November 17, 1732

1732 After repeated delays, the frigate Anne set sail from Gravesend down the Thames River into the Straits of Dover, then southward into the English Channel, and then westward along the southern coast of England before embarking into the Atlantic Ocean. At last, James Oglethorpeand the 114 colonists being sent at Trustees’ expense were on their way to build the first settlement in the new colony of Georgia. Also on board, as reported by Gentleman’s Magazine, were "10 tons of Alderman Parson’s best beer . . . for the service of the colony."

November 17, 1800

1800 Georgia’s congressional delegation joined those of other states as Congress held its first session in the partially completed Capitol building in Washington D.C.

November 17, 1860

1860 In Georgia’s state capitol in Milledgeville, William Harris of Mississippi addressed a joint session of the General Assembly. Mississippi’s legislature had just called for a secession convention, and Harris urged Georgia to do likewise. Immediately after his address, the General Assembly voted to call for a state convention to meet in Milledgeville on Jan. 16, 1861 to decide whether Georgia should secede or stay in the Union in view of Abraham Lincoln’s recent election as president.

November 17, 1864

1864 This marked day three of the March to the Sea for three of the four columns (Sherman and the 14th Corps started a day late). One of the important assignments was to destroy railroad tracks by producing what Union troops like to call "Sherman’s neckties."

November 17, 1867

1867 George Stallings, manager the Boston Braves miracle team of 1914, was born in Augusta, Georgia.

November 17, 1912

1912 Future governor Joseph M. Terrell died in Atlanta. Born in Greenville, Ga. on June 6, 1861, he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1882. His political career began two years later when at age 23, he was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives. At age 29, Terrell was elected to the Georgia Senate, and two years later he was elected Attorney General. In 1902, at age 41, he was elected governor to the first of three consecutive two-year terms (1902-07). A popular chief executive, he is best remembered for his efforts to promote education in Georgia. After retirement, he resumed the practice of law briefly. When U.S. Senator Alexander Clay died in 1910, Gov. Joseph M. Brown appointed Terrell to fill Clay’s unexpired term. However, a stroke forced him to resign in 1911. He died the next year at his home.

November 17, 1930

1930 Bobby Jones announced his retirement from competitive golf.

November 17, 1930

1930 Franklin D. Roosevelt arrived in Warm Springs, Ga. for his twentieth visit to his "second home."

November 17, 1933

1933 President Franklin D. Roosevelt arrived in Georgia for his twenty-seventh visit to his "second home." On this visit he gave a speech in Savannah celebrating Georgia’s bicentennial, before moving on to Warn Springs for his annual Thnaksgiving vacation.

November 17, 1948

1948 Herman Talmadge was sworn in as governor of Georgia bringing to an end the famous "Three Governors Affair." Herman’s father, Eugune, was elected governor in November 1946 but died in December before taking office. Herman claimed the office for two months (Jan.-Mar. 1947) but stepped down after the Georgia Supreme Court ruled that newly elected lieutenant governor Melvin E. Thompson should fill the vacancy until the next general election. Herman Talmadge defeated Melvin Thompson in the September 1948 primary and then won the Nov. 2, 1948 general election to fill the term of his deceased father.

November 17, 1955

1955 In Montgomery, Alabama, Coretta Scott King gave birth to Yolanda Denise King -- the first child in the Martin Luther King Jr. family.

November 17, 1961

1961 The NAACP Youth Council, the Black Ministers Alliance, and other local groups began the Albany Movement to coordinate the variety of civil rights protests that had developed in Albany.

November 17, 1998

1998 Atlanta Braves’ pitcher Tom Glavine won the 1998 National League Cy Young award. With a 20-6 record, Glavine was the National League’s only 20-game winner in the 1998 season. The win gave the Braves’ pitching staff an amazing hold on the Cy Young award during the 1990s, with Glavine winning twice (1991 and 1998), John Smoltz once (1996), and Greg Maddox a four-time winner (1992 (as a Cub), 1993, 1994, and 1995.

November 17, 1999

1999 Atlanta Braves’ third baseman Chipper Jones was awarded the National League’s Most Valuable Player Award. Jones hit .319 for the season, knocking in a career-best 45 home runs.