Kelly Barnes Dam Failure Killed 39 in 1977 Toccoa Flood

A massive wall of water from the Kelly Barnes Dam in Georgia killed 39 people on November 6, 1977. The collapse sent a surge of water directly through Toccoa Falls College. Most of the victims were students living on the campus.

The incident occurred exactly 49 years ago. The dam burst, releasing enough force to inundate the college grounds. The event remains a defining disaster in the region's history.

Other major historical events occurred on this date. In 1947, the television program Meet the Press debuted on NBC. Martha Rountree, a co-creator of the show, hosted the first episode. The program went on to become the longest-running television show in the United States.

Presidential elections took place on this day in several years. In 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected president, defeating John Breckinridge, John Bell, and Stephen Douglas. In 1888, Benjamin Harrison won the electoral vote over Grover Cleveland. Cleveland received 90,000 more total votes, making it the last time the popular vote winner lost until 2000.

In 1956, Dwight D. Eisenhower won reelection against Adlai Stevenson II. Ronald Reagan won a landslide victory over Walter Mondale in 1984. Mondale won only his native state, Minnesota. Barack Obama defeated Mitt Romney in 2012 with 332 electoral votes to 206.

In 2018, the U.N. Human Rights Office reported that more than 200 mass graves were found in Iraq. The sites contained the remains of thousands of victims in areas formerly controlled by the Islamic State group. In 2022, a passenger plane crashed into Lake Victoria while approaching a Tanzanian airport. The crash killed 19 people aboard.

In 2025, Nancy Pelosi announced she would not seek reelection to the U.S. House. She served as the first woman to hold the speaker’s office. Her career ended a period of significant influence in American politics.