August 30, 1739

1739 Georgia politician and governor George Mathews was born in Augusta County, Va. Mathews served with Virginia troops in the Revolutionary War until captured at Germantown in 1777. After spending four years as a prisoner of war, he was exchanged in 1781. Mathews then served one year in the southern army of General Nathanael Greene. Soon after the war Mathews moved to Georgia, where as a war veteran he was granted thousands of acres of land in Wilkes County. He served four terms in the assembly as a delegate from Wilkes County before being elected governor in 1787. During his term, the Georgia-South Carolina boundary dispute was settled but problems with the Creek Indians increased. Upon completion of his term, Mathews was a delegate to the convention in Augusta that ratified the U.S. Constitution, worked as an Indian commissioner (1788-89), served in Georgia’s 1789 state constitutional convention, and was elected in 1789 to the first U.S. Congress. Afterwards, Mathews served as an inferior court judge (1792-93) before being elected to a second term as governor in 1793. During this term Mathews was forced to deal with Elijah Clarke’s attempts to capture East Florida and to set up an independent republic across the Oconee River. More importantly, Mathews signed the infamous Yazoo Land Act, leading to the illegal granting and selling of large tracts of Georgia’s western lands. This left him unpopular in Georgia, and in 1797 Mathews moved permanently to the Mississippi Territory. Subsequently, Pres. Madison appointed Mathews to try to acquire Florida from the Spain. Toward this end, Mathews attempted to stir up revolt among the Indians in Florida, which led Madison to repudiate his activities. Upon hearing of this, Mathews angrily left for Washington to confront Madison, but in route he died on his 73rd birthday in Augusta, Ga., where he was buried in St. Paul’s churchyard.

August 30, 1785

1785 The Augusta Gazette began publication. Ultimately, the newspaper became the Augusta Chronicle.

August 30, 1812

1812 Former Georgia governor George Mathews died on his 73rd birthday in Augusta, Ga.

August 30, 1864

1864 After a day of destroying the Atlanta & West Point Railroad, Gen. Sherman marched his army to the southeast toward the Macon & Western Railroad and Jonesboro. Confederate commander John Bell Hood believed that Sherman’s strategy was to position his army for an attack on the southern perimeter of Atlanta. However, as a precaution, Hood prepared to order two Confederate corps to Jonesboro. That night, however, Hood learned that Union forces were within two miles of the Macon railroad, so he ordered Gen. Hardee to march two corps through the night to turn the Union force back. Not knowing how fateful his words were, Hood told Hardee that the fate of Atlanta depended on his success.

August 30, 1879

1879 John Bell Hood, former general and commander of Confederate forces during the final stages of Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign, died of yellow fever in New Orleans at age 48.

August 30, 1888

1888 Two weeks after the death of Dr. John Pemberton, Asa Candler paid $1,000 to Mrs. M.C. Dozier and Woolfolk Walker for one-third interest in the new Coca-Cola company. This now gave Candler two-thirds interest, plus his share of the remaining third jointly owned by him, Walker and Dr. Joseph Jacobs. On April 22, 1891, Candler would purchase Walker and Jacobs’ shares for complete ownership of the corporation. He had managed to become the sole owner of Coca-Cola for total price of $2,300, plus an exchange of goods with Jacobs.

August 30, 1905

1905 After signing a contract for $1,800, 18-year-old Ty Cobb made his major league debut with the Detroit Tigers.

August 30, 1961

1961 Atlanta’s peaceful desegregation of four public schools was publicly acknowledged by President John Kennedy and Attorney General Robert Kennedy. Receiving special praise by the president were Atlanta Mayor William Hartsfield, Georgia Governor Ernest Vandiver, Atlanta Police Chief Herbert Jenkins, and Atlanta School Superintendent Dr. John Letson.

August 30, 1961

1961 Savannah-born Charles Coburn, Academy-award winning actor, died at 84 in New York City.

August 30, 1975

1975 On the day the Atlanta Braves were eliminated from the western division title race, team executives fired manager Clyde King. Braves coach Connie Ryan was elevated to manager for the remainder of the season.

August 30, 1976

1976 Representatives for Pres. Gerald Ford and former Georgia governor Jimmy Carter announced plans for a series of three nationally televised presidential debates.

August 30, 1979

1979 President Jimmy Carter reported that he was attacked by a rabbit during a canoe trip near his hometown of Plains, Georgia.

August 30, 1994

1994 Lockheed Corporation and Martin Marietta Corporation announced a proposed merger involving a $10 billion stock swap. This merger of the second and third largest defense contractors would make Lockheed Martin the giant of the industry. The companies said that the Clinton Pentagon was encouraging mergers to boost efficiency as the military was down-sized. Lockheed stockholders were the big winners in the deal, as they would get 1.63 shares of the new company for each Lockheed Corp. share they held. Immediately, Lockheed stock shot up on the stock market by some $10.75 a share to $76.75, compared to a rise in Martin Marietta stock by only fifty cents to $48.75. The new company would be based in Bethesda, Maryland, the current headquarters of Martin Marietta. According to reports out of Marietta, Ga., the merger would make little difference to the workers at the Marietta-based Lockheed Aeronautical System Group. At the time Lockheed had about eleven thousand workers in Marietta, although that number was already expected to drop eventually by about two thousand, as work was completed on various contracts. [Contributed by Dr. Tom Scott, Kennesaw State University]