July 10, 1782

1782 British troops and loyalists began the final evacuation of Savannah and prepared to turn the city over to Continental troops under Col. James Jackson.

July 10, 1863

1863 Confederate Gen. Paul Jones Semmes died from wounds received in the Battle of Gettysburg.

July 10, 1864

1864 After retreating southward across the Chattahoochee River, Confederate forces burned the Western & Atlantic Railroad bridge spanning the river.

July 10, 1871

1871 Lawyer and politician Hugh M. Dorsey was born in Fayetteville, Ga.

July 10, 1875

1875 Former lawyer, Georgia Supreme Court justice, states rights advocate, secession proponent, and Confederate general Henry L. Benning died in Columbus, Georgia. [Many sources incorrectly cite the day of Benning’s death as July 8.] Born in Columbia County in 1814, his parents moved to Harris County in 1832. Three years later, he moved to Columbus, which was his home until his death. After the outbreak of World War I, the U.S. Army created a new military post in Columbus. Army officials named the facility Camp Benning in honor of Gen. Benning’s bravery during the Civil War. In 1922, the camp was redesignated as Fort Benning.

July 10, 1913

1913 William H. Mincey, the insurance agent who had earlier sworn out an affidavit saying he had heard a drunken Jim Conley admit to murdering a girl the afternoon of April 26, now said he could not positively identify Conley as the man with whom he spoke that day. In the affidavit Mincey had said he approached a black man about buying a life insurance policy, but the man had threatened him by saying "I’ve already killed a girl this afternoon."

July 10, 1926

1926 Atlanta’s Bobby Jones won the U.S. Open golf tournament.

July 10, 1985

1985 After a consumer revolt over the replacement of the traditional Coke with a sweeter New Coke earlier in year, Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Company announced that the original drink would once again be available under a new name--Coca-Cola Classic--so that customers had a choice between the original and new versions of the soft drink.

July 10, 1993

1993 Three years and nine days from the opening ceremony of the 1996 Summer Olympics, ACOG held ground-breaking ceremonies in Atlanta formally launching construction of the Centennial Olympic Stadium.

July 10, 2002

2002 Former DeKalb County Sheriff Sidney Dorsey was convicted for the murder of Derwin Brown, who had defeated Dorsey in an election the previous August.

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Today in History

1882 Former Confederate general William McRae died in Augusta, Ga. Born Sept. 9, 1834 in Wilmington, N.C., he became a civil engineer. Joining the Monroe Light Infantry as a private, … read more