Did you know that Atlanta was the 5th capital of Georgia? The seat of Georgia’s government was originally Savannah and then moved to Augusta, Louisville, and Millidgeville – in that order – before resting finally in Atlanta. Find out facts like these by reading more about this historic Southern metropolis: 

1. Atlanta is home to the first black public high school in Georgia – Booker T. Washington High School – that opened in 1924. 

2. The Coca-Cola Corporation began operations in Atlanta at the turn of the century in a two-story house on Edgewood Avenue! 


3. Atlanta was once burned to the ground! In 1846, General Sherman ordered Atlanta evacuated and then destroyed the city by fire as part of his Atlanta Campaign. The symbol of the city is now a phoenix, for its ability to rise from the ashes of its past. 

4. In 1931 Hale Woodruff, a famous African American mural painter, founded the art departments at all-black Atlanta University and Spelman College. Because of the Jim Crow laws, Woodruff and his students could not visit the collection at the High Museum of Art under and so under the cover of darkness, they were let in by a kind curator in secret. 

5. Atlanta is home to the “world’s largest drive-in restaurant.” The Varsity also claims to serve more Coca-Cola annually – at 3 million servings per year – than any other place in the world. 

6. Atlanta’s Capitol Building is gilded with pure gold leaf from the site of America’s first gold rush: Dahlonega. The gold arrived in Atlanta on August 4, 1958 in an historic covered wagon caravan drawn by seven mules. 

7. Many famous people have at one time or another called Atlanta “home.” Among them are: sports greats Hank Aaron and John Heisman, a long list of musicians: Alan Jackson, Trisha Yearwood, the B-52s, Gladys Knight and the Pips, John Mayer, R.E.M., and Usher. Also actors Spike Lee, Julia Roberts, African American writer and activist W.E.B. DuBois, author of Gone with the Wind Margaret Mitchell, and Martin Luther King, Jr.  

8. In 1906, many factors combined to create a race riot that left at least 25 blacks and 2 whites dead. The riot – which began on September 22, 1906 – lasted 4 days. 

9. The Atlanta Daily World – first published in 1928 – was the first African American publication to achieve success. It reported on civil rights issues like lynchings, police brutality against African Americans, the Scottsboro Boys Trial, mistreatment of black soldiers in WWII – among other relevant issues. This progressive daily newspaper is still in publication, making it the longest running African American publication in the country. 

10. In 1996, Atlanta hosted the World Olympic Games at Centennial Olympic Park – which was a $75 million construction effort built specifically to establish Atlanta’s global presence. The park features a Fountain of Rings designed to resemble the five interlocking Olympic rings. This computerized fountain is the scene of dazzling water displays and light shows. The 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta was the site of a major terrorist attack that left 2 dead and 111 wounded. The athletes and officials decided not to forego the Games and they continued as scheduled.