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  • Florida History Today
    • TB Times: St. Augustine coming to grips with civil rights history
    • Strawberry Festival organizers collecting material for new history book
    • Tarpon Springs' Greektown added to National Register as Traditional Cultural Property
    • Volunteers begin cleanup of historic Ocala cemetery
    • Jax museum presents 'Megalodon,' biggest-ever shark
    • Proposed museum switch generates anger in St. Pete
    • Report: Ocala's original cemetery lying in ruins
    • Rock and Roll Hall of Fame seeking camera-wielding Elvis fans
    • Service of Florida Jews in World War II focus of new WLRN doc
    • Seventeen honored for Big Bend preservation efforts
    • Long dresses, long pants, no shorts: Life before AC was uncool
    • Sunken shipwrecks are being turned into "parks" off Florida coast
    • Run-down Dunedin hotel to be rebuilt in same architectural style
    • Painting at Ringling Museum leads scholar to discover slavery roots of Spanish painter Juan de Pareja
    • Hampton Inn in downtown Bradenton gets state historic preservation award
    • Civil War re-enactment draws criticism in Holly Hill
    • New documentary spotlights Anna Maria Historic Green Village
    • Tampa-area NAACP launching effort to save historic rooming house
    • Ride on "America's Movie Train" this weekend in Ocoee, Winter Garden
    • Tampa's historic Kress building set for reimagination
    • 67-year-old shipwreck off Florida identified
    • Florida History Today - Project studies South Florida native communites
    • Florida History Today - Tarpon Springs halts Sponge Docks upgrades
    • Florida History Today - Compromise reached on Tequesta circles preservation
    • Florida History Today - Sears homes remembered in Sanibel
  • On this day in Florida history - August
    • Aug. 15, 1887 - Eatonville becomes one of first all-black towns in U.S.
    • Aug. 13, 2004 - Hurricane Charley kicks off unusually active 'cane year
    • Aug. 12, 1981 - Developed in Boca Raton, first PC released by IBM
    • Aug. 11, 1987 - Santeria church vows to sacrifice animals despite Hialeah ban
    • Aug. 10, 1981 - Tragic discovery confirms death of missing Adam Walsh, 6
    • Aug. 9, 1956 - Reporters look down noses covering Elvis in Daytona Beach
    • Aug. 8, 1896 - Cross Creek, Yearling author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings born
    • Aug. 6, 1868 - Great Seal of the State of Florida adopted by Legislature
    • Aug. 5, 1763 - Britain takes over Pensacola, expands slavery over two-decade Fla. rule
    • Aug. 4, 1842: U.S. gives free Florida land to settlers willing to fight Seminoles
    • Aug. 1, 1939 - Florida Highway Patrol formed; to begin with 60 troopers
  • On this day in Florida history - July
    • July 31, 1962 - Actor, tax evader Wesley Snipes born in Orlando
    • July 30, 1956: Delta Burke, star of tabloids and television, born in Orlando
    • July 28, 1896: With railroad into town, city of Miami incorporated
    • July 27, 1816: U.S. forces obliterate 300+ free blacks, Indians at 'Fort Negro'
    • July 26, 1876 - Daytona incorporated, named after founder Matthias Day
    • July 25, 1884 - St. Petersburg Times debuts as West Hillsborough Times
    • July 25, 1957 - Country star, actress Pam Tillis born in Plant City
    • July 23, 1836 - Cape Florida Lighthouse attacked by Seminoles
    • July 22, 1964 - First 536 home lots sold in new city of Coral Springs
    • July 21, 1821 - St. Johns and Escambia become first two Florida counties
    • July 20, 1969 - U.S. astronauts walk on the moon
    • July 19, 1952 - Skynyrd guitarist Allen Collins is born; stardom and tragedy await
    • July 18, 1940 - Winners of St. Pete mayor's safety slogan contest announced
    • July 17, 1821 - Spain officially transfers Florida to United States
    • July 16, 1943 - Former 'Canes, Dolphins, Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson born
    • July 15, 1997 - Killer gigolo guns down Gianni Versace at South Beach mansion
    • July 14, 1921 - Florida's most famous 'cracker cowboy' dies at 58
    • July 13, 1927: Officials dump $250k in liquor into Gulf Stream
    • July 10, 1972 - First of two major party conventions opens in Miami Beach
    • July 9, 1957 - Pass-a-Grille and three other towns form St. Pete Beach
    • July 8, 2011 - Last space shuttle launched from Cape Canaveral
    • July 7, 1983 - 'Operation Everglades' drug bust rocks Everglades City
    • July 6, 2003 - 'Hillbillies' star Buddy Ebsen, raised in Orlando, dies at 95
    • July 5, 1928 - Elks begin arriving for 1st Florida national convention
    • July 4: Florida celebrates America's Independence Day
    • July 3, 1971 - Doors singer, Melbourne native Jim Morrison dies
    • July 2, 1961: Key West icon Ernest Hemingway dies; cats live on
    • July 1, 1951: St. Pete woman's burning death baffles investigators
  • On this day in Florida history - June
    • June 1, 1937 - Amelia Earhart leaves Miami to begin final voyage
    • June 2, 2008 - Bo Diddley, 79, dies at his home in Archer
    • June 3, 1961 - Arrest made in case that leads to 'right to an attorney'
    • June 4, 1939 - Jewish refugee ship turned away from Florida coast
    • June 5, 2013 - Zephyrhills woman, 84, claims $590 million Powerball jackpot
    • June 6, 1990 - Broward Judge rules 2 Live Crew album 'obscene'
    • June 7, 1928 - Two elections workers shot in Tampa ballot box heist
    • June 8, 1888 - First train rolls into terminus "St. Petersburg"
    • June 9, 1903 - Flagler's Breakers Hotel burns down in Palm Beach
    • June 10, 1991 - South Florida learns it will get new major league baseball team
    • June 11, 1953 - Sabal Palmetto palm becomes Florida's state tree
    • June 12, 1913: With first bridge, Miami Beach is open for business
    • June 13, 1974 - Askew appoints first female Cabinet member
    • June 14, 1966 - FSL's Miami and St. Pete set record for longest baseball game
    • June 15, 1822: City of Jacksonville founded, named after Andrew Jackson
    • June 16, 1955 - Judge Chillingworth and wife go missing
    • June 17. 1942 - German U-boat saboteurs land at Ponte Vedra Beach
    • June 18, 1983 - Sally Ride becomes first American woman in space
    • June 19, 1972 - Hurricane Agnes makes landfall in Panhandle
    • June 20, 2003 - Non-profit Wikipedia established in St. Petersburg
    • June 21, 1926 - Miami barbers don't want to be called 'chirotonsors'
    • June 22, 1990 - Florida bans thong bikinis in state parks
    • June 23, 1938 - Marine Studios, 'world's first oceanarium,' opens
    • June 24, 1987 - S. Fla's most famous resident, Jackie Gleason, dies at 71
    • June 25, 1981 - Dolphins QB Bob Griese retires after 14 seasons
    • June 26, 1964 - Governor orders extra police to riot-torn St. Augustine
    • June 27, 1964 - State tells Daytona: Stop price-gouging your tourists
    • June 28, 1911 - Big Cypress Indian Reservation created by President Taft
    • June 29, 1931 - Monticello hits 109 degrees -- hottest-ever for Florida
    • June 30, 1975 - Cher marries Daytona Beach's favorite son Gregg Allman
  • On this day in Florida history - May
    • May 1, 1562 - Jean Ribault arrives at St. Johns River, claims Florida for France
    • May 2, 1936 - Panama City Beach incorporated in Bay County
    • May 3, 1901 - Jacksonville burns to the ground
    • May 4, 1990 - Execution goes awry as flames, smoke shoot from head
    • May 5, 1961 - Alan Shepard becomes first American in space
    • May 6, 1965 - Rolling Stones play Clearwater, write 'Satisfaction' riff
    • May 7, 1940 - Voting machine shortages create long wait at polls
    • May 8, 1923 - Killings of work camp prisoners detailed in hearing
    • May 9, 1981 - Sinkhole swallows house, five Porsches in Winter Park
    • May 10, 1781 - Spanish Gen. Bernardo de Gálvez captures Pensacola
    • May 11, 1996 - ValuJet Flight 592 crashes into Everglades
    • May 12, 1997 - Tornado hits Miami, poses for photos, videos
    • May 13, 1955 - Jax fans chase Elvis after show, tear off his clothes
    • May 14, 1973 - Skylab launches new era of space study...and toys
    • May 15, 1947 - Florida State College for Women goes co-ed, renamed FSU
    • May 16, 1929 - Lake City mob lynches grocer after wife shoots chief
    • May 17, 1980 - Not guilty verdict triggers three days of rioting in Miami
    • May 18, 1955 - Educator Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune dies
    • May 19, 2004 - Drugstore chain owner Jack Eckerd dies at 91
    • May 20, 1913: Henry Morrison Flagler dies in his home at Palm Beach
    • May 21, 1956 - Police close beach after catching black, white teens talking
    • May 22, 1931 - Canned rattlesnake goes on sale from Arcadia
    • May 23, 1898 - School for Deaf & Blind issues first diplomas
    • May 24, 1931 - Writer develops Planet of the Apes storyline for Miami
    • May 25, 1961 - JFK challenges nation to land on moon within decade
    • May 26, 1845 - Florida holds first statewide election
    • May 27, 1965 - Mysterious land deal near Orlando revealed
    • May 28, 1935 - Now controversial "Old Folks At Home" becomes state song
    • May 29, 1967 - Woman jailed after 25 kids found in station wagon
    • May 30, 1989: Claude Pepper dies after 60 years of public service
    • May 31, 1539 - DeSoto comes to Florida, changes continent forever
  • On this day in Florida history - April
    • April 1, 1926 - Air Mail service begins in four Florida cities
    • April 2, 1513 - Juan Ponce de Leon lands in Florida
    • April 3, 2006 - Gators basketball team win first-ever national title
    • April 4, 1933 - NASCAR 2nd generation leader Bill France Jr. is born
    • April 5, 1925 - 'Great Miami Tornado' kills 5, destroys 250 homes
    • April 6, 1959 - Seminole Tribe votes to support building "Alligator Alley"
    • April 7, 1890 - Author, Everglades crusader Marjorie Stoneman Douglas born
    • April 8, 1923 - News of "lost" Tamiami trail blazers heats up
    • April 9, 1921 - Whites kicked out of West Palm Beach "colored" town
    • April 10, 1766 - John Bartram ends journey through Carolinas, Ga., Florida
    • April 11, 1986 - FBI shootout in Dade prompts cops' need for more powerful guns
    • April 12, 1981 - Space Shuttle launched for first time
    • April 13, 1951 - Marion County sheriff killed by forged check suspect
    • April 14, 1528 - Bumbling conqueror Pánfilo de Narváez lands near Tampa
    • April 15, 1896 - Henry Flagler's railroad arrives in Miami for first time
    • April 16, 1915 and 1917 - Aviation takes two steps forward
    • April 17, 1961 - U.S. launches failed Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba
    • April 18, 1957 - Florida to U.S.: Integration ruling unconstitutional
    • April 19, 1930 - First Publix store incorporated in Winter Haven
    • April 20, 1967 - Orange Juice becomes official state beverage
    • April 21, 1924 - NY's infamous 'Bobbed Haired Bandit' caught in Jax
    • April 22, 2000 - Elian Gonzalez seized in raid, returned to Cuba
    • April 23, 1982 - Keys secede from Union, create Conch Republic
    • April 24, 1965 - Orlando honors hometown astronaut with John Young Day
    • April 25, 1966 - Gov. Haydon Burns says his plane trailed by UFO
    • April 26, 1920 - Crop shippers seizing ice, creating shortage
    • April 27, 1969 - 1,000 students help during FSU admin building fire
    • April 28, 1985 - World's tallest sand sculpture built at Treasure Island
    • April 29, 1980 - U.S. braces for magnitude of Mariel Boatlift
    • April 30, 1915 - Broward County created, named after former governor
  • Hontoon Changling: The ancient owl carving that represents the wrong tribe
  • The Fierce Competition for Rollins College
  • The Hidden History of Everglades City
  • The Legend of Jose Gaspar
  • Burdine's: Sunshine Fashions & The Florida Store
  • Follow the Dollar - Horse breeding brings big money to Central Florida
  • In Cassadaga, the Seance Room is where they talk to the dead
  • St. Petersburg leaders worked overtime to promote their city
  • Paradise for Sale: Florida's Booms and Busts
  • Feature - The Curtiss-Bright Cities
  • Feature - Collected Works of South Florida pioneer Byrd Spilman Dewey
  • Facebook links - Spring Breakers riot in Fort Lauderdale
  • Features Index
  • Secret Florida life of the author of one of SF's greatest novels
  • Casey Stengel was a Daytona Beach troublemaker
  • True stories about The Real McCoy
  • Daytona's Deadliest Air Crash: Aug. 10, 1937
  • Blog - Zora Neale Hurston's Life on Florida's East Coast
  • Blog - Florida's Worst Freezes
  • Blog - Washtub baths and pot-bellied stoves in 1930s Florida
  • Found on the Web
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  • Destinations - Central
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  • Destinations - Southwest
  • Events - Fairs and Festivals
  • Events - Exhibits and Presentations
  • Florida history resources and links
  • Florida History Network - Announcements
    • Orange County History Center: 75th anniversary of Gone With The Wind
    • Adopt Your Duck at Dunedin History Museum
    • Mandarin Museum Welcomes Military Families as a Blue Star Museum
    • Orange County History Center seeking submissions for icons exhibition
    • Museum of Seminole County History announces Paranormal Tour
    • Florida Living History Inc. presents
    • Dunedin Museum Timeline - May 2014
    • School District of Palm Beach County - Hatian Heritage Month events planned
    • Fort Lauderdale Historical Society - launches effort to save 1905 New River Inn
    • Orange County Regional History Center honoring Judge Belvin Perry Jr. at John Young History Maker Awards
    • Fort Lauderdale Historical Society - New Exhibit shows how South Floridans Beat the Heat before AC
    • Orange County Regional History Center - Events and Exhbitions
    • Lake County Historical Society Grand Opening
    • Mandarin Historical Society - The Maple Leaf 150th Anniversary Exhibit
    • Miami Design Preservation League newsletter
    • Orange County Regional History Center events
    • Amelia Island Museum of History wants to show off your collection
    • Dunedin Museum Timeline
    • Amelia Island Museum of History's Patron Perks Tour Going to Sapelo Island, Georgia
    • Historical Society of Central Florida's honors Judge Belvin Perry Jr.
    • Orange County Regional History Center events
    • Debunking the Pocahontas Myth
    • King Cromartie House preservation
    • Feature - Mandarin Historical Society seeks help to save one-room schoolhouse
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May

May 1, 1562 - Jean Ribault lands at St. Johns, claims Florida for France 
Nearly 50 years after Ponce de Leon claimed "La Florida" for the Spanish, along came the French. This did not please the Spanish.

May 2, 1936 - Panama City Beach incorporated in Bay County
Panama City Beach incorporated in Bay County - Gideon Thomas built the Panama City Hotel in 1935 and aggressively marketed tourism at a time most locals were only interested in farming.

May 3, 1901 - Jacksonville burns to the ground
Photos of the devastation resemble those of European cities firebombed in World War II.

May 4, 1990 - Execution goes awry as flames, smoke shoot from head
The botched execution of Jesse Joseph Tafero and subsequent confession by his accomplice continue to fuel arguments by death penalty opponents.

May 5, 1961 - Alan B. Shepard becomes first American in space
Astronaut Alan B. Shepard becomes first American in space - As remarkable as it was, it scored the U.S. just a silver medal because it came 23 days after a Soviet cosmonaut orbited the Earth. But that embarrassment, combined with the Soviet's launch of the first satellite in 1957, motivated Americans to the moon.

May 6, 1965 - Rolling Stones play Clearwater, write "Satisfaction" riff
A show-stopping "near-riot," creation of the famous "Satisfaction" guitar riff, and discovery of a lost set of photos decades later moves the Rolling Stones' 1965 Clearwater appearance into the annals of rock and roll history.

May 7, 1940 - Voting machine shortages create long wait at polls
Voting machine shortages, challenges by attorneys, illegal canvassing and long, confusing ballots blamed for voting delays throughout the state. Isn't it great such problems are a thing of the past? Oh wait.

May 8, 1923 - Dark stories come to light about peonage, forced labor, whippings and death abetted by the state's justice system
The postmaster's wife was unflappable as she sat in front of the state senator who owned the prison farm. "What I have to testify is for the sake of humanity and to allow the people of the country to know the real truth," she said.

May 9, 1981 - Sinkhole swallows house, five Porsches in Winter Park
Winter Park sinkhole becomes Central Florida's newest tourist attraction.

May 10, 1781 - Spanish Gov. Bernardo de Gálvez captures Pensacola
The surrender following the Spanish land and sea attack left the British with no bases on the Gulf of Mexico, helping the colonists to victory in the American Revolution.

May 11, 1996 - ValuJet Flight 592 crashes into Everglades, killing 110
The plane had just departed Miami International Airport for Atlanta with 110 passengers and crew members aboard when it caught fire.

May 12, 1997 - Tornado hits Miami, poses for photos, videos
A star is born as perhaps the most photographed tornado in history takes a whirlwind tour through Miami.
May 13, 1955 - Jax fans chase Elvis after show, tear off his clothes
A group cornered the singer in his dressing room and tore his clothes off in their competition to grab a souvenir. Elvis had to be rescued by police from what has become known as the "first Presley riot." 

May 14, 1973 - Skylab launches new era of space study... and toys
Skylab was also celebrated in popular culture and was featured on kids' lunchboxes, a pinball machine, comic books and the TV show, The Six Million Dollar Man.

May 15, 1947 - Florida State College for Women becomes FSU
It was the latest - and last - of a long, crazy series of name changes at the oldest continuous site of higher education in Florida.

May 16, 1929 - Lake City mob lynches grocer after wife shoots chief
Several lessons can be gleaned from this bizarre story about a grocer's lynching that are still relevant today.

May 17, 1980 - Not guilty verdict triggers three-day Miami riot
By the time the violence quelled on May 19, the death toll had reached 18 -- 10 of them African Americans.  Four rioters were killed by police. 

May 18, 1955 - Educator Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune dies
She worked tirelessly to raise funds to expand the school, selling sweet potato pies and fried fish to railroad gangs, singing at fashionable hotels, and calling upon the wealthy.

May 19, 2004 - Drugstore chain owner Jack Eckerd dies at 91His name is no longer on the stores, but less than a decade ago, few Floridians could say they'd never shopped in an Eckerd Drug Store.

May 20, 1913 - Henry Morrison Flagler dies in Palm Beach
Because of Flagler's Florida East Coast Railway, crops could be raised and shipped, building materials could be hauled, and people -- tourists, workers, and residents -- could be shuttled to what was mostly mosquito-ridden scrubland little more than a century ago.

May 21, 1956 - Beach closed after black, white teens caught 'talking'
So why did the Delray Beach police close the beach after finding a 'tense group' of black and white teens 'talking'? Reporting from the front lines of the fight for civil rights was sometimes clear as mud. 

May 22, 1931 - Arcadia company starts selling canned rattlesnake
Yep, "Weird Florida" is not a new idea. We've been weird for decades.

May 23, 1898 -  School for Deaf & Blind graduates first students
Two deaf students, Artemas W. Pope and Cora Carlton, would marry and raise a future Florida legislator, Verle A. Pope, known as the Lion of St. Johns. Its most famous alumnus, musician Ray Charles, did not graduate. 

May 24, 1931 - Writer develops Planet of the Apes storyline for Miami
Poor Richard L. Rinc was halfway to Hollywood riches and didn't know it with his fantasy of ape laborers replacing domestic workers in South Florida.

May 25, 1961 - JFK challenges nation to land on moon within decade
"No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish," he said.

May 26, 1845 - Florida holds first statewide election
William Dunn Moseley became the first elected governor and David Levy Yulee won the first race for U.S. House. Yulee did not take his seat and instead was elected one of the state's first two U.S. Senators a short time later

May 27, 1965 - Mysterious land deal near Orlando revealed
The Miami Herald runs banner headline on its front page: "Giant Land Deal Near Orlando Revealed." Something big is afoot. What could it possibly be?

May 28, 1935 - Controversial 'Old Folks at Home' adopted as state song
You know it as "Way Down Upon the Swanee River."

May 29, 1967 - 25 kids in station wagon lands Miami woman in jail
Flori-DUH, 1967-style. Woman jailed after police find 25 kids, loaded handgun in her station wagon.



















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