The capital of the New South — where Martin Luther King Jr. was born and buried, Coca-Cola was invented, CNN was founded, the world's busiest airport connects every US city within two hours, and the hip-hop scene that produced OutKast, Lil Jon, T.I., and Childish Gambino still defines the genre
Atlanta (500,000; metro 6.2 million) is the capital and largest city of Georgia and the economic capital of the American South. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is the world's busiest airport (since 1998, handling 100+ million passengers per year), making Atlanta the most connected hub city in the US. The Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park in the Sweet Auburn neighbourhood preserves the birth home (501 Auburn Ave), the Ebenezer Baptist Church (where King and his father both preached), and King's tomb — the most visited civil rights memorial in the US. The Georgia…
Atlanta was founded in 1837 as the terminus of the Western and Atlantic Railroad — the city's name is a feminisation of 'Atlantic' (from the railroad), and its entire existence has been defined by its role as a transportation hub. During the Civil War, Atlanta was the strategic railroad junction that supplied the Confederate Army in the western theatre; General William Sherman's capture of Atlanta (September 1864) and his subsequent March to the Sea (burning Atlanta on 15 November 1864) were the decisive military events that assured Lincoln's re-election and the Union's victory. The civil rig…