Time Line of Georgia

	AD 1500

AD 1540

De Soto arrives in present-day Georgia

			1700

		1732	The Trustees for Establishing Georgia, led by James Oglethorpe, receive a charter from King George II
		1733	The colony of Georgia is founded with Savannah as the first settlement
		1742	The colonists defeat Spanish soldiers at the Battle of Bloody Marsh
		1752	The Trustees give up Georgia, and the colony becomes directly ruled by the king
		1778	British troops take Savannah during the Revolutionary War
		1788	Georgia enters the Union as the fourth state
		1793	Eli Whitney invents the cotton gin

			1800

		1833	Georgia’s first railroad company is founded
		1838	The Cherokees are removed on the Trail of Tears
		1861	Georgia secedes (withdraws) from the Union
		1864	After the Union wins the Battle of Atlanta, General Sherman marches to the sea
		1865	Georgia’s slaves become free when the Civil War ends
		1868	Atlanta becomes Georgia’s capital
		1870s and 80s	The textile industry, making cotton into cloth, grows in Georgia

			1900

		1912	Woodrow Wilson, who grew up in Georgia, becomes president of the United States
		1920s	The boll weevil plague devastates Georgia’s cotton
		1925	The Atlanta Airport, known as Hartsfield–Jackson, is founded
		1930s	Georgia is hit by the worldwide economic slump known as the Great Depression
		1934	The Masters Golf Tournament is founded
		1942–1945	Many military bases are established in Georgia during World War II
		1964	Martin Luther King Jr. is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his peaceful efforts to bring civil rights to the South
		1976	Georgian Jimmy Carter is elected U.S. president
		1996	Atlanta hosts the Olympic Games

			2000

		2001	Georgia removes the controversial Confederate battle flag from its state flag
		2002	Jimmy Carter is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts promoting human rights and finding peaceful solutions to international conflicts
		2007	A series of tornadoes tear through southwest Georgia, killing nine people and causing damage to many homes and businesses
		2008	On the verge of bankruptcy, Atlanta-based Delta Airlines joins with Northwest Airlines to form the largest airline in the world

			PRESENT