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1513 Juan Ponce de Leon becomes the first European definitely known to sight what is now the territory of the United States
(specifically Florida) mistaking it for another island.
1539 In Florida, Hernando de Soto
lands at Tampa Bay with 600 soldiers with the goal to find gold
. He also introduced pigs into North America
1561 Pensacola, Florida, the first Europe
an settlement in North America, and its support fleet were both destroyed by a hurricane. Two survivors managed to walk the long arduous journey to Mexico City. The city was not re-settled until 1698.
1562 May 1 Jean Ribault
, French navigator, lands in Florida and later establishes a Huguenot
colony at Charlesfort
1565 Spanish
fleet of Pedro Menéndez de Avilés lands on modern-day Florida to oust the French under Jean Ribault
. He later destroys the French colony
of Fort Caroline.
1702 English
troops plunder St. Augustine in Florida
1819 Spain
cedes Florida to the United States
. (see Adams-Onís Treaty)
1821 The United States
takes possession of its newly-bought territory of Florida from Spain
.
1822 Florida becomes a United States territory. (See History of Florida.)
1832 The Florida Legislative Council grants a city charter for Jacksonville, Florida.
1845 Florida is admitted as the 27th U.S. state
.
1861 American Civil War
: Florida secedes from the Union
1928 The 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane kills at least 2,500 people in Florida.
1939 Holocaust: The SS ''St. Louis'', a ship carrying a cargo of 963 Jew
ish refugees, is denied permission to land in Florida after already having been turned away from Cuba
. Forced to return to Europe
, most of its passengers later die in Nazi
concentration camps.
1941 6-year-old Elaine Esposito goes to an appendix operation in Florida and lapses into a coma
. She dies 1978, still in coma.
1952 A tropical storm forms just north of Cuba
moving northeast. The storm makes landfall in southern Florida the next day. It is the earliest reported landfall from a tropical storm, and the earliest formation of a tropical storm on record in the Atlantic basin.
1959 At Cape Canaveral
, Florida, the first successful test firing of a Titan intercontinental ballistic missile is accomplished.
1959 Explorer program
: The United States
launches Explorer 6 from the Atlantic Missile Range in Cape Canaveral
, Florida.
1960 August 29 — September 13 — Hurricane Donna kills 50 in Florida and New England
.
1960 December 2 — U.S.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower
authorizes the use of $1M for the relief and resettlement of Cuban
refugees in Florida. Cuban refugees have been arriving in Florida at the rate of 1,000 a week.
1964 Cuba
cuts off the normal water supply to the United States naval base at Guantanamo Bay, in reprisal for the U.S. seizure 4 days earlier of 4 Cuban fishing boats off the coast of Florida.
1971 Walt Disney World opens in Florida.
1977 After campaigning by Anita Bryant
and her anti-gay "Save Our Children" crusade, Dade County, Florida voters overwhelmingly vote to repeal the county's gay
rights ordinance, igniting a wave of violence against gays across the United States.
1978 Serial killer Ted Bundy
is captured in Florida.
1980 In Florida, a Liberian freighter named the ''Summit Venture'' hits the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay, sending 35 people (most of whom were in a bus) to a watery death as a 1,400-foot section of the bridge collapses.
1984 Richard Petty wins his 200th career NASCAR
victory at the Firecracker 400 in Daytona, Florida.
1989 Serial killer Ted Bundy
is executed in Florida's electric chair
.
1996 An ice storm strikes the U.S., killing 26 directly, hundreds more from accidents. A powerful windstorm blasts Florida; winds gust to 90 mph.
1998 Tornado
es in central Florida destroy or damage 2,600 structures and kill 42 (see Florida El Niño Outbreak).
2000 U.S. presidential election, 2000: Republican challenger George W. Bush
defeats Democrat Vice President Al Gore
, but the final outcome is not known for over a month because of disputed votes in Florida.
2000 The U.S. Supreme Court, in the case of ''Bush vs. Gore'', stops the Florida presidential recount, effectively giving the state, and the U.S. Presidency, to George W. Bush
.
2004 Hurricane Charley kills 27 people in Florida after killing 4 in Cuba
and 1 in Jamaica
. Charley made landfall near Cayo Costa, FL as a Category 4 hurricane
. Charley was the most intense hurricane to strike the United States since Hurricane Andrew in 1992.
2004 Hurricane Frances makes landfall in Florida. After killing 2 people in the Bahamas, Hurricane Frances kills 10 people in Florida, 2 in Georgia
and 1 in South Carolina
.
2004 Hurricane Frances makes landfall in Florida. After killing 2 people in the Bahamas, Hurricane Frances kills 10 people in Florida, 2 in Georgia
and 1 in South Carolina
.
2005 A U.S.
Federal Air Marshal fatally shoots Rigoberto Alpizar on a jetway at Miami International Airport in Florida.
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Timeline
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