The Temple bombing rattled Atlanta and the world

Catch up quick: Widely viewed as a message from white supremacists to halt Rabbi Jacob Rothschild's work ending segregation, the 50 sticks of dynamite blew a hole in the temple's outer wall.

• Voices ranging from fellow faith leaders to President Eisenhower denounced the bombing, and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and FBI joined the case.

Intrigue: A person calling themselves "General Gordon of the Confederate Underground" claimed responsibility, according to news reports.

• Within days, five suspects were indicted for their alleged involvement in the bomb's placement.

The bottom line: The first and only suspect to face a jury was George Bright. The jury was deadlocked in the case, and the judge declared a mistrial. In the second trial, the jury returned a "not guilty" verdict.

• Prosecutors dropped the charges against the other suspects, and no one was ever held accountable for the bombing.

What they're saying: Melissa Fay Greene, the Atlanta author of the award-winning book "The Temple Bombing," called the attack a "crime against Atlanta, not just a crime against its Jews" in a 1996 New York Times interview.

• "Unfortunately, the bombing was viewed as an act of pure anti-Semitism, instead of as a part of the segregationist backlash. But this was a very focused crime against progress, an attempt to stop time."