October 9, 1779

1779 Count Casimir Pulaski was mortally wounded in battle during the siege of Savannah. He would die two days later.

October 9, 1782

1782 Lewis Cass was born in Michigan. He later became governor of Michigan, and then U.S. Senator from that state. His political beliefs were popular in the South, and in late 1832 the Georgia General Assembly named a new county after him. After the outbreak of the Civil War, Cass became a strong proponent of the Union cause. That coupled with the death of Col. Francis Bartow at the First Battle of Manassas (Bull Run) led the Georgia General Assembly on Dec. 6, 1861, to rename Cass County as Bartow County.

October 9, 1868

1868 Georgia politician and Confederate general Howell Cobb died while on a visit to New York City.

October 9, 1891

Georgia towns and cities incorporated by acts approved on Oct. 9:

1891 Dennard (Houston County) and Cement (Bartow County)

October 9, 1918

1918 Precautionary measures against the spread of Spanish influenza in Atlanta seemed to be working as few new cases were reported. Meanwhile, the flu epidemic continued to spread through the country.

October 9, 1961

1961 Ray Charles’ recording of "Hit The Road Jack" reached #1 on the pop singles chart.

October 9, 1963

1963 The Board of Regents approved the creation of a new junior college in Cobb County. This action followed local leaders promise to pick up the costs of land acquisition, road and utility improvements, and construction of the original eight buildings. On April 22, 1964, Cobb County voters went to the polls, where 88 percent of the voters approved a bond referendum providing $2.35 million for campus construction. A large federal grant supplemented the original building costs. The embryonic institution was given a variety of unofficial names until August 1965, when it officially became Kennesaw Junior College--named for the nearby mountain where a major Civil War battle had been fought a century earlier. With the campus still under construction, classes began in September 1966 in classrooms provided at Southern Tech in Marietta. The initial enrollment was 1,014 students. The KJC campus in north Cobb County was not ready for occupancy until January 9, 1967, the beginning of winter quarter. [Contributed by Dr. Tom Scott, Kennesaw State University]

October 9, 1976

1976 Campaigning in Cleveland, Jimmy Carter kept us his attack on President Ford to maintain the momentum he had gained from the second presidential debate. He challenged Ford to make his income tax return public.

October 9, 1980

1980 Twelve year old Charles Stephens was strangled to death in Atlanta. He was the latest victim in the Atlanta Child Murders case.

October 9, 1995

1995 Georgia’s Sam Nunnannounced he would not seek re-election for a fifth term in the U.S. Senate. Known for his expertise in American national defense, the 57-year-old Democrat from Perry indicated that he planned to "follow a new course" in his life.