July 5, 1737

1737 Aboard the Blandford, James Oglethorpe sailed from England for Georgia accompanied by the man-of-war, Hector, and five transports carrying his newly authorized regiment that would be stationed on St. Simons Island.

July 5, 1742

1742 Manuel de Montiano, governor of Spanish Florida, used an incoming tide to sail his flotilla of 36 ships and 2,000 men past Fort St. Simon on the southern tip of St. Simons Island into the safety of the harbor out of reach of British cannons. Realizing the fort has been outflanked, Oglethorpe ordered his troops to spike the cannons. At midnight, they lowered the British flag and retreat under cover of darkness to Fort Frederica. The long-feared Spanish invasion of Georgia was now underway.

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July 5, 1864

1864 Arriving at Roswell, Union Gen. Kenner Garrard’s cavalry found the bridge across the Chattahoochee had been burned. Garrard then ordered his men to burn all mills and industrial buildings in Roswell. According to his report, one of the cotton mills destroyed had over $1 million in machinery and employed 400 workers.

July 5, 1885

1885 Mauney D. Collins, noted proponent of public education in the first half of the 20th century, was born in Union County, Georgia. He became state school superintendent in 1933 and headed the Georgia Department of Education for 25 years--longer than anyone in history. Under his leadership, Georgia public schools got a twelfth grade, school lunch program, rural school libraries, a teachers retirement system, increased vocational education, a nine-month school year, and many other progressive changes. M.D. Collins also is remembered for his motto, "Education does not cost--it pays."

July 5, 1981

1981 Ellis Merton Coulter, one of Georgia’s most noted historians, died in Athens, Georgia. Born in North Carolina in 1890, he earned his undergraduate degree in history at the University of North Carolina, followed by an M.A. and Ph.D. in history from the University of Wisconsin. Coulter came to the University of Georgia in 1919, where he became a full professor, department head, and regents professor before his retirement in 1958. Coulter’s exclusive interests were the history of Georgia and of the South. During his lifetime, he produced numerous publications, but the most popular was his Georgia: A Short History.

July 5, 1983

1983 Trumpet great and big band leader Harry James died in Las Vegas. James was born March 15, 1916, in Albany,

July 5, 1985

1985 The Atlanta Braves and New York Mets made baseball history when they play a game in Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium that lasted over six hours (due to two rain delays). In the 19th inning, the Mets scored 5 runs to beat the Braves 16-13 in a game that ended at 3:55 a.m. Since the game began on July 4th, a promised fireworks show was held at 4 a.m. on the July 5th.