July 2

Trust Company of Georgia and Sun Banks Inc. of Orlando, Fla., merge to form SunTrust.

Trust Company of Georgia becomes first inland bank in Southeast to form an International Department

World War II begins with Nazi invasion of Poland; continues until 1945 when the Allies defeat Nazi Germany and Japan in 1945

Stock market crash send country into The Great Depression; thousands of banks fail

BB&T enters insurance business (and becomes the sixth largest broker in the U.S. and seventh in the world in 2020).

Commercial Travelers’ Savings Bank moves into eight-story equitable in downtown Atlanta, which becomes the South’s first “skyscraper”

Georgia General Assembly grants charter for Commercial Travelers’ Savings Bank in Atlanta, which eventually became SunTrust’s predecessor Trust Company of Georgia.

Alpheus Branch and Thomas Jefferson Hadley join forces to form Branch and Hadley, the company that ultimately became BB&T.