On April 2, 1513, Spanish Explorer Juan Ponce de Leon discovered Florida, claiming it for the Spanish crown. Today he is best-known in Georgia for giving his name to be mispronounced daily on a sketchy street in Atlanta. It is not known if he was wearing jean shorts, or if those were developed later. Georgians began mispronouncing his name immediately.
Georgia began its love affair with the regulation of what can and cannot be sold on April 3, 1735, when James Oglethorpe, founder of the colony, helped gain passage of “An Act to prevent the Importation and Use of Rum and Brandies in the Province of Georgia.” The act provided that after June 24, 1735, “no Rum, Brandies, Spirits or Strong Waters” shall be imported into Georgia.” Permission was also required to sell beer, wine, and ale.
At the inauguration of America’s first Whig president, on March 4, 1841, a bitterly cold day, Harrison declined to wear a jacket or hat, made a two-hour speech, and attended three inauguration balls. Soon afterward, he developed pneumonia. On April 4, President Harrison died in Washington, and Vice President John Tyler ascended to the presidency, becoming the first individual in U.S. history to reach the office through the death of a president.
Born on a ranch near Missoula, Montana Territory, in 1880, Rankin was a social worker in the states of Montana and Washington before joining the women’s suffrage movement in 1910. Working with various suffrage groups, she campaigned for the women’s vote on a national level and in 1914 was instrumental in the passage of suffrage legislation in Montana. Two years later, she successfully ran for Congress in Montana on a progressive Republican platform calling for total women’s suffrage, legislation protecting children, and U.S. neutrality in the European war. Following her election as a representative, Rankin’s entrance into Congress was delayed for a month as congressmen discussed whether a woman should be admitted into the House of Representatives.
Finally, on April 2, 1917, she was introduced in Congress as its first female member. The same day, President Woodrow Wilson addressed a joint session of Congress and urged a declaration of war against Germany.
The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., accompanied by Georgians Hosea Williams and Ralph D. Abernathy, was in Memphis, Tennessee, supporting a strike by sanitation workers on April 3, 1968. He delivered what is known as the “Mountaintop Speech.”
“[L]ike anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over, and I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the promised land. So I’m happy tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”
Governor Brian Kemp issued Executive Order #03.31.21.01, renewing the Public Health State of Emergency through April 30, 2021, and Executive Order #03.31.21.03 providing guidance on public safety protocols during the pandemic. Executive Order #03.31.21.02 allows state employees to take up to 8 hours Emergency Office Closure Leave for the purpose of getting a COVID vaccination and up to 16 hours leave for recovery from negative side effects if the side effects would prevent them from working.Continue Reading..
The future First Lady wrote in part, “I long to hear that you have declared an independency. And, by the way, in the new code of laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make, I desire you would remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands. Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation.”
The iconic vote was cast in a local election in Perth Amboy, New Jersey for the town’s charter. Gary Sullivan of the News Tribune stated, “Exercising his right to vote in a local election on March 31, 1870. Peterson became the first black man in the United States to cast a ballot. The amendment had been ratified on February 3, 1870, and within just two months the Fifteenth Amendment was put to use.
An interview with Peterson showed who encouraged him to vote, “I was working for Mr. T. L. Kearny on the morning of the day of election, and did not think of voting until he came out to the stable where I was attending to the horses and advised me to go to the polls and exercise a citizen’s privilege.” Peterson also revealed his vote in this election, “As I advanced to the polls one man offered me a ticket bearing the words “revised charter” and another one marked, “no charter.” I thought I would not vote to give up our charter after holding it so long: so I chose a revised charter ballot.”
The Eiffel Tower remained the world’s tallest man-made structure until the completion of the Chrysler Building in New York in 1930. Incredibly, the Eiffel Tower was almost demolished when the International Exposition’s 20-year lease on the land expired in 1909, but its value as an antenna for radio transmission saved it. It remains largely unchanged today and is one of the world’s premier tourist attractions.
Hello my name is Bug, together with my sister (Lady) we are looking for a new home. As soon as you look at us you’ll fall in love! I’m a friendly and affectionate little dog. I like to play and run around especially with my sister. We are looking for a new family who will care for us, take us on walks and sit with us when we want to watch TV!
Hi, I’m Roscoe! I’m medium sized, and I’m a bit of an older guy. My home life is changing right now, so I find myself in need of a new home. I’m not so crazy about other dogs, but I get along great with children and cats. I especially love cats.
I may be a bit quiet, but I am very affectionate. Even though I’m a little older, that doesn’t stop me from playing, running around, and rough housing. As an older dog, I know quite a few tricks. I can sit, lay down, rollover and stay. I’m an all around good boy! I could be your good boy if you want.
I understand that some of you have some concerns about the election bill we passed in Georgia. I realize many of you are limited as to the news coverage you see about the bill. Let me walk you through the actual bill so you can make an informed decision.
To start with, the Democrats in Georgia lie. They don’t even try to be honest. We started in June 2020, 5 months BEFORE the election working on restoring the people’s confidence in our elections. Why you ask? Democrat Stacey Abrams has spent 2 years running all over the country telling everyone who would listen that the election was stolen from her. Despite the facts, the data, showing otherwise, the media loved to give her air time to push her false narrative. This did however plant the seeds of distrust in our elections. We have seen for years now, Democrats use feeling and emotions, while Republicans use facts and data.
This is also true with SB 202. You have heard “Jim Crow 2.0”, “voter suppression”, “Disenfranchise” and of course the democrats favorite, “Racist”. The bill is none of that, and it is easy to see. Let’s begin.
The first change in the bill (lines 171 – 178) requires the Attorney General to “establish and maintain” a telephone hotline so anyone can file a complaint of voter intimidation or illegal activities. It even recognizes these complaints if made anonymously. That appears to be contradictory to the “voter suppression” statements.Continue Reading..
With the adoption of the 15th Amendment in 1870, a politically mobilized African-American community joined with white allies in the Southern states to elect the Republican Party to power, which brought about radical changes across the South. By late 1870, all the former Confederate states had been readmitted to the Union, and most were controlled by the Republican Party, thanks to the support of African-American voters.
In the same year, Hiram Rhoades Revels, a Republican from Natchez, Mississippi, became the first African American ever to sit in Congress. Although African-American Republicans never obtained political office in proportion to their overwhelming electoral majority, Revels and a dozen other African-American men served in Congress during Reconstruction, more than 600 served in state legislatures, and many more held local offices. However, in the late 1870s, the Southern Republican Party vanished with the end of Reconstruction, and Southern state governments effectively nullified the 14th and 15th Amendments, stripping Southern African Americans of the right to vote. It would be nearly a century before the nation would again attempt to establish equal rights for African Americans in the South.
October was the cruelest month. During those 31 days, the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic stormed through Savannah, killing 114 people and leaving a swath of despair and a sense of desperation in its wake.
“Sick patients were being taken to the various hospitals by the wagon load,” the Savannah Morning News reported on Oct. 27. That came after 102 new cases were registered just the day before.
The vulnerability to infectious diseases. Not knowing what to do. The fear. Being a little bit out of control. It was “very similar to today,” said Sara Plaspohl, one of the authors of “The Effect of the 1918 Spanish Influenza Pandemic on Mortality Rates in Savannah, Georgia,” a 2016 article in the Georgia Historical Quarterly.
The GHQ article concentrated on the 6,520 recorded deaths in Savannah-Chatham County during a three-year period, Jan. 1, 1917, to Dec. 31, 1919. The numbers are scary. Of the 2,433 deaths in 1918, 223 – 9% of the aggregate total – perished during the pandemic.
And the total, said Plaspohl, was likely higher. The handwriting on the certificates was often not legible, and, when it was, they still only counted certificates that specifically stated Spanish flu or influenza as the cause of death.
Warnings were also plentiful. The Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, Thacker pointed out, published out a circular during the 1918 pandemic that presaged the cautionary admonitions of 2020:
‒ If you are really sick, stay at home and remain there until the fever is over. A day in bed may save you from serious consequences …
‒ Don’t spray others with the secretions from your nose and throat in coughing, sneezing, laughing or talking.
‒ Boil your handkerchiefs and other contaminated articles.
‒ Wash your hands frequently.
‒ Keep away from others as much as possible while you have a cough.
“After the pandemic subsided, it left a significant scar on the surviving population,” the GHQ article stated. “Many children lost one or both of their parents, and widowed spouses suddenly became the only source of income and support for their families.”