1996 Summer Olympics closing ceremony

The opening ceremony of the 1996 Summer Olympics took place in the evening on Friday, July 19 at the Centennial Olympic Stadium, Atlanta, United States. As mandated by the Olympic Charter, the proceedings combined the formal and ceremonial opening of this international sporting event, including welcoming speeches, hoisting of the flags and the parade of athletes, with an artistic spectacle to showcase the host nation's culture and history. The Games were officially opened by President of the United States of America Bill Clinton. The Olympic cauldron was lit by former gold medalist and boxing champion Muhammad Ali. The ceremony featured film composer John Williams, French Canadian singer Celine Dion and American singer Gladys Knight. The ceremony attendance was 85,600.The ceremony was produced and directed by Don Mischer. It was watched by an estimated 3.5 billion viewers worldwide.

Centennial Olympic Stadium was the 85,000-seat main stadium of the 1996 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Construction of the stadium began in 1993, and it was complete and ready for the opening ceremony in July 1996, where it hosted track and field events and the closing ceremony. After the Olympics and Paralympics, it was reconstructed into the baseball-specific Turner Field, used by the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball for 20 seasons (1997–2016). After the Braves departed for Truist Park, the facility was purchased by Georgia State University, which rebuilt the stadium a second time as Center Parc Stadium, designed for American football.

Center Parc Stadium (formerly Georgia State Stadium) is an outdoor stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. The stadium is the home of the Georgia State University Panthers football team as of the 2017 season, replacing the Georgia Dome which had served as their home stadium from the program's inception in 2010 until 2016.It was originally built for the 1996 Summer Olympics as Centennial Olympic Stadium. Following the 1996 Summer Paralympics, the Olympic Stadium was reconfigured as designed into the baseball-specific Turner Field, serving as the home of the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball from 1997 until 2016. After the Braves' departure for Truist Park in Cobb County, Georgia State University acquired the stadium and its surrounding parking lots for a large scale expansion of the university's campus, including new private and student housing, academic, and retail space, in addition to the stadium redevelopment. Center Parc Stadium is the second former Braves ballpark to be converted to a college football stadium, the first being Boston's Nickerson Field.

Turner Field was a baseball stadium located in Atlanta, Georgia. From 1997 to 2016, it served as the home ballpark to the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball (MLB). Originally built as Centennial Olympic Stadium in 1996 to serve as the centerpiece of the 1996 Summer Olympics, the stadium was converted into a baseball park to serve as the new home of the team. The Braves moved less than one block from Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, which served as their home ballpark for 31 seasons from 1966 to 1996. Opening during the Braves' "division dominance" years, Turner Field hosted the NLDS a total of 11 times (1997–2005, 2010, 2013), the NLCS four times (1997–1999, 2001), one World Series (1999), one NL Wild Card Game (2012, the first in baseball history), and the 2000 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. The Braves played the final game at Turner Field on October 2, 2016, a 1–0 win over the Detroit Tigers. The franchise allowed its lease on the facility to expire at the end of the calendar year. In 2017, the team moved to the newly constructed SunTrust Park (now called Truist Park), located in nearby Cobb County. The stadium has been reconfigured for the second time, redesigned for college football in 2017 as Center Parc Stadium for Georgia State University. Architecture firm Heery was responsible for both stadium conversions. The stadium is also the second former Braves ballpark to be converted to a college football stadium, the first being Braves Field when it was renovated into Nickerson Field in 1955.

Fanplex was an entertainment center in Atlanta, Georgia, adjacent to Turner Field. It opened in 2002 and was shut down in early 2004 after losing $500,000, above and beyond an initial investment of $2.5 million. The attraction was meant to lure fans of the Atlanta Braves with miniature golf and video games, and to pump economic activity into the depressed area around the stadium. However, Fanplex saw little business, even on game days, perhaps since it was actually located far away from most game-day foot traffic. An initial staff of 16 was pared down to one and operating hours were scaled back as patrons continued not to show up. Critics say Fanplex was largely built to justify the existence of the Atlanta-Fulton County Recreation Authority, which was originally created to manage Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium and The Omni Coliseum, both of which no longer exist, along with Zoo Atlanta. An October 2, 2006 article in the Atlanta Journal Constitution says that the authority has put the facility up for sale twice, but cannot find a buyer at the $2.7 million price it has sought. The miniature golf course is now overgrown and nearby residents complain that the facility has become another vacant parking lot. With seemingly few commercial prospects for the current facility, Atlanta leaders quoted by the paper speculate Fanplex may ultimately be swept up in large-scale redevelopment of areas around the stadium. Starting November 2013, the Fanplex is home to the "A" team of Archer Western Contractors who is currently constructing a 5 million gallon underground storage tank in the media lot across Hank Aaron Drive.

Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, often referred to as Fulton County Stadium and originally named Atlanta Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium in the southeastern United States, located in Atlanta. The stadium was home of the Atlanta Braves of the Major League Baseball and the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League. It was built to attract an MLB team and in 1966 succeeded when the Milwaukee Braves relocated from Wisconsin. The Braves and expansion Falcons shared the venue for 26 years, until the Falcons moved into the newly completed Georgia Dome in 1992. The Braves continued to play at the stadium for another five years, then moved into Turner Field in 1997, the converted Centennial Olympic Stadium built for the previous year's Summer Olympics, which hosted baseball events. Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium was demolished on August 2, 1997.

GSU Convocation Center is the tentative name of an under-construction multi-purpose 8,000-seat indoor arena being built in Atlanta, Georgia. It will house the Georgia State Panthers (NCAA Division I) men's and women's basketball teams along with the women's volleyball team. The arena will be owned by Georgia State University.

Washington–Rawson was a neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia. It included what is now Center Parc Stadium (formerly Turner Field) and the large parking lot to its north, until 1997 the site of Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, as well as the I-20-Downtown Connector interchange. Washington and Rawson streets intersected where the interchange is today. To the northwest was Downtown Atlanta, to the west Mechanicsville, to the east Summerhill, and to the south Washington Heights, now called Peoplestown.

Peoplestown is a neighborhood of Atlanta just south of Center Parc Stadium and Downtown Atlanta. Ormond Street and the Summerhill neighborhood on the north, Hill Street and the Grant Park neighborhood on the east, the BeltLine and the Chosewood Park neighborhood on the south, and the Downtown Connector (I-75/I-85) and railroad tracks on the west, across which is the Pittsburgh neighborhood. It is part of NPU V.

Mechanicsville is a neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia. It sits just south of downtown Atlanta. The neighborhood is bounded by: I-20 on the north, across which is Castleberry Hill and Downtown Atlanta the I-75/I-85 Downtown Connector on the east, across which are Summerhill and Peoplestown the Southern Railway lines on the southwest, across which is PittsburghMechanicsville is in NPU V.

The Georgia Board of Regents oversees the University System of Georgia as part of the state government of Georgia in the United States. The University System of Georgia is composed of all state public institutions of higher education in the state. The Board of Regents also preside over the Georgia Public Library Service.

The Supreme Court of Georgia is the highest judicial authority of the U.S. state of Georgia. The court was established in 1845 as a three-member panel. Since 1896, the justices (increased in number to six, then to seven in 1945, and finally to nine in 2017) have been elected by the people of the state. The justices are currently elected in statewide non-partisan elections for six-year terms, with any vacancies filled through an appointment by the Governor.The first Chief Justice of the Court was Joseph Henry Lumpkin, who was appointed to that position in 1863. Under the current Constitution of Georgia, the Chief Justice is designated as "the chief presiding and administrative officer of the court," and is elected by the justices. The justices also elect a Presiding Justice to serve if the Chief Justice is absent or is disqualified. As of 2021, the Chief Justice of the court is David Nahmias, and the Presiding Justice is Michael P. Boggs. Both justices were sworn into their respective positions on July 1, 2021.