| January 1, 2005 |
No. 7 ranked Georgia Bulldogs defeat No. 17 Wisconsin in the Outback Bowl in Tampa, Florida. |
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University of Georgia's post-season appearances
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| January 10, 2005 |
Councilman R. J. Kurey adds words to the city charter when reading from it into the record of an Alpharetta City Council meeting. When another councilman asks for a copy of the charter Kurey was reading from later in the day, Kurey replied "Kiss my [deleted], you pompous SOB! |
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Alpharetta City Council |
| January 14, 2005 |
Federal judge Clarence Cooper rules Cobb County stickers refering to evolution as being theory are unconstituional. |
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Clarence Cooper |
| January 16, 2005 |
Atlanta Falcons defeat the St. Louis Rams, 47 to 17. |
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Atlanta Falcons postseason 2005 |
| January 23, 2005 |
Atlanta Falcons are defeated in the NFL Championship Game by the Philadelphia Eagles, 27-10 |
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Atlanta Falcons |
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Atlanta Falcons postseason 2005 |
| January 29, 2005 |
Ice storm hits Atlanta and North Georgia knocking out power for more than 100,000 people. Two deaths were directly attributed to the storm |
| February 4, 2005 |
Ossie Davis is found dead in his Miami hotel. He died while on location filming 'Retirement'. |
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Ossie Davis |
| February 8, 2005 |
Alpharetta-based ChoicePoint informs 35,000 California residents by mail that their personal information may have been taken in an identity theft scam. California is the only state to require reporting these crimes to consumers (state law SB 1386). |
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ChoicePoint scandal |
| February 13, 2005 |
Georgia artists scored a major win at the Grammys, led by Ray Charles who received 8 posthumous awards including Record and Album of the Year for his Genius Loves Company. Atlanta-based Usher, who had won many awards in other shows, picked up three and Kayne West, born in Atlanta but raised in Chicago, who won for Best Rap Album, The College Dropout |
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Ray Charles |
| February 14, 2005 |
ChoicePoint acknowledges that criminals had scammed the company out of the personal information it collects on virtually every person in the United States. They estimate that 35,000 Californians may be affected.
"California is the focus of the investigation and we don't have any evidence to indicate at this point that the situation has spread beyond California," company spokesman Chuck Jones said. "If at some point in time we get information that it's in other areas, we'll revisit the disclosure." |
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ChoicePoint scandal |
| February 16, 2005 |
Lt. Paul Denny of the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department disputes the figures offered by ChoicePoint. "We know that there is a national number that is much larger than that" he said, referring to the 35,000 people ChoicePoint announced had been affected. |
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ChoicePoint scandal |
| February 16, 2005 |
ChoicePoint announces that a credit scandal previously believed to have only affected California residents actually affects people from across the United States. |
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ChoicePoint scandal |
| February 16, 2005 |
2004-2005 hockey season cancelled over contract dispute. |
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Atlanta Thrashers |
| February 19, 2005 |
Attorneys-General from 38 states demand that Alpharetta-based Choicepoint warn any victims in their states. |
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ChoicePoint scandal |
| February 21, 2005 |
ChoicePoint confirms that criminals gained access to records for about 145,000 people, allowing them to see information such as Social Security numbers, date of birth and driver's license numbers. It is one of the largest cases identity thefts ever reported.
Lt. Robert Costa of the Southern California High Tech Task Force reiterated that the unit believed the figure was closer to 500,000 and stated that ChoicePoint has hindered the investigation by failing to provide information requested in search warrants issued in November and December. |
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ChoicePoint scandal |
| February 24, 2005 |
Federal prosecutors claim that they informed ChoicePoint of major data security problems at the firm in early October. Earlier, ChoicePoint had claimed that they had informed California authorities of suspicious activity on certain accounts. |
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ChoicePoint scandal |
| February 24, 2005 |
Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine puts Choicepoint on probation until they prove to him that they have "create[d] a system with which to promptly notify consumers of a security breach and ... hire[d] an outside firm to audit its security measures." |
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ChoicePoint scandal |
| February 25, 2005 |
Diary of a Mad Black Woman opens. Written by Atlantan Tyler Perry, who also had multiple roles in the comedy-drama, the film surprised the industry by rocketing to Number 1 in box office reciepts its first week of release. |
| February 27, 2005 |
Jamie Foxx wins an Academy Award for his leading actor performance in Ray!, the self-titled biography of musician Ray Charles Robinson. Nominated for 5 Oscars, the movie scored two wins, for Foxx as Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role and for Best Achievement in Sound. It had been nominated for Best Motion Picture of the Year |
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Ray Charles |
| March 1, 2005 |
U. S. Supreme Court rules that execution is cruel and unusual punishment for people under the age of 18. |
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Supreme Court ruling takes 2 in Georgia off death row |
| March 2, 2005 |
Leah Ward Sears elected first woman Chief Justice of Georgia's Supreme Court |
| March 2, 2005 |
Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Krause revealed an earlier ChoicePoint fraud in which the identities of 7,000 to 10,000 victims were exposed to thieves in 2002.
ChoicePoint chief executive Derek Smith told The Associated Press in an interview in February, 2005, that the company had never been victimized by this kind of criminal operation before. |
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ChoicePoint scandal |
| March 4, 2005 |
ChoicePoint announces that federal authorities are investigating the company because of recent data thefts. Additionally, the Security and Exchange Commission is looking into the sale of stock by top company employees. |
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ChoicePoint scandal |
| March 10, 2005 |
Bibb County District Attorney Howard Simms orders exhumation of the body of Frank Bienert after discovering the death was suspicious, based on information from the trial of James Sullivan. Sullivan, on trial for arranging the murder of his wife Lita, is suspected in the death of Bienert, his father-in-law from whom he inherited Crown Beverages, a $5 million Macon business. |
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James Sullivan and the murder of Lita Sullivan |
| March 11, 2005 |
Judge Rowland Barnes and two others are killed in a shooting at the Fulton County Courthouse. |
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Atlanta courthouse attack |
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Fulton County, Georgia |
| March 12, 2005 |
Gwinnett County police arrest multiple slaying suspect Brian Nichols in a Duluth, Georgia apartment |
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Gwinnett County, Georgia |
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Atlanta courthouse attack |
| March 15, 2005 |
Testifying before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, ChoicePoint President Derek Smith apologizes for exposing 145,000 people to identity theft. |
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ChoicePoint scandal |
| March 17, 2005 |
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Atlanta and the U.S. Supreme Court (on March 17, 2005), follow the U.S. District Court and refused to intervene in the Terri Schiavo case. |
| March 18, 2005 |
Feeding tube removed from Terri Schiavo |
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Terri Schiavo |
| March 20, 2005 |
National Geographic documentary confirms the existance of Hogzilla, a giant pig discovered in the vicinity of Alapaha, Georgia. Experts estimate the pig to be 8 feet in length and 800 pounds, having exhumed the body. |
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Hogzilla |
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Berrien County, Georgia |
| March 21, 2005 |
Congress passes U.S Senate Compromise Bill 686, "For the relief of the parents of Theresa Marie Schiavo." |
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Terri Schiavo |
| March 22, 2005 |
In the early morning hours President Bush signs U.S Senate Compromise Bill 686 into law. |
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Terri Schiavo |
| March 23, 2005 |
A Florida state court of appeals refuses to order the reinsertion of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube as requested by her parents, the Schindlers'. They petition for the entire panel of Eleventh Circuit judges (Atlanta) to rehear their case to reinsert a feeding tube into Terri Schiavo. The Court refuses to hear the case, letting the lower court ruling stand. Following the decision, The Supreme Court of the United States refused to hear the appeal, affirming the decision of the lower court. |
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Terri Schiavo |
| March 23, 2005 |
The Alpharetta City Council votes 6-1 to begin proceedings to strip Councilman R. J. Kurey from his post. A report from an independent investigator indicated that Kurey had harrassed and intimidated city employees and posed a legal liability to the city of Alpharetta (Fulton County). |
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Alpharetta City Council |
| March 23, 2005 |
Under orders from Fulton County probate court, Whitney Houston is taken to Crossroads,a drug rehabilitation clinic in Antigua, West Indies that was founded by Eric Clapton. She stays four weeks. |
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Whitney Houston
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| March 27, 2005 |
Hail the size of baseballs and golf balls was reported as well as flooding rivers including the Flint River in Culloden; the Ocmulgee in Hawkinsville, Abbeville and Macon; the Oconee in Dublin and Penfield; Big Creek near Alpharetta; and the Chattahoochee River in Whitesburg. |
| March 30, 2005 |
11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta refuses to hear appeal of Terri Schiavo case. The U. S. Supreme Court also refuses to hear the same case. |
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Terri Schiavo |
| March 31, 2005 |
Terri Schiavo dies |
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Terri Schiavo |
| April 4, 2005 |
Phil Mickelson, who won the Masters in 2004, beat Arjun Atwal, Brandt Jobe, Jose Maria Olazabal, and Rich Beem in an unusual 5-way playoff to cap the rain-shortened BellSouth Classic at Sugarloaf in Duluth, Georgia |
| April 7, 2005 |
2005 Masters Tournament, Augusta, Georgia |
| April 10, 2005 |
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2005 Masters Tournament |
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Masters Tournament |
| April 12, 2005 |
Data broker LexisNexis announced that up to 310,000 US accounts may have been compromised by unauthorized access to its computers. |
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ChoicePoint scandal |
| April 15, 2005 |
OutKast settles a lawsuit over the use of Rosa Parks' name on a CD released in 1998. |
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OutKast |
| April 17, 2005 |
Actor Chris Tucker (Rush Hour, The Fifth Element) is arrested for speeding on I-20 in Warren County following a brief chase. Tucker claimed he was on his way to church and did not realized the police were behind him. He was clocked doing 109mph in a 70 mph zone. |
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Chris Tucker |
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Warren County, Georgia |
| April 18, 2005 |
Genarlow Wilson is convicted of having sex with a minor under the age of consent at a party in 2003. He had been acquitted of an earlier rape charge from the same party. |
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Genarlow Wilson |
| April 19, 2005 |
Tom Danielson wins the Dodge Tour de Georgia |
| April 24, 2005 |
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2005 Tour de Georgia |
| April 19, 2005 |
Jennifer Wilbanks purchases a Greyhound bus ticket from Atlanta, Georgia to Austin, Texas. |
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Jennifer Wilbanks, The Runaway Bride |
| April 26, 2005 |
Jennifer Wilbanks does not return from an evening jog. She is scheduled to get married on April 30. |
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Jennifer Wilbanks, The Runaway Bride |
| April 27, 2005 |
Duluth, Georgia police, assisted by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, state police and FBI, along with friends of Jennifer Wilbanks and concerned citizens, begin search a 5.5 square mile area for the missing woman. Among those searching are members of the wedding party. |
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Jennifer Wilbanks, The Runaway Bride |
| April 28, 2005 |
Duluth police announce they are conducting a criminal investigation into the disappearence of Jennifer Wilbanks. |
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Jennifer Wilbanks, The Runaway Bride |
| April 28, 2005 |
A bank record theft was exposed when police in Hackensack charged nine people, including seven bank workers, in an alleged plot to steal financial records of thousands of bank customers. Wachovia and Bank of America (formerly C & S National Bank) were among those affected |
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Wachovia and First Union Banks
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| April 29, 2005 |
Police suspend the search for Jennifer Wilbanks. They also want John Mason, whom Wilbanks was to marry on Saturday, to take a lie detector test to prove he is not a suspect. |
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Jennifer Wilbanks, The Runaway Bride |
| April 30, 2005 |
At 1:30 am Jennifer Wilbanks calls her fiance John Mason and tells him she has been kidnapped. Authorities trace the phone call to a 7-11 in Albequerque, New Mexico. Local enforcement agents pick her up and take her to the Albequerque PD station, where she is questioned by the FBI and released. They had determined that no kidnapping took place. |
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Jennifer Wilbanks, The Runaway Bride |
| April 30, 2005 |
Chamblee, Georgia police stop a 1992 Lexus with paper tags. Suspicious of the driver, police took him in for questioning. When they ran his prints they found Ernest Morris was wanted in connection with a triple murder in Philadelphia. |
| May 6, 2005 |
Dekalb County Police Chief Louis Graham re-opens the case against Wayne Williams. |
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Atlanta Child Murders |
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DeKalb County, Georgia |
| May 6, 2005 |
Superior Court Judge Gail Tusan refused to stop Alpharetta's investigation into City Councilman R.J. Kurey. The councilman is accused of trying to fake a city law, misleading the public and verbally abusing employees.
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Alpharetta City Council |
| May 8, 2005 |
James Brown dedicates statue of himself in downtown Augusta |
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City of Augusta, Georgia
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James Brown |
| May 11, 2005 |
Governor Sonny Perdue signs state-wide smoking ban. |
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Sonny Perdue |
| May 12, 2005 |
Chris Tucker pleads guilty to speeding. |
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Chris Tucker |
| May 13, 2005 |
Department of Defense recommends 5 bases from Georgia be closed |
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Georgia Base Closings-2005 |
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Cobb County, Georgia |
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Fulton County, Georgia |
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Clarke County, Georgia |
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Floyd County, Georgia |
| May 24, 2005 |
Federal appeals court rules that Cobb County must remove stickers it added to books stating "Evolution is theory" |
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Cobb County, Georgia |
| May 24, 2005 |
ChoicePoint is unable to meet a deadline set by Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine on February 24 to promptly notify consumers of a security breach and hire an outside consultant to provide security audits. |
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ChoicePoint scandal |
| May 25, 2005 |
Garth Brooks proposes to Trisha Yearwood at the "Legends in Bronze" event at Buck Owens' Crystal Palace. |
| May 25, 2005 |
A grand jury in Gwinnett County, Georgia indicted Jennifer Wilbanks with one felony charge of making a false statement to police and one misdemeanor charge of filing a false police statement. |
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Jennifer Wilbanks, The Runaway Bride |
| May 31, 2005 |
Jennifer Wilbanks agrees to reimburse the city $13,000 for the money it spent searching for her. |
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Jennifer Wilbanks, The Runaway Bride |
| May 31, 2005 |
The total of 34 traffic deaths over the Memorial Day weekend breaks the old record of 27 set in 1969 |
| June 2, 2005 |
Jennifer Wilbanks is sentenced to 2 years probation following a no contest plea to felony charges that she made a false statement to police |
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Jennifer Wilbanks, The Runaway Bride |
| June 2, 2005 |
Wachovia apologized to African-Americans for the Charlotte(NC)-based banks ties to American slavery. Georgia Railroad and Banking Co. of Augusta, a predecessor bank, held at least 182 slaves to build a railroad. |
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Wachovia and First Union Banks
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Slavery in Georgia |
| June 11, 2005 |
Katie Couric is the first newsperson to interview Jennifer Wilbanks |
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Jennifer Wilbanks, The Runaway Bride |
| June 21, 2005 |
Sandy Springs votes to become a city in Fulton County. It is Georgia's 7th largest city. |
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Fulton County, Georgia |
| June 24, 2005 |
Police arrest Michael Natson, a military police office based at Fort Benning, for the murder of Dena Carter. |
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Ardena Carter |
| July 31, 2005 |
Americus police respond to a call involving the assault of a 29-year old woman. After investigation they arrest Southwest Georgia Chief Superior Court Judge Rucker Smith. |
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Rucker Smith |
| August 1, 2005 |
Alpharetta City Councilman R. J. Kurey threatens City Administrator Bob Regus |
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Alpharetta City Council |
| August 7, 2005 |
Amanda Penland dies |
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Amanda (Knoedler) Penland |
| August 8, 2005 |
Jennifer Wilbanks began her community service work, part of her sentencing agreement with Gwinnett County. |
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Jennifer Wilbanks, The Runaway Bride |
| August 8, 2005 |
Alpharetta City Council votes to limit R. J. Kurey's communication as a council member to statements that have been factually checked by the city attorney. |
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Alpharetta City Council |
| August 16, 2005 |
Coretta Scott King, widow of Civil Rights activist Martin Luther King, suffers a major stroke. |
| August 18, 2005 |
Alpharetta City Council votes to remove R. J. Kurey from his seat on the council following dramatic evidence that Kurey repeatedly broke city laws and threatened city employees and residents. |
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Alpharetta City Council |
| August 22, 2005 |
Rep. Jack Kingston dedicates the "Forgotten Invasion" exhibit at Cumberland Island National Seashore Museum, paying tribute to the fort on Peters Point that was the site of the last battle of the War of 1812. |
| August 23, 2005 |
Atlanta Thrashers trade Dany Heatly to the Ottawa Senators for Marian Hossa |
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Atlanta Thrashers |
| August 26, 2005 |
Federal government ok's the Georgia Voter ID law |
| August 26, 2005 |
Just before coming ashore near Miami, Tropical Storm Katrina becomes a hurricane. It crosses the peninsula quickly and enters the Gulf of Mexico. |
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Hurricane Katrina |
| August 29, 2005 |
Tornadoes from hurricane Katrina destroy homes and chicken houses in Carroll County and a motel and businesses in the Helen area of White County. Others injured people in Spaulding County and Peach County |
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Carroll County, Georgia |
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White County, Georgia |
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Hurricane Katrina |
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Spalding County, Georgia |
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Peach County, Georgia |
| August 29, 2005 |
Hurricane Katrina strikes the coastal area east of New Orleans. |
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Hurricane Katrina |
| August 31, 2005 |
Long lines at the gas pump and high prices are the major effect of Hurricane Katrina in Georgia |
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Hurricane Katrina |
| September 6, 2005 |
Convicted sex offender Brian O'Neil Clark, 25, of Woodstock, GA, abducts Kimberly Boyd in her SUV. She dies when he crashes the vehicle and he is shot and killed by an onlooker who saw them fighting before the crash |
| September 14, 2005 |
Delta Air Lines (DAL) files for bankruptcy |
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Delta Air Lines
|
| September 23, 2005 |
In advance of Hurricane Rita striking the Texas coast, Gov. Sonny Perdue asks school systems to close for two day to minimize the impact of the storm on oil and gas supplies |
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Sonny Perdue |
| September 30, 2005 |
Six people are killed, a woman is assaulted and four others are seriously injured in a string of brutal attacks in trailer parks in the city of Tifton and Colquitt County, Georgia |
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Colquitt County, Georgia |
| October 4, 2005 |
Tropical storm Tammy comes ashore in Northeast Flordia, quickly moving into southeastern Georgia. High winds and heavy rain cause problems througout the state over the next two days. |
| October 9, 2005 |
Houston Astros defeat the Atlanta Braves in the National League Division Playoffs, 3 games to 1. The series featured the longest postseason game by innings |
| October 18, 2005 |
District Judge Harold Murphy issued an injunction against the Georgia Voter ID law, finding that the voter ID law functions like a poll tax |
| October 24, 2005 |
President Bush nominates Ben Bernanke to replace Alan Greenspan as Federal Reserve Board chairman |
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Ben Bernanke |
| October 27, 2005 |
In a brief order the 11th US Court of Appeals denied a request from Georgia to throw out a lower court injunction barring enforcement of the state's new Voter ID law |
| November 23, 2005 |
The Georgia Aquarium, the world's largest, opens in Atlanta |
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Georgia Aquarium |
| November 25, 2005 |
Atlanta approves a plan for the expansion of Piedmont Park |
| December 29, 2005 |
No. 24 Georgia Tech loses to Utah at the Emerald Bowl |
