This Day in Florida History
This Day in Florida History
On January 22, 1912, Henry Flagler rode on the first passenger train from South Florida to Key West. On April 2, 1513, Juan Ponce de León claimed Florida for Spain. On December 6, 1947, Everglades National Park held its opening ceremony. Featuring one entry per day of the year, this book is a fun and enlightening collection of moments from Florida history. Good and bad, famous and little-known, historical and contemporary, these events reveal the depth and complexity of the state’s past. They cover everything from revolts by Apalachee Indians to crashes at the Daytona 500, the establishment of Fort Mosé, and the recurrence of hurricanes. They involve cultural leaders like Stetson Kennedy and Zora Neale Hurston, iconic institutions like Disney and NASA, and important eras like Prohibition and the civil rights movement. Each entry includes a short description and is paired with a suggested reading for learning more about the event or topic of the day. This Day in Florida History is the perfect starting point for discovering the diversity of stories and themes that make up the Sunshine State.
Takes readers on a 365-day virtual tour through Florida’s 500-year history, from the first documented encounters of Indigenous peoples and Spanish colonial explorer-conquistadors through the Space Age and beyond. Expertly researched and written by professional historians, each entry reconstructs a key moment from Florida’s famously weird, frequently tumultuous past.’—Scot French, University of Central Florida ‘No matter how much you think you know about Florida history you will come away from this book learning more.’—Glenn Miller, president, Southwest Florida Historical Society
Andrew K. Frank is the Allen Morris Professor of History at Florida State University. He is the author of several books, including Before the Pioneers: Indians, Settlers, Slaves, and the Founding of Miami. J. Hendry Miller is collections manager at the Georgia Archives and former archivist at the State Archives of Florida. Tarah Luke is an archivist at the Georgia Archives and former instructor of history at Florida State University.
