MARY BRASWELL: Looking Back @ February through the years

As February 2018 begins, here is a look at this month’s events throughout history in the state, in Southwest Georgia and in Albany.

1849

— The Presbyterian Church of Albany was officially organized on Feb. 26 with nine charter members. By the spring of 1860, membership has grown to 24, including two black members. After the Civil War, only six members remained. In 1917 the original wooden church was torn down and the new one built. That same sanctuary, at 220 N. Jackson St., is still is use today.

1850

— Gov. George Towns signed a bill providing for Georgia’s first law regarding divorce. Prior to this time, a divorce could only be granted “upon legal principles” as determined by juries in two consecutive divorce trials.

1866

— Georgia Gov. Charles Jenkins signed a law making it legal for married women to maintain an independent bank account as long as the balance did not exceed $200.

1889

— The U.S. Department of Agriculture was created.

1899

— Several “unofficial” temperature readings in and near Albany read below zero. Four inches of snow blanketed the ground and remained for several days. Ponds froze over and even moving streams had ice on their surfaces. Several deaths from the extreme cold were reported among the soldiers of the Spanish-American War camped near Albany.

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QUIK QUIZ

Kinchafoonee County was created on Feb. 21, 1856. Its name was changed shortly afterward to what?

a) Quitman County

b) Muscogee County

c) Webster County

d) Chattahoochee County

Answer at the end of the column.

— — —

1922

—The Ford Motor Company acquired the failing Lincoln Motor Co. for $8 million

1930

— After 13 consecutive wins, the Albany High Indians got their first taste of defeat on the basketball court for the season. The Tift County Blue Devils spoiled the Indians’ run by a score of 36-32.

1934

— The Albany City Commission voted to apply for additional Civil Works Administration (CWA) funds for the construction of an athletic bowl (stadium) at the intersection of Society Avenue and Van Buren Street.

1939

— The Terrell County Commission allocated $2,200 for malaria work in the county. The board also adopted a resolution requiring all school children to be vaccinated against smallpox.

1946

— Born to meet the needs during WWII, Cinderella Foods in Dawson was the No. 1 peanut butter producer in the nation. At this time, the plant produced 100,000 pounds of peanut butter per day.

1949

— One-way air fare from Albany to Atlanta was $11.50. Two daily flights were available. The first flight each day left at 8 a.m. and the second at 3:30 p.m.

1950

— Forbes Magazine named Albany the foremost business city in the U.S. Following Albany on the list were the following cities: Albuquerque, N.M.; Butte, Mont.; Tampa, Fla.; Cheyenne, Wy.; Norfolk, Va.; Columbia, S.C.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Oklahoma City, Okla., and Charlotte, N.C.

1954

— Television’s first soap opera premiered on CBS. Originally called “The Storm Within” but changed to “The Secret Storm” at the request of a sponsor. Bisodol, an antacid, was worried that the name would inspire images of an upset stomach and so the show was renamed. The show ran for 20 years and one week on daytime television.

1964

— The Beatles appeared for the first time on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” Studio 50 had a capacity seating of about 1,200. Requests for tickets topped 50,000. At 8 p.m on Feb. 9, an estimated 73 million people tuned into to watch on television.

1965

— Lester Maddox, later to become Georgia’s governor, was ordered to end racial discrimination at his Pickrick Restaurant in Atlanta or close its doors. Maddox chose to close the business.

1968

— Sears ran a three-day special on dashboard car air-conditioners. “Guaranteed to cool the hottest automobile interior,” the units were priced from $158 to $218. Also on special at Sears were eight-track tape players for $39.88.

— Jesse Reel, administrator at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital, made an urgent plea for the public to stop using the emergency room as an outpatient clinic. Reel estimated that only about half of there 12,648 people seen in the emergency room in 1967 were true emergencies.

1978

— Located at the corner of 7th and Jefferson, Albany’s disco crowd frequented the Sassy Fox. Billed as Albany’s “finest disco lounge,” the Sassy Fox was open from 3 p.m. until 3 a.m. Disco began at 9 p.m.

1984

— Georgia lawmakers voted to outlaw pull-tabs on beer and soda cans, requiring manufacturers to switch to push-in tabs.

1987

— A longstanding policy in the Dougherty County School System that allowed high school students to retake final exams if they failed on the first attempt was rescinded. Superintendent William (Bill) Gardner and all principals were in agreement on the change. Gardner stated he knew of no other school system with a retake policy.

1993

— Former President Jimmy Carter and Michael Jackson became co-chairs of the “Heal Our Children” initiative, part of Jackson’s Heal the World Foundation.

2004

— Facebook was launched as “TheFacebook.com.”

Did you know?

— February frequently appears on lists of the most-commonly misspelled words.

— “Much Ado About Nothing” is the only Shakespeare play that mentions February.

— February is the only month that can pass with no full moon, as will happen this year (2018).

— The ancient Greeks believed that amethyst, February’s birthstone, protected the wearer from drunkenness.

Each week Albany Herald researcher Mary Braswell looks for interesting events, places and people from the past. You can contact her at (229) 888-9371 or [email protected]. Follow @ABH_MBraswell on Twitter

QUIK QUIZ ANSWER: c) Webster County