1950 - 1959
Marietta Air Force Base was renamed Dobbins Air Force Base in honor of Capt. Charles Dobbins, a flyer from Marietta who was shot down in the Mediterranean Sea near Sicily in July, 1943.
Culminating a dream of Mayor William B. Hartsfield, Atlanta expanded the city limits, annexing more than 118 square miles of land. Total population increased by more than 100,000 people and Atlanta rose from 32nd to the 23rd most populous city in the United States.
The cost of pay phones in Atlanta increased from 5 cents to a dime.
Richard B. Russell "officially" begins his presidential; campaign with a dinner at Atlanta's Biltmore Hotel.
UFO sightings were reported in Atlanta and Marietta and in Fayetteville, an Air Force Lieutenant. spotted a UFO at tree-top level traveling at tremendous speeds.
Delta merged with Chicago and Southern to expand routes in Midwest.
Richard B. Russell predicted the Supreme Court would end segregation at an Armistice Day gathering in Atlanta.
In a front page editorial appearing in the Atlanta Constitution, Ralph McGill predicted the Supreme Court would declare school segregation unconstitutional.
Atlanta police investigated an open skylight at a grocery store and found and arrested Nelson Robert Duncan, one of the FBI's Top Ten Most Wanted.
The National Weather Service office in downtown Atlanta closed.
Atlanta phone numbers began an expansion to 7 digits.
The first Waffle House opened in Avondale Estates, Georgia.
Branch Rickey described the problems he faced after his decision to integrate the Brooklyn Dodgers by signing Jackie Robinson in a speech in Atlanta, Georgia
The gates on Lake Lanier dam closed beginning the containment of the most popular Corps of Engineers lake in the Southeast.
The Venable family signed a quit claim deed for the area encompassing Stone Mountain, giving it to Stone Mountain Confederate Memorial, Inc.
The Great Locomotive Chase, starring Fess Parker, Jeff Hunter and Jeff York opened at Loew's Grand Theater in Atlanta. Much of the action was filmed on the Tallulah Falls Railroad in northeast Georgia.
Diocese of Atlanta is established.
The conversion of Atlanta phone numbers to seven digits is completed.
The Lake Lanier dam was dedicated.
Controllers at Robins Air Force Base reported a silver, cigar shaped object that hovered for 8 minutes, then suddenly vanished.
Gov. Marvin Griffin signed a bill creating the Stone Mountain Memorial Association, superceding the old Authority. The Association donated Stone Mountain to the state.
30 Year old R&B singer Chuck Willis died in Atlanta from peritonitis.
Dahlonega and Lumpkin County presented a gift of gold for the dome of the state capitol building in Atlanta. The gold leaf arrived in an 1830's wagon train.
The Reform Jewish Temple in Atlanta was dynamited. No one was ever convicted for the crime.
The Atlanta City Council approved almost 10 million dollars for a new airport.
United States District Court Judge Frank H. Hooper rules that although he did not have the power to order integration, he did have the power to end segregation. He ordered Atlanta City Schools to desegregate.
William Shea, a wealthy New York attorney, announces the formation of the Continental Baseball League and plans to put a team in Atlanta.
PEOPLE
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