Brief History of Florida
10,000+ B.C. - Hunting and gathering Paleoindians present in Florida
7500 B.C. - Early Archaic Period, people hunted and gathered but began to gather near wetlands
6000–5000 B.C. - Human burials placed under water, as at Windover Site in Brevard Co., also evidence of manufacture of cordage and fabrics
5000 B.C. - First semi-permanent settlements in Florida
5000–3000 B.C. - Middle Archaic sites along St. Johns River, and along Hillsborough River north of Tampa, modern environments established
2000 B.C. - First fired clay pottery
500 B.C. - Mound building, as at Crystal River Indian Mounds in Citrus Co.
A.D. 700 - Beginning of tribes and chiefdoms eventually met by the Spaniards: Timucuans, Apalachee, Calusa, Tequesta
1498–1502 - Europeans first saw Florida coast
1513 - Juan Ponce de Leon landed north of Cape Canaveral and named Florida
1528 - Panfilo de Narvaez visited Tampa and Tallahassee areas
1539 - Hernando de Soto landed in Tampa Bay area and wintered in Tallahassee while on trek throughout the Southeast
1565 - Pedro Menendez established St. Augustine, the first permanent settlement by Europeans in North America
1570 - First citrus groves in Florida planted in St. Augustine
1586 - Sir Francis Drake sacked and burned St. Augustine
1702–1704 - British raided Spanish settlements and destroy missions
1740 = British invaded Florida, native populations diminished
1763 - Treaty of Paris ended French and Indian War, Spain ceded Florida to Britain
1770s - Creeks from Georgia and Alabama, later called Seminoles, entered Florida
1776–81 - Florida colonies remained loyal to Britain during the American Revolution (Damn it, Florida! We played ourselves!)
1783 - Florida returned to Spain, in exchange for Bahamas and Gibraltar
1783–1821 - Border disputes between Spain and United States
1810 - British occupied Pensacola, but were driven out by Andrew Jackson in 1813
1817–1818 - First Seminole War
1821 - United States acquired Florida from Spain by treaty
1824 - Tallahassee established as territorial capital
1835–1842 - Second Seminole War, first reservations established
1845 - Florida admitted to the Union as a state
1856–1858 - Third Seminole War ceased, ending Wars of Indian Removal east of the Mississippi River
1861–1865 - Civil War, Florida was part of the Confederacy, Battle of Olustee fought in 1864
1900s - Greek immigrants arrived and settled mostly in Tarpon Springs
1901 - Great Fire destroyed downtown Jacksonville
1905 - State University System created
1909 - Panama City (our home) becomes incorporated
1914 - Pensacola Naval Air Station established
1914 - First regularly scheduled commercial airline between two U.S. cities, St. Petersburg and Tampa, established (seems lazy in retrospect but alright)
1917–1918 - World War I, Florida was site for military training and shipbuilding
1918 - First international flight, Key West to Havana
1927 - First international air mail service, Pan American flights from Key West to Havana, Cuba
1935 - The Labor Day Hurricane becomes the strongest hurricane to ever hit the U.S.
1937 - Amelia Earhart took off from Miami on fatal round-the-world flight
1941-1945 - World War II, Florida again was a major site for military training and shipbuilding
1946 - Florida Park Service established
1950 - First American rocket launch from Cape Canaveral
1955 - Florida Turnpike authorized
1958 - Free World's first earth satellite, Explorer I, launched from Cape Canaveral
1961 - First American manned space travel, from Cape Canaveral
1969 - Apollo 11, launched from Kennedy Space Center, landed first men on the moon
1971 - Disney World opened
1981 - The first space shuttle, Columbia, launched from Kennedy Space Center
1987 - Archaeologists uncovered the first evidence of De Soto's 1539 winter encampment in Tallahassee.
1990 - Florida has the 4th largest state population in the United States.
1992 - Hurricane Andrew hits South Florida
2000 - Presidential election put world focus on Florida
2000 - Newnan's Lake Canoes (largest known collection of prehistoric canoes) discovered
2004 - Tampa Bay Lightning win the Stanley Cup
2004-05 - Major hurricanes (Charley, Frances, Ivan, Jeanne, Dennis, Katrina, and Wilma) struck Florida
2010 - End of the Space Shuttle Program at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral
2018 - Hurricane Michael becomes the 2nd strongest hurricane to hit Florida (behind the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane) and does extensive damage to Panama City and the surrounding regions
2020 - The Sunshine State Challenge is launched and makes history!
