July 30, 1730

1730 The first actual attempt to seek a charter for Georgia was made by James Oglethorpe, John Percival, and other associates interested in creating a new British colony in America. On this date, Percival recorded in his diary: "We agreed on a petition to the King and Council for obtaining a grant of lands on the southwest of Carolina for settling poor persons of London, and having ordered it to be engrossed fair, we signed it, all who were present, and the other Associates were to be spoke also to sign it before delivered."

July 30, 1903

Georgia cities and towns first incorporated by acts approved on July 30:

1903 Armena (Lee County) and Plainville (Gordon County)

July 30, 1908

Georgia cities and towns first incorporated by acts approved on July 30:

1908 Riverdale (Clayton County) and Woodland (Talbot County)

July 30, 1912

1912 Gov. Joseph M. Brown approved a joint resolution of the General Assembly proposing a constitutional amendment creating Bleckley County. [The amendments were necessary because of a constitutional limit of 145 counties, meaning any additional counties had to be authorized through constitutional amendment.] The proposed new county was to be created from portions of Pulaski County and was named for Georgia Supreme Court Justice Logan E. Bleckley. On Oct. 2, 1912, Georgia voters ratified the amendment creating Georgia’s 147th county.

July 30, 1913

1913 The third day of the Leo Frank trial proved a good one for the defense. Detective John Black, who had obtained most of the evidence against Leo Frank, seemed confused and openly admitted being "mixed-up" over portions of his testimony. He contradicted himself numerous times and said he could not remember significant details of the case. Finally, he even admitted that he couldn’t be sure of what he had testified to previously. The defense was jubilant after his testimony. Others testified on this day as well; W.W. (Boots) Rogers testified that Leo Frank never saw Mary Phagan’s body at the undertaker’s; Frank had said he did. Grace Hicks, another factory employee, recalled how she was called to identify the body. She also said she had worked at the factory for five years and had only spoken to Leo Frank three times. Finally John Gantt, whom Frank had discharged from the factory for a shortage in a pay envelope, testified that he simply returned to the factory April 26th to retrieve a pair of shoes he had left there. The first three days of the trial were noted for standing room-only crowds, with many gathered outside to hear news, and for the sweltering heat, with temperatures in the upper 90s. Click here for a detailed accounting of the case.

July 30, 1918

1918 Gov.Hugh Dorsey approved a joint resolution of the General Assembly proposing a constitutional amendment creating Cook County. [The amendment was necessary because of a constitutional limit of 145 counties, meaning any additional counties had to be authorized through constitutional amendment.] The proposed new county was to be created from portions of Berrien County and was named for Gen. Philip Cook, who served as Georgia congressman and secretary of state. On Nov. 5, 1918, voters ratified the amendment creating Georgia’s 155th county.

July 30, 1929

1929 A bronze replica of the famous statue of Romulus and Remus was presented to the city of Rome, Ga.

July 30, 1931

1931 Gov. Richard Russell signed an act incorporating Milton County into Fulton County, conditioned on approval of a referendum in each county. Voters of both counties ratified the consolidation, which became effective Jan. 1, 1932.

July 30, 1936

1936 David O. Selznick paid Margaret Mitchell $50,000 for the motion picture rights to Gone With the Wind. At the time, more than 200,000 copies of the popular novel had been sold, and the $50,000 was the most ever paid for screen rights for an author’s first work.

July 30, 1956

1956 Eleven-year-old Brenda Mae Tarpley of Lithonia, Georgia, recorded "Jambalaya" -- her first hit for Decca Records. Tarpley, better known as Brenda Lee, had been singing professionally since age six. During the 1960s, she recorded 29 hit songs, moving to country music in the early 1970s.

July 30, 1961

1961 Laurence ’Larry’ Fishburne was born in Augusta, Georgia. The Tony Award-winning actor would star in such movies as Apocalypse Now (1979), The Cotton Club (1984), The Color Purple (1985), Boyz N the Hood (1991), and Othello (1995).

July 30, 1980

1980 Eleven year old Earl Terrell disappeared after leaving a swimming pool. He was the latest victim in the Atlanta Child Murders case.

July 30, 1993

1993 To help mark the grand opening of the National Postal Museum in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Postal Service issued a set of four commemorative stamps, one of which showed an old Milledgeville, Ga. postmark.

July 30, 1996

1996 This was the twelfth day of the 1996 Summer Olympics -- and day 11 of Olympic competition. In downtown Atlanta, Olympic Centennial Park reopened three days after the bombing.

July 30, 2007

2007 The Atlanta Braves traded several highly touted minor league prospects for Texas Rangers star first baseman Mark Teixeira. Teixeira played collegiate baseball in Atlanta at Georgia Tech.