- 1782 Explorers discover Cherokee village of Standing Peachtree.
- 1820s Cherokee and Creek leaders cede millions of acres to white settlers in hopes of keeping peace.
- 1837 The town, newly named Terminus, is selected as the site of a railroad terminus connecting Georgia with the Tennessee River. The same year, 17,000 Native Americans are forced to march westward on a "Trail of Tears."
- 1843 Terminus is renamed Marthasville.
- 1845 The first locomotive chugs into town. The city is renamed Atlanta.
- 1851 Georgia secedes from the Union, the Civil War begins, and Atlanta becomes a major Confederate supply depot and medical center.
- 1864 Union forces under General Sherman burn Atlanta.
- 1865 Civil War ends.
- 1877 Atlanta becomes the capital of Georgia.
- 1886 Newspaper editor Henry Grady inspires readers with vision of a "New South." John S. Pemberton introduces Coca-Cola.
- 1900 Atlanta University professor W. E. B. Du Bois founds the NAACP.
- 1904 Piedmont Park designed.
- 1917 Fire destroys 73 square blocks of the city.
- 1929 Atlanta's first airport opens; Delta Air Lines takes to the skies and becomes Atlanta's home carrier.
- 1936 Margaret Mitchell's blockbuster novel, Gone With the Wind, is published.
- 1939 The movie version of Gone With the Wind premières in Atlanta.
- 1952 The city of Atlanta incorporates surrounding areas, increasing its population by 100,000 and its size from 37 to 118 square miles.
- 1960 Sit-ins and boycotts protesting segregation begin. The million-square-foot Merchandise Mart is erected.
- 1961 Ivan Allen, Jr., defeats segregationist Lester Maddox in mayoral election. Atlanta's public schools and the Georgia Institute of Technology are peacefully desegregated.
- 1964 Atlanta native Martin Luther King, Jr., wins Nobel Peace Prize.
- 1965 A plane crash at Orly Airport in Paris kills 106 of Atlanta's civic and cultural leaders. Atlanta Fulton County Stadium is built.
- 1966 Baseball's Braves move from Milwaukee and the Falcons become a new NFL expansion team. The Beatles perform in Atlanta.
- 1968 Martin Luther King, Jr., is assassinated in Memphis.
- 1974 Atlanta's first black mayor, Maynard Jackson, is inaugurated. Atlanta Braves' Hank Aaron hits his record-breaking 715th home run.
- 1976 Georgian Jimmy Carter elected president. Georgia World Congress Center, the nation's largest single-floor exhibit space, is completed.
- 1979 MARTA rapid-transit train system opens.
- 1980 New Hartsfield International Airport dedicated.
- 1983 Martin Luther King, Jr.'s, birthday becomes national holiday.
- 1988 Atlanta hosts Democratic National Convention.
- 1989 Underground Atlanta reopens with great fanfare.
- 1992 Atlanta completes the new 70,500-seat Georgia Dome.
- 1994 Atlanta hosts Super Bowl XXVIII at the Georgia Dome.
- 1995 On their third try, the Atlanta Braves win the World Series.
- 1996 Atlanta completes the 85,000-seat Olympic Stadium and hosts the Centennial Olympic Games.
- 1997 Atlanta reopens Olympic Stadium as the new Turner Field, home of the Atlanta Braves baseball team.
- 1998 A renovated Centennial Olympic Park opens as a major city gathering spot and a lasting legacy of the Centennial Olympic Games.
- 1999 Atlanta completes the Philips Arena, home to the Atlanta Hawks basketball team and the Atlanta Thrashers hockey team.
- 2000 The city hosts Super Bowl XXXIV.
- 2003 The $95-million Georgia International Convention Center -- featuring a 40,000-square-foot ballroom -- opens for business.
- 2005 The 5-million-gallon Georgia Aquarium opens in the middle of revitalized downtown Atlanta.
- 2007 The all-new, bigger and better World of Coca-Cola opens downtown next to the Georgia Aquarium.
- 2009 Atlanta's population continues to climb, having recently bypassed the five million milestone.
- 2011 The Georgia Aquarium pumps $110 million into a new dolphin exhibit, making the world's largest aquarium an even bigger draw.