The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta, Georgia.

The Falcons play their home games at the Georgia Dome in downtown Atlanta, but construction is likely to begin in 2014 on a new stadium with play beginning in the 2017 season.

The Atlanta Falcons Football Team is owned by business man Arthur Blank, and eight limited partners.

The Atlanta Falcons Adviser Board is made up of eleven members: Arthur M. Blank, Henry L. “ Hank ” Aaron, Steve Bartkowski, Glenda Hatchett, David E. Homrich, Felker W. Ward, Jr., Carl Ware, Bill Bolling, Dr. Robert M. Franklin, Ingrid Saunders Jones and Andrew Young ( Ambassador ).

As of 2011 the Atlanta Falcons Executive Committee consisted of ten people: Arthur Blank, Owner and Chairman ; Rich McKay, President & CEO ; Thomas Dimitroff, General Manager ; Kim Shreckengost, Executive Vice President / Chief of Staff for AMB Group, LLC ; Greg Beadles, Senior Vice President-Chief Financial Officer ; Jim Smith, Chief Marketing Officer ; Danny Branch, Vice President of Information Technology ; Dave Cohen, Vice President of Sales and Service ; Reggie Roberts, Vice President of Football Communications and Tim Zulawski, VP of Sponsorship Sales and Service.

The Atlanta Falcons franchise began on June 30, 1965 when NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle granted ownership to 41 year-old Rankin Smith Sr .. Smith an Executive Vice President of Life Insurance Company of Georgia at the time, paid $ 8. 5 million the highest price in NFL history at the time 1965 for an NFL franchise.

Former commissioner Pete Rozelle and Smith made the deal in about five minutes and the Atlanta Falcons brought the largest and most popular sport to the city of Atlanta.

The Atlanta Falcons Football Club received its nickname on August 29, 1965.

The Falcons had their first Monday Night Football game in Atlanta during the 1970 season.

In 1992, the Atlanta Falcons opened a new chapter in their history moving into the newly constructed Georgia Dome.

The Atlanta Falcons began the Arthur Blank era of ownership with a 9 – 6 – 1 record and a berth in the playoffs as

“ The new Atlanta Falcons logo is fresh, strong and dynamic, and yet appreciates the tradition and history of this franchise ,” said Falcons owner and CEO Arthur Blank.

The first half was a defensive struggle, with the first points coming off of a safety by the Falcons, giving Atlanta a 2-0 lead.

Atlanta Falcons uniform: 1971 – 1977

Atlanta Falcons uniform: 1997 – 2002

The Atlanta Falcons wore 1966 throwback jerseys for 2 home games in 2009 – against the Carolina Panthers on September 20 and against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on November 29.

Urlacher, whose jersey was among the league's best-selling in 2002, was featured on Nike commercials with former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick.

The two conference title games led to a hot bidding war between the clubs for players ; the Niners signed cornerback Deion Sanders from the Atlanta Falcons and also signed linebacker Ken Norton, Jr. from the Cowboys ; they defeated the Cowboys 21-14 in the 1994 regular season and then hosted the Cowboys in that year's Conference title game, with the Cowboys now coached by Barry Switzer ; the 49ers raced to a 21-0 lead in the first seven minutes of the first quarter and won 38-28 en route to Super Bowl XXIX.

* 1982 – Michael Turner ( American football ), NFL running back for the Atlanta Falcons

Supporters of Jacksonville's bid included NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, President Neil Austrian, Vice President Roger Goodell, Bud Adams of the Houston Oilers, Rankin Smith of the Atlanta Falcons and Ken Hofmann of the Seattle Seahawks.

In the team's final game of the regular season against the Atlanta Falcons, needing a win to earn a playoff berth, the Jaguars caught a bit of luck when Morten Andersen missed a 30 yard field goal with less than a minute remaining that would have given the Falcons the lead.

Atlanta became the fifth American city to host the Olympic Games and the third to hold a Summer Olympic Games.

Widely renowned for their live performances, as of 2011, they hold the record for number of sold-out performances at Red Rocks Amphitheatre ( Morrison, Colorado ) at 38 and Philips Arena ( Atlanta, Georgia ) at 17.

" World conflicts made it impossible to hold to a strict five-year plan, but BWA has held 20 Congresses: London, 1905 ; Philadelphia, 1911 ; Stockholm, 1923 ; Toronto, 1928 ; Berlin, 1934 ; Atlanta, 1939 ; Copenhagen, 1947 ; Cleveland, 1950 ; London, 1955 ; Rio de Janeiro, 1960 ; Miami Beach, 1965 ; Tokyo, 1970 ; Stockholm, 1975 ; Toronto, 1980 ; Los Angeles, 1985 ; Seoul, 1990 ; Buenos Aires, 1995 ; Melbourne, 2000 ; Birmingham, England, 2005 ; and Honolulu, 2010.

After Abby Lockhart catches him injecting left-over fentanyl from a trauma into his wrist, Carter's colleagues hold an intervention and Dr. Greene demands he go to an inpatient rehab center for medical doctors in Atlanta or be fired.

The 58th mayor of Atlanta, she was the first female to hold the post and became the first black woman to be elected mayor of any major Southern city.

According to Atlanta historian Frederick Allen, Griffin was " a man of prodigious charm and wit and also one of the most corrupt public officials ever to hold office in Georgia.

Then Michael Tucker got a hold of a Brown fastball and launched a flyball to deep right center field that left the park and put Atlanta ahead 5 – 4.

In November 2001, Winn-Dixie announced plans to convert nearly all of its 40-some Winn-Dixie and Winn-Dixie Marketplace brand stores in the metro Atlanta area into Save-Rites as a last-ditch effort to keep a hold on its market share, which was rapidly declining due to stiff competition from Wal-Mart, Publix, Kroger, and other similar stores.

Beginning in 2002 the race was moved to mid-October as NASCAR elected to hold its final race at Homestead-Miami Speedway instead of Atlanta.

This invitation Mr. Atkinson accepted, and at the solicitation of many prominent citizens of Atlanta he delivered, on October 28, 1880, an address in the senate chamber, in which he advocated Atlanta as the proper place in which to hold a cotton exhibition, such as would result in devising improved methods in the cultivation of the cotton as well as to be a stimulus to the entire industrial development of this section.

After achieving a record of 13 – 0 with their win over the Atlanta Falcons, it marked the Saints ' best start to a season in its franchise history.

In the next seven weeks the Saints beat talented teams such as the eventual Super Bowl XLVI champion New York Giants, Detroit Lions, and Atlanta Falcons, bringing their season record to 12-3.

After dropping seven games behind the Atlanta Braves on July 21, Philadelphia finished with an MLB-best record of 97 – 65.

On September 17, 2011, the Phillies won their fifth consecutive East Division championship, and on September 28, during the final game of the season, the team set a franchise record for victories in a season with 102 by beating the Atlanta Braves in 13 innings, denying their division rivals a potential Wild Card berth.

But despite the Giants ' great record, the Atlanta Braves — fueled by solid seasons from David Justice, Ron Gant, Deion Sanders and their midseason acquisition of Fred McGriff from the San Diego Padres — came back from a ten-game deficit to the Giants to win the NL West by a single game.

In the 1998 NLCS, the Padres faced the Atlanta Braves, who had won the National League East with an astonishing 106 – 56 record.

The Vikings also finished the regular season with a 12-2 record, winning their first nine games before a loss on Monday Night Football to the Atlanta Falcons.

Dallas was also the defending Super Bowl XII champion, and finished the 1978 regular season with a 12-4 record, and posted playoff victories over the Atlanta Falcons and the Los Angeles Rams.

During Reeves ' first season with Atlanta, they finished the season 6-2, after starting out 1-7, to compile a 7-9 record overall.

Tampa Bay did not win their first game until the 13th week of their second season, starting with a record of 0 – 26 ( though the Bucs had beaten the Atlanta Falcons 17 – 3 in a 1976 pre-season game before their first regular season ).

With a record of 46 – 59 at the July 31st trade deadline, the team traded Mark Teixeira and Ron Mahay to the Atlanta Braves in a deal that would eventually bring 5 prospects to the Rangers organization, including four of Atlanta's top prospects Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Elvis Andrus, Matt Harrison, and Neftali Feliz.

He would eventually tie Willie Keeler's 1897 single season National League record at 44 games, but on August 1, the streak came to an end as Gene Garber of the Atlanta Braves struck out Rose in the ninth inning.

A healthier squad fared better in 1993 – 94, posting the franchise's first-ever winning record at 42 – 40 and returning to the playoffs as the No. 8 seed versus the Atlanta Hawks.

After the 1992 – 93 season, in which the Cavs boasted a 54 – 28 regular-season record but suffered an early exit from the playoffs in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals to the Chicago Bulls, Wilkens left to coach the Atlanta Hawks.

Despite this, and a 36 – 46 record, the Pacers had a very strong finish to the season, which included a desperate attempt to steal the 8th seed from the Atlanta Hawks, and dramatic improvement in forwards Danny Granger and Mike Dunleavy.

However, Atlanta sank to a disappointing 35 – 47 record and missed the postseason entirely.

The winner of the show would record with them on a new single and perform the track with them in a live concert finale in Atlanta.

* 1974-Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves breaks Babe Ruth's home run record by hitting his 715th career home run.

In 2007, playing games that mattered for the first time since 2003, the Freedom compiled a 12 – 1 – 1 record, defeated the regular season champion Ottawa Fury in the Eastern Conference championship game, then went on to beat the Atlanta Silverbacks, 3 – 1, in the W-League championship match.

It was premiered by Paulus ' Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and has been performed occasionally since but has not been released on record, partly due to the high cost of producing a recording with a full orchestra.

In 2003, Prior finished third in the National League's Cy Young Award voting after compiling an 18 – 6 win-loss record despite missing three starts after an on-field collision with Atlanta Braves second baseman Marcus Giles.

The record for most runs scored by a major-league team during a single season is 1, 212, set by the Boston Beaneaters ( now the Atlanta Braves ) in 1894.