This week in Georgia history

JUNE 25, 1990

Supreme Court ruled on Georgia-SC boundary

The U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling in the case of Georgia v. South Carolina defining the boundary between the two states from the area of the river just north of Savannah to the river's mouth at the Atlantic Ocean.

JUNE 25, 1976

Johnny Mercer died

Savannah-born Johnny Mercer, widely recognized as one of America's top songwriters ever, died at age 66. Winner of four Academy Awards, Mercer had 702 songs published and 13 number one songs.

JUNE 28, 1742

Spanish began invasion of Georgia

Spanish Florida Governor Manuel de Montiano arrived off the southern tip of St. Simons Island with a fleet of 36 ships and 2,000 men. Here, James Oglethorpe and a total of about 900 men stood between the Spanish flotilla and Georgia and South Carolina. As the sun went down, the ships were at anchor - but it was now clear that the long-expected Spanish invasion of Georgia had begun.

JUNE 28, 1948

Clarence Thomas born

Future Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was born near Savannah. Thomas earned his law degree from Yale in 1974. In July 1991, Pres. George H.W. Bush nominated him for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court. After lengthy Senate confirmation hearings, Thomas was approved and took his oath of office in October 1991 becoming the fifth Georgia-born justice in the history of the Supreme Court.

JUNE 28, 1887

Patent for Coca-Cola Syrup and Extract registered

Atlanta druggist and chemist John S. Pemberton registered a patent for Coca-Cola Syrup and Extract.

JUNE 28, 1959

Railroad tragedy near Meldrim

A Seaboard Air Line Railroad train derailed, then burned, near Meldrim in Effingham County resulting in 23 deaths and seven injuries.

JUNE 29, 1993

Georgia Lottery launched

The new Georgia Lottery, provided for by the Georgia Lottery for Education Act of 1992 and approved by the voters in a constitutional amendment that fall, was officially launched. Then-governor Zell Miller bought the first ticket and didn't win anything.

JULY 2, 1898

First pot of Brunswick Stew made

According to Georgia's accounting of the origin of Brunswick Stew, the first pot of this famous concoction was made on St. Simons Island.

JULY 2, 1908

Joel Chandler Harris died

Eatonton-born author Joel Chandler Harris died in Atlanta. Although best remembered for his Uncle Remus stories, Harris published over 30 books, including a series of vignettes of Georgia.