March 6, 1856

1856 Gov. Herschel Johnson signed legislation creating Towns County as Georgia’s 118th county. Created from portions of Rabun and Union counties, the new county was named for George Towns, former Georgia governor (1847-1851) who died two years earlier.

March 6, 1857

1857 The U.S. Supreme Court issued its Dred Scott decision. The case had been filed in St. Louis by Dred Scott, a slave who filed a lawsuit seeking his freedom. The Supreme Court, however, turned his case down, holding that black Americans were not citizens. Associate Justice James M. Wayne of Georgia issued a concurring opinion supporting the court's decision.  Though supported by politicians and newspaper editors in the South, the Dred Scott decision met angry opposition in the North and was an important factor leading to Abraham Lincoln's election three years later.

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March 6, 1933

1933 During the Depression, America’s banking system seemed on the verge of collapsing, leading to nationwide run on banks to withdraw gold and currency. On this day, Georgia banks closed as Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt declared a nationwide four-day bank holiday in an attempt to save the nation’s faltering banking system. Most banks reopened after a 10-day "holiday".

March 6, 1939

Georgia cities and towns first incorporated by acts approved by the governor on March 6:

1939 Edgehill (Glascock County)

March 6, 1945

1945 Gov. Ellis Arnall signed legislation creating the Veterans Resettlement Corporation. The new agency was empowered to issue revenue bonds to make loans insured by the U.S. government to returning veterans of World War II in order to allow them to purchase (or construct) homes, farms, and business property.

March 6, 1946

1946 The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Primus E. King, an African American from Columbus, Georgia, could vote in the Georgia Democratic primary. King had brought the suit after being prohibited from voting in July 1944. The court ruled this violated the 14th, 15th, and 17th amendments, and that the Georgia’s white primary was a state election in which the Democratic Party acted as an instrumentality of the state.

March 6, 1964

1964 Georgia-born Elijah Muhammad renamed Cassius Clay as Muhammad Ali.