.I.Kimball sold the former Kimball Opera House to the State of Georgia for $250,000. During 1868-69, the building had been transformed into the Georgia State Capitol.

August 23, 1889

Georgia towns and cities first incorporated by acts approved on August 23:

1889 Lovett (Laurens County)

August 23, 1905

Georgia towns and cities first incorporated by acts approved on August 23:

1905 Campton (Walton County), Cobbtown (Tattnall County), Dacula (Gwinnett County), Garfield (Emanuel County), Haddock (Jones County), Lela (Decatur County), Ludowici (Liberty County), Molena (Pike County), Odessadale (Meriwether County), Pembroke (Bryan County), Pitts (Wilcox County), Smithsonia (Oglethorpe County), and Walnut Grove (Walton County)

August 23, 1913

1913 On the twenty-fourth day in the trial of Leo Frank, prosecutor Hugh Dorsey continued his eloquent, yet ferocious, closing argument, condemning Frank for his abhorrent behavior and contending that he could not care less what opposing attorneys or Frank’s family thought of him -- his duty was to Mary Phagan and the people of Georgia.

August 23, 1961

1961 Responding to the city of Atlanta’s argument in federal court two days earlier that city parks were no longer segregated, four blacks attempted to play tennis at the Bitsy Grant Tennis Courts. As they arrived, they found hastily posted "closed for repairs" signs.

August 23, 1969

1969 To mark the 11th International Botanical Congress in Seattle, Wash., the U.S. Post Office issued four commemorative stamps showing plants from the major regions of America. One of the stamps showed the Franklinia alatamaha, a plant found near the mouth of the Altamaha River by the Bartrams in 1765.