Disaster
2000Tornadoes sweep through southern Georgia
The storm system that swept across the southeastern United States on February 14 was highly unusual. Tornadoes in the United States typically strike on spring afternoons because they are generated by collisions of warm and cold air. Winter tornadoes are quite rare.
In this case, the tornadoes began to form in the early morning hours of February 14 in Colquitt, Tift, Mitchell and Grady counties in Georgia. These rural counties, located about 200 miles south of Atlanta, reported at least five major twisters. The most intense was an F3 tornado with winds in excess of 158 miles per hour that struck the town of Camilla. It blasted through a housing development and destroyed 200 mobile homes.
Despite the fact that the area’s warning system worked, the tornadoes caught most people by surprise because they were sleeping at the time the warnings were issued over radio and television. A siren went off in Mitchell County, but it couldn’t be heard in the area that was struck by the tornado. In all, 18 people lost their lives, 200 were seriously injured and more than 350 homes were destroyed. In addition, many pecan orchards were wiped out, contributing to damages in excess of $25 million.
President Bill Clinton and Governor Roy Barnes declared the affected counties disaster areas, qualifying them for federal and state relief funds. Vice President Al Gore even visited Camilla personally to view the destruction, the worst seen in Georgia since 1944.
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Lead Story
278
On February 14around the year 278A.D., Valentine, a holy priest in Rome in the days of Emperor Claudius II, was executed. Under the rule of Claudius the Cruel, Rome was involved in many unpopular and bloody campaigns. The emperor had to maintain a strong army, but was having a difficult time...
American Revolution
1779
A Patriot militia force of 340 led by Colonel Andrew Pickens of South Carolina with Colonel John Dooly and Lieutenant Colonel Elijah Clarke of Georgia defeats a larger force of 700 Loyalist militia commanded by Colonel James Boyd on this day in 1779 at Kettle Creek, Georgia. The Patriots attempted a...
Automotive
1867
Sakichi Toyoda, whose textile machinery company spawned the Toyota Motor Corporation, is born in Japan on February 14, 1867. In 2008, Toyota surpassed the American auto giant General Motors (GM) to become the world’s largest automaker. Referred to as Japan’s Thomas Edison, Sakichi Toyoda invented a variety of weaving machines, including...
Civil War
1864
On this day in 1864, Union General William T. Sherman enters Meridian, Mississippi, during a winter campaign that served as a precursor to Sherman’s March to the Sea campaign in Georgia. This often-overlooked Mississippi campaign was the first attempt by the Union at total warfare, a strike aimed not just...
Cold War
1989
At a meeting of the presidents of Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and El Salvador, the leftist Sandinista government of Nicaragua agrees to free a number of political prisoners and hold free elections within a year; in return, Honduras promises to close bases being used by anti-Sandinista rebels. Within...
Crime
1929
Fourmen dressed as police officers enter gangster Bugs Moran’s headquarters on North Clark Street in Chicago, line seven of Moran’s henchmen against a wall, and shoot them to death. The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, as it is now called, was the culmination of a gang war between arch rivals Al...
General Interest
1779
On February 14, 1779, Captain James Cook, the great English explorer and navigator, is murdered by natives of Hawaii during his third visit to the Pacific island group.In 1768, Cook, a surveyor in the Royal Navy, was commissioned a lieutenant in command of the HMS Endeavor and led an expedition...
1929
Sir Alexander Fleming was a young bacteriologist when an accidental discovery led to one of the great developments of modern medicine on this day in 1929. Having left a plate of staphylococcus bacteria uncovered, Fleming noticed that a mold that had fallen on the culture had killed many of the...
Sir Alexander Fleming was a young bacteriologist when an accidental discovery led to one of the great developments of modern medicine on this day in 1929. Having left a plate of staphylococcus bacteria uncovered, Fleming noticed that a mold that had fallen on the culture had killed many of the...
1929
In Chicago, gunmen in the suspected employment of organized-crime boss Al Capone murder seven members of the George “Bugs” Moran North Siders gang in a garage on North Clark Street. The so-called St. Valentine’s Day Massacre stirred a media storm centered on Capone and his illegal Prohibition-era activities and motivated...
In Chicago, gunmen in the suspected employment of organized-crime boss Al Capone murder seven members of the George “Bugs” Moran North Siders gang in a garage on North Clark Street. The so-called St. Valentine’s Day Massacre stirred a media storm centered on Capone and his illegal Prohibition-era activities and motivated...
Hollywood
1938
On this day in 1938, the former silent film actress Hedda Hopper pens the first installment of what would become her tremendously influential gossip column in the Los Angeles Times. Born Elda Furry in 1890, she was the fifth of nine children of Quaker parents living in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania. She left...
Literary
1842
On this day, fans of Charles Dickens organize the Boz Ball, an elite party for the celebrated writer who had arrived in the United States in January for a five-month tour. (Dickens’ earliest works had been published under the pseudonym Boz.) Only members of New York’s aristocracy were invited to the...
Music
1977
The B-52’s, one of the strangest and, to fans, most irresistible, pop groups ever to achieve mainstream success, makes its worldwide debut at a Valentine’s Day house party in Athens, GA, on this day in 1977. In their official Warner Brothers bio, the B-52’s described themselves this way: “As a...
Old West
1886
Destined to become one of the state’s major exports, the first trainload of oranges grown by southern California farmers leaves Los Angeles via the transcontinental railroad. The Spanish had established Los Angeles, one of the oldest cities in the Far West, in 1781 to help colonize the region. For several...
Presidential
1884
On this day in 1884, future President Theodore Roosevelt’s wife and mother die, only hours apart. Roosevelt was at work in the New York state legislature attempting to get a government reform bill passed when he was summoned home by his family. He returned home to find his mother, Mittie, had...
Sports
1988
On February 14, 1988, U.S. speed skater Dan Jansen, a favorite to win the gold medal in the 500-meter race at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, falls during competition, only hours after learning his sister had died of cancer. Jansen suffered disappointment after disappointment in the Olympics, earning him...
Vietnam War
1962
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1970
Despite an increasingly active antiwar movement, a Gallup Poll shows that a majority of those polled (55 percent) oppose an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Vietnam. Those that favored American withdrawal had risen from 21 percent, in a November poll, to 35 percent. President Nixon had taken...
Despite an increasingly active antiwar movement, a Gallup Poll shows that a majority of those polled (55 percent) oppose an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Vietnam. Those that favored American withdrawal had risen from 21 percent, in a November poll, to 35 percent. President Nixon had taken...
World War I
1919
In a plenary session of the Versailles peace conference on this day in 1919, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson presents the draft of the covenant for the League of Nations prepared by a League commission that had been established two weeks earlier. The commission, which was set up on January 25...
World War II
1943
On this day, German General Erwin Rommel and his Afrika Korps launch an offensive against an Allied defensive line in Tunisia, North Africa. The Kasserine Pass was the site of the United States’ first major battle defeat of the war. General Erwin Rommel was dispatched to North Africa in February 1942,...
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Also on this day
-
Lead Story
- 278 St. Valentine beheaded
-
American Revolution
- 1779 Patriots defeat Loyalists at Kettle Creek
-
Automotive
- 1867 Toyota patriarch born
-
Civil War
- 1864 Sherman enters Meridian, Mississippi
-
Cold War
- 1989 Sandinistas agree to free elections
-
Crime
- 1929 The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre
-
Disaster
- 2000 Tornadoes sweep through southern Georgia
-
General Interest
- 1779 Captain Cook killed in Hawaii
- 1929 Penicillin discovered
- 1929 Valentine’s Day Massacre takes place
-
Hollywood
- 1938 Hedda Hopper’s first column appears in the L.A. Times
-
Literary
- 1842 The Boz Ball celebrates Dickens
-
Music
- 1977 The B-52’s play their first gig
-
Old West
- 1886 First trainload of oranges leaves Los Angeles
-
Presidential
- 1884 Theodore Roosevelt’s wife and mother die
-
Sports
- 1988 Olympic speed skater Jansen falls after sister dies
-
Vietnam War
- 1962 Kennedy authorizes U.S. advisors to fire in self-defense
- 1970 Gallup Poll released
-
World War I
- 1919 Wilson presents draft covenant for League of Nations
-
World War II
- 1943 Battle of the Kasserine Pass
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