October 6, 1868

1868 Following the September 3 expulsion of black legislators from the Georgia General Assembly, black leaders assembled in Macon for a state convention to protest the ouster and debate what actions to take.

October 6, 1885

Other acts affecting Georgia towns and cities approved on Oct. 6:

1885 The name of Ward (Randolph County) was changed to Shellman, and the name of Indian Spring (Butts County) was changed to Flovilla.

October 6, 1891

Georgia towns and cities incorporated by acts approved on Oct. 6:

1891 Elko (Houston County)

October 6, 1940

1940 Politician and diplomat Wyche Fowler Jr. was born in Atlanta (DeKalb County). He graduated from Davidson College in 1962 and went on to obtain his J.D. degree from Emory Law School in 1969. Fowler practiced law in Atlanta from 1970 to 1977. In April 1977, he was elected to fill the unexpired term of Andrew Young, who resigned to serve as U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. In the House, Fowler served on the House Select Committee on Intelligence and on the committees on Foreign Affairs and Ways and Means. In 1986, Fowler defeated Republican incumbent Mack Mattingly for a seat in the U.S. Senate, where he served from 1987 to 1993. In 1992, Republican challenger Paul Coverdell defeated Fowler, who subsequently joined a Washington DC law firm. In June 1996, President Clinton nominated of Fowler to the post of U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia. The Senate subsequently confirmed Fowler’s appointment.

October 6, 1953

1953 WTVM-TV became Columbus, Georgia’s first television station. Allen Woodall Sr., owner of WDAK Radio joined in a partnership with Martin Theatres to start WDAK-TV on Channel 28. In 1956, Martin Theatres became the station’s sole owner and changed its call letters to WTVM-TV, which stands for TeleVision Martin. They also changed the station from a UHF channel 28 to VHF channel 9 to reach a larger audience.

October 6, 1976

1976 In San Francisco, Jimmy Carter and President Gerald Ford squared off in round two of their nationally televised debates. Topics for this debate were foreign policy and national defense, areas where Carter was thought to be weak because of inexperience. But Carter surprised many viewers and analysts by exhibiting a thorough knowledge of foreign policy issues and a clear understanding of military matters. He also lived up to his promise to be more aggressive in this debate, challenging President Ford on matters of "leadership," "the character of our country," and "a vision for the future." Several sharp exchanges ensued, with Carter using concrete examples of perceived failures in Ford’s foreign policy, while Ford vigorously defended his record. Early polls indicated Carter did very well in the perception of most viewers.

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