Various American Indian tribes have inhabited Florida for at least 14,000 years. In 1513, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León became the first known European to make landfall, calling the region La Florida (land of flowers) ([la floˈɾiða]). Florida subsequently became the first area in the continental U.S. to be permanently settled by Europeans, with the settlement of St. Augustine, founded in 1565, being the oldest continuously inhabited city. Florida was a Spanish territory frequently attacked and coveted by Great Britain before Spain ceded it to the U.S. in 1819 in exchange for resolving the border dispute along the Sabine River in Spanish Texas. Florida was admitted as the 27th state on March 3, 1845, and was the principal location of the Seminole Wars (1816–1858), the longest and most extensive of the American Indian Wars. The state seceded from the Union on January 10, 1861, becoming one of the seven original Confederate States, and was readmitted to the Union after the Civil War on June 25, 1868.
The attacks, part of Queen Anne's War (the North American theater of the War of the Spanish Succession), resulted in the burning of the town, and caused most of its Indian population to flee, although the fort withstood repeated attacks. The battles were primarily fought in the nighttime hours due to the excessive heat of the day. (Full article...)
... that Homestead, Florida, radio station WOIR was credited with saving the lives of hundreds of farmworkers in a labor camp before the arrival of Hurricane Andrew?
... that a Florida TV station was late to its first broadcast because an engineer overslept?
... that Comcast removed a Florida TV station from its lineup for allegedly broadcasting home shopping in prime time instead of its normal UPN programming?
Image 7The expanded West Florida territory in 1767. (from History of Florida)
Image 8Juan Ponce de León was one of the first Europeans to set foot in the current United States; he led the first European expedition to Florida, which he named. (from History of Florida)
Image 28Snow is very uncommon in Florida, but has occurred in every major Florida city at least once; snow does fall very occasionally in North Florida (from Geography of Florida)
Image 32A 1527 map by Vesconte Maggiolo showing the east coast of North America with "Tera Florida" at the top and "Lavoradore" at the bottom. (from History of Florida)
Tessa Ludwick (born October 5, 1988) is a Korean-born American actress from Apollo Beach, Florida. She began acting at the age of 5, when she held a lead role in Allegra's Window, a Nick Jr. children's television program show taped at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. When filming on Allegra's Window ended in May 1996, 7-year-old Ludwick went from Allegra's Window to a lead role in Big Bag, a live action/puppetry preschool television program on Cartoon Network. At the age of 8, she landed the role of Kate, an orphan girl in the touring Broadway musical Annie, the 20th Anniversary. For the next eight months, she toured the United States and Canada with the musical, during which time Ludwick gave eight performances per week.