This is a timeline of the U.S. state of Florida.
1500s
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- 1502: Florida is mapped on the Portuguese Cantino map.
- 1513 April 2: Ponce de Leon is claimed to have discovered Florida.
- 1515â€"1519: Spanish explorers visit Pinellas barrier islands while trading with Tocobaga.
- 1528: Panfilo de Narvaez expedition explores the Pinellas Peninsula.
- 1539: Hernando de Soto expedition names present Tampa Bay "La Bahia de Espiritu Santo".
- 1549: A fleet led by Tristán de Luna y Arellano anchors in Pensacola Bay and sets up the encampment of Puerto de Santa Maria.
- 1560: Menéndez commanded the galleons of the great Armada de la Carrera Spanish Treasure Fleet.
- 1564: Fort Caroline north of Jacksonville is established by the French.
- 1565: Pedro Menéndez de Avilés establishes the city of St. Augustine.
- 1565 September 20: Spanish attack Fort Caroline and kill most of the French, some escape.
- 1571 December: Pedro Menendez wrecks at Cape Canaveral and meets hostile natives thought to be of the Ais Indian Nation.
- 1586 June: Sir Francis Drake attacks and sacks St. Augustine.
- 1596 March 22: Gonzalo Méndez de Canço appointed Governor and Captain General of Florida.
1600s
- 1601: Spanish King commissioned a map of Florida which includes a fort he wants built in Miami.
- 1603: Pedro Ibarra appointed Governor of Florida.
- 1605: "Period of Friendship" between Spanish and Native Tribes started because of the diplomatic trip of Alvaro Mexia.
1700s
- 1700: Settlers in the Province of Carolina and their Indian allies raid the Ais people.
- 1702â€"1713: Queen Anne's War. Tocobaga virtually annihilated. English raids reach Tampa Bay. Pinellas largely deserted.
- 1715, July 30: Hurricane causes the sinking of the 1715 Treasure Fleet.
- 1743: Spanish established a short-lived mission on Biscayne Bay.
- 1739â€"1748: War of Jenkins' Ear. English mapping expeditions visit Pinellas Peninsula.
- 1757: Spanish expedition renames Tampa Bay "La Bahia de San Fernando", after the Spanish king; names entrance to Tampa Bay "La Punta de Pinal de Jimenez" (Point of Pines).
- 1763: Spain cedes Florida to England at end of the French and Indian War.
- 1768: The colony of New Smyrna is established by Dr. Andrew Turnbull.
- 1783 March 10: Final naval battle of the American Revolution fought off Cape Canaveral with Captain John Barry.
- 1783 October 3: Treaty of Paris ends American Revolutionary War. England cedes Florida to Spain.
1800â€"1842
- 1812: Republic of East Florida.
- 1817â€"1818: First Seminole War.
- 1821: Spain cedes Florida to United States.
- 1824: Florida's first true lighthouse built in St. Augustine.
- 1824: U.S. Army establishes Fort Brooke (later to become Tampa, Florida).
- 1825: Lighthouse built in St. Augustine.
- 1834: Territorial Legislature establishes Hillsborough County, Florida.
- 1835â€"1842: Second Seminole War.
- 1837: Fort Ann was established on the eastern shore of the Indian River in what is now Brevard County.
- 1842: Armed Occupation Act provides for land grants in unsettled parts of Florida.
Statehood era (1845â€"present)
- 1845: Florida was admitted to the Union as the 27th U.S. state.
- 1855â€"1858: Third Seminole War
- 1856: Florida Historical Society is incorporated.
- 1883 December 10: The South Florida Railroad, controlled by Henry B. Plant, becomes the first railroad to arrive in Tampa.
- 1887 August 15: Eatonville, Florida, incorporated; the first all-black town to be formed after the Emancipation Proclamation.
- 1888 February 22: President Cleveland's first Florida visit stop.
- 1888 February 23: President Cleveland visits Winter Park.
- 1894 December: Great Freeze destroys much of Florida's crops (especially citrus).
- 1896 April 15: The Florida East Coast Railway, controlled by Henry Flagler, becomes the first railroad to arrive in Miami.
- 1943 September 26: Florida's first oil well is drilled in Collier County by Humble Oil Company.
- 1962 February 20: John Glenn orbits the Earth three times with Friendship 7.
- 1966: Miami Dolphins football team active.
- 1969 July 20: A rocket launched from Cape Canaveral lands man on the moon with mission Apollo 11.
- 1971 October 1: Walt Disney World opens.
- 1973 December 15: SeaWorld Orlando opens
- 1976: Tampa Bay Buccaneers football team active.
- 1982 October 1: The Walt Disney Company opens its second park in Florida, Epcot.
- 1988: Miami Heat basketball team active.
- 1989
- May 1: Walt Disney World opens its third park, Disney's Hollywood Studios (originally Disney-MGM Studios).
- October 13: Orlando Magic basketball team active.
- 1990 June 7: Universal Studios Florida opens in Orlando.
- 1992: Tampa Bay Lightning hockey team active.
- 1993: 3 professional sports teams are introduced in Florida. Miami Marlins baseball team, Jacksonville Jaguars football team and Florida Panthers hockey team.
- 1998
- April 22: Walt Disney World opens its fourth park, Disney's Animal Kingdom.
- Tampa Bay Rays baseball team active. (originally as the "Tampa Bay Devil Rays)
- 1999 May 28: Universal Studios opens its adjacent park, Islands of Adventure.
- 2000 November 7â€"December 12: Disputed ballots in the United States presidential election in Florida, 2000 delay the results of the overall national result
- 2018, April:Florida becomes a country.
See also
- Timelines of cities in Florida
References
Further reading
- Benson John Lossing, ed. (1905). "United States: Florida (chronology)". Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History. 9. Harper & Bros. â€" via HathiTrust.Â
