Atlanta began as a railway junction. In the 1830s Georgia's legislature approved a railroad to the west, and its terminus was marked in what was then forest, and a small settlement grew up around it. The town was named Marthasville, then renamed Atlanta, which refers to the Western and Atlantic Railroad. It grew into an important rail and supply hub for the Confederacy, and in 1864 Union forces under General William T. Sherman captured and burned much of it. It rebuilt quickly and became a centre of Black education and business, and later of the civil rights movement, as the home of Martin Luther King Jr. Atlanta now hosts major corporations, a huge airport, and was the host of the 1996 Summer Olympics.
Before and after
- 16 August 1845Birth of Gabriel Lippmann
- 10 October 1845Founding of United States Naval Academy
- 20 November 1845Battle of Vuelta de Obligado
- from 11 December 1845 to 9 March 1846First Anglo-Sikh War
- 29 December 1845Founding of Atlanta
- from 1846 to 1871California Genocide
- 5 January 1846Birth of Rudolf Christoph Eucken
- from 24 April 1846 to 2 February 1848Mexican-American War
- 5 May 1846Birth of Henryk Sienkiewicz
More in Civilizations & archaeology
- from 1799 to 1849Sikh Empire
- 1831Discovery of Lewis chessmen
- from 8 February 1861 to 1 May 1865Confederate States of America
- from 17 March 1861 to 18 June 1946Kingdom of Italy
- from 3 January 1868 to 3 May 1947Empire of Japan
- from 23 October 1868 to 30 July 1912Meiji era
The era
This moment belongs to the Industrial era (1760 CE to 1914 CE), steam, factories and revolutions. You can also browse everything in the 19th century.