Random Atlanta\Georgia Trivia

So the other day I was looking for some info about a Braves game, so I went to my former hometown newspaper’s site: ajc.com. While there I discovered that my favorite section of the paper – “Q&A on the News”, where people can write in any marginally newsworthy question in hopes of getting an answer – not only still exists… but that there’s an extensive archive of old topics, too!

Here’s some of the fun stuff I found:

Georgia is the only state to be admitted to the Union three times. (link)

Of course, Georgia was the fourth state, ratifying the U.S. Constitution on January 2, 1788. And, like most Confederate states, Georgia was readmitted after the Civil War on June 26, 1868. However, widespread violence led Congress to re-impose Reconstruction on the state (another dubious honor, this being the only state to have this happen). Georgia was readmitted for the third and final time in July 1870.

Atlanta’s Northside Hospital delivers more babies than any other hospital in the United States. (link)

Over 18,000 babies are born there every year… including me (although that was a looooonng time ago!).

St. Mary’s, Georgia is the second oldest continually-inhabited city in the United States (link)

The city was founded “sometime in the mid 1500s” by the Spanish. It became an incorporated city in 1792. Only St. Augustine, Florida is older.

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2011-09-04

  • Sweet! The BBC has commissioned a third series of #luther #
  • Yes, iTunes, this is the PERFECT time for a digital music emergency! THANKS, APPLE! #
  • WHERE can I try a croque auvergnat? #
  • @1outside Saw this video and thought of you:: http://t.co/Cxnt2qU #
  • @1outside Your blood didn't boil at the typo in Marshall Lancaster's name? 😉 #
  • Coming soon to TLC: "I Didn't Know I Was Addicted to Hoarding My Twenty Tiara'd Toddlers!" #
  • I know it's only WCU, but GT has 625 YARDS of offense in this game? Woo-hoo! #
  • @TechWhistle TO HELL WITH GEORGIA! #
  • Happy birthday, Terry Bradshaw! 🙂 #steelers #
  • I have just created a new list titled 'Steelers' using TweetDeck #
  • I have just created a new list titled 'GT' using TweetDeck, follow it here: @jimcofer/gt #
  • How 'bout them dawgs! hehehe! #

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Heads up, Flannery O’Connor fans!

Fans of Georgia author Flannery O’Connor probably know that she had a lifelong love of birds, especially peacocks. What you might not know is that her love of birds might have started with a chicken her family owned when she was very young. She loved the bird so much that she even taught it to walk backwards!

There have long been stories that Flannery and her famous “backwards chicken” once appeared in a newsreel. However, despite several exhaustive Internet searches, I was never able to find it… until now. Here is the clip, called “Do You Reverse?”, which shows a young “Mary O’Connor” for about two seconds. Note that the other animals walking backwards in the clip are simply shown in reverse.

Look at how cute she was! 🙂