November 5, 1813

1813 Peter Early was sworn in as Georgia governor. Born in Virginia on June 20, 1773, Early was elected governor by the General Assembly in 1813 and served one two-year term. He died in Greene County on Aug. 15, 1817. The next year, the General Assembly created Early County in the southwest corner of the state from lands ceded by the Creeks.

November 5, 1819

1819 John Clark was sworn in as Georgia governor. Born in North Carolina on Feb. 28, 1766, Clark was elected governor by the General Assembly in 1819 and served two two-year terms. He died in St. Andrews Bay, Florida, on Oct. 12, 1832.

November 5, 1833

1833 Confederate general Edward D. Tracy was born in Macon, Ga.

November 5, 1852

1852 Howell Cobb was sworn in as Georgia governor. Born in Georgia on Sept. 7, 1815, Cobb served four terms in Congress (1843-51) with the last two years as Speaker of the House, was elected governor by Georgia voters in 1851 for one two-year term, returned to Congress for one additional term (1855-57), and was appointed by Pres. Buchanan to be U.S. Secretary of the Treasury (1857-60). Cobb served as a general in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. He died while on a visit to New York City on Oct. 9, 1868.

November 5, 1912

1912 Georgia voters ratified constitutional amendments creating Bleckley and Wheeler counties as Georgia’s 147th and 148th counties. Constitutional amendments were necessary because Georgia’s constitution then limited the number of counties in the state to 145. Rather than raise that limit, Georgia lawmakers chose to create additional counties through a constitutional amendment for each new county.

Bleckley County, created from portions of Pulaski County, was named for former Georgia Supreme Court chief justice Logan Bleckley.
Wheeler County, created from portions of Montgomery County, was named for former Confederate and U.S. Army general Joseph Wheeler.

November 5, 1918

1918 Georgia voters ratified constitutional amendments creating Atkinson, Truetlen, and Cook counties as respectively Georgia’s 153rd, 154th, and 155th counties.
Atkinson County, created from portions of Clinch and Coffee counties, was named for Georgia governor William Y. Atkinson (1894-1898).
Truetlen County, created from portions of Emanuel and Montgomery counties, was named for John A. Truetlen, Governor’s first governor (1777-1778).
Cook County, created from portions of Berrien County, was named for Gen. Philip Cook, who served in the Seminole War and Civil War, represented Georgia in Congress (1872-1882), and served as Georgia Secretary of State for over two decades.

November 5, 1918

1918 Fulton County public schools were re-opened after having been closed to help prevent the spread of Spanish influenza,

November 5, 1932

1932 In the midst of the Great Depression, Atlanta mayor James L. Key announced that the last $250,000 in the city’s payroll account would be disbursed to the city’s 4000 employees, paying them for the last half of October. But no more funds were available or likely to become available for November and December; city employees would have to wait at least until after the new year to get paid again.

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November 5, 1940

1940 Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected to his third term as President. At the time there was no constitutional prohibition against seeking more than two terms as President.

November 5, 1948

1948 Georgia Congressman Bob Barr was born in Iowa City, Iowa. He obtained an undergraduate degree from the University of Southern California (1970), an M.A. from George Washington University (1972), and a J.D. from Georgetown (1977). Working as a CIA analyst (1971-78), Barr moved to Georgia in 1978 to practice law. In 1978, he became U.S. attorney for the North Georgia federal district. In 1992, Barr ran for the U.S. Senate in the Republican primary, but lost to Paul Coverdell. Two years later, he challenged Democratic incumbent Buddy Darden in the 7th congressional district and won. In 1996, he won reelection in the race against Democratic challenger Charlie Watts.

November 5, 1960

1960 The U.S. Post Office released a new 4-cent Walter F. George commemorative stamp honoring the former U.S. Senator from Georgia. First-day-of-issue ceremonies were held in his hometown of Vienna, Georgia.

November 5, 2002

2002 For the first time in over 130 years, Georgia elected a republican governor - Sonny Perdue. In another surprising development, long time Georgia state House of Representatives speaker Tom Murphy was defeated in his bid for re-election.

November 5, 2003

2003 Georgia native Alan Jackson won three awards at the Country Music Association’s annual awards presentation in Nashville, TN. Jackson was named Male Vocalist of the Year, Entertainer of the Year, and he and Jimmy Buffett won the Vocal Event of the Year award for their song "It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere."