1. On January 1, 1752, Georgia officially became a royal colony. Prior to this, the colony had been governed by a board of trustees under a charter from King George II.

2. The Emancipation Proclamation went into effect in Georgia on January 1, 1863. This executive order declared that all slaves in Confederate-held territory were to be freed.

3. On January 1, 1868, Georgia was readmitted to the Union following the Civil War. The state was one of the last to be readmitted, due to its resistance to the Reconstruction policies of the federal government.

4. The first Rose Bowl game featuring a team from Georgia was played on January 1, 1943. The University of Georgia Bulldogs faced off against the University of California at Los Angeles, with Georgia winning 9-0.

5. January 1, 1970, marked the beginning of Georgia's new constitution. The constitution of 1868 had been in effect for over 100 years, and the new document was seen as a modernizing and progressive change for the state. Among other things, the new constitution abolished the poll tax and made improvements to the state's judicial system.