March 16, 1749

1749 In London, James Oglethorpe attended his last meeting of the Trustees of Georgia. Disillusioned by the Trustees’ decision to allow slavery and to make other changes in Georgia, Oglethorpe decided he could no longer participate.

March 16, 1861

1861 In Savannah, delegates to Georgia’s secession convention unanimously ratified the proposed Confederate Constitution adopted five days earlier by the Confederate Congress. On the same day, convention delegates voted to instruct the Committee on Constitution and Laws, chaired by Thomas R.R. Cobb, to revise Georgia’s state constitution. Cobb, however, already had a draft a new state constitution for Georgia ready.

March 16, 1922

1922 The Atlanta Journal began operation of the first commercial radio station in the South. Under the call letters WSB, the new radio station began a daily program of broadcasting that started at noon with a weather forecast, followed by an afternoon of crop and market information. At 6 p.m., there were 90 minutes of sports and news. From 7:30 until 9 p.m., when the station signed off, WSB observed quiet time in order to allow Atlanta radio owners to listen to concerts aired from stations outside the South. Though it is not clear how long this policy remained in effect, the Journal announced that it would be operating WSB "purely for the benefit and enjoyment of the public, and there will be no commercial features connected with it." As it turned out, the station’s emphasis on weather forecasts and crop news became very important to farmers, many of whom had no other access to such news. Eventually, WSB-AM was given authority to operate a 50,000-watt transmitter. Because no other radio station could operate on its frequency at night, WSB’s AM signal could be heard nightly across much of the South. And, despite the tradition that the call letters "WSB" stood for "Welcome South Brother," in reality the Atlanta station was the second in the "WS" series of radio call letters, following station WSA in Hampton, N.Y.

March 16, 1950

1950 The Girls Scouts of America, founded by Georgian Juliette Gordon Low, was officially charted by the U.S. Congress.

March 16, 1954

1954 Professional golfer Hollis Stacy was born in Savannah, Georgia. In 1969, she became the youngest player to ever win the U.S. Golf Association Junior Girls Championship. She also won the event in 1970 and 1971, becoming one of only two golfers to win the championship three years in succession. Stacey joined the Ladies Professional Golf Association in 1974 and went on to successful career, winning the U.S. Open three times (1977, 1978, and 1984). She has designed a golf course in Austin, Texas and works with the Scleraderma Foundation. Currently she is associate golf coach at the University of Southern California.

March 16, 1976

1976 Jimmy Carter’s presidential race was buoyed with a decisive victory in the Illinois Democratic Primary, proving to be his largest win to date in the 1976 presidential primary campaign.

March 16, 1976

1976 Two days of heavy rain caused over $1.7 million in floor damage in the Atlanta area. One of the casualties was the Cyclorama’s painting of the Battle of Atlanta. In the past, the Grant Park building housing the painting had leaked frequently, but this was the first time there was actual water damage to the painting itself.

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Atlanta, GA 30318
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Savannah Office:
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Today in History

1812 Politician Alexander Hamilton Stephens was born in Wilkes County, Georgia. One of the great orators of his day, he would play a pivotal role in many of the political … read more