April 22, 1837

1837 Politician and jurist David Brydie Mitchell died in Milledgeville, Georgia. Born in Scotland on Oct. 22, 1766, Mitchell came to Georgia in 1782 to assume ownership of land left him by his uncle. Mitchell soon became a fierce devotee of his new country, becoming a U.S. citizen in 1789. He served three terms in the Georgia legislature, two as a representative and one in the Senate. In 1809, the General Assembly elected Mitchell governor in 1809 and again in 1811. Ironically one of the pieces of legislation he supported as governor was a measure to outlaw dueling. Like a number of other Georgia politicians, Mitchell had been involved in a duel in 1802, in which he killed his opponent. Mitchell also foresaw trouble with England after his re-election in 1811, and was praised for having Georgia’s frontier fortifications prepared. Mitchell went on to serve one more term as governor (1815 to 1817), and then was appointed U.S. agent to the Creek Indians. He was dismissed from this post after being erroneously accused of slave smuggling. In 1828, Mitchell became inferior court judge of Baldwin County. He returned to the Georgia legislature in 1836 as a senator representing the new States Rights party. Mitchell died and was buried in Milledgeville the following year.

April 22, 1882

1882 Educator and prolific author Benjamin Brawley was born in Benedict, S.C. He became a professor of English, teaching at Morehouse College and Howard and Shaw universities. Brawley also served as dean of Morehouse College, where he wrote a history of the school. Among his long list of of book were A Short History of the American Negro, Negro Builders and Heroes, Early Black American Writers, The Negro in Literature and Art in the United States, and A New Survey of English Literature. He died in 1939.

April 22, 1891

1891 Asa Candler purchased Coca-Cola for $2300. Earlier, he had bought a partial interest in the rights to and formula for a "brain tonic" from John Pemberton called Coca-Cola! Candler believed Coca-Cola had a better future as a refreshing fountain drink than as a medicine, and turned his advertising and financial talents to that end. It was largely due to Candler’s innovative advertising and positive employee relations that Coke became such a remarkable worldwide success.

April 22, 1929

1929 - Frankin D. Roosevelt arrived in Warm Springs, Ga for his sixteenth visit to his "second home."

April 22, 1966

1966 The Atlanta Braves won their first home game in Atlanta, beating the New York Mets 8-4.

April 22, 1982

1982 The Atlanta Braves’ major league record of 13 consecutive season-opening wins ended as the Braves suffered a 2-1 loss to the Cincinnati Reds.

April 22, 1985

1985 CBS’s board of directors turned down Ted Turner’s bid for a controlling interest in a major national television network.

April 22, 1994

1994 After regaining the IBF-WBA heavyweight boxing championship the previous year, Evander Holyfield fought Michael Moorer in Las Vegas in his first title defense. Appearing tired and listless, Holyfield lost a 12-round decision. Complaining of chest pains after the fight, Holyfield was examined by a doctor, who found a hole in his heart. As a result, Holyfield would subsequently announce his retirement. Later, however, he would announce that the problem was not as bad as originally thought, thus prompting his return to the ring.

April 22, 2005

2005 The University of Georgia Women’s Gymnastics team won their sixth national championship.

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Today in History

1861 By a vote of 132,201 to 37,451, Virginia voters approved the Ordinance of Secession adopted by the secession convention on April 17. Assuming that the popular ratification is what … read more