Georgia: A Historical Timeline
PRE-EUROPEAN SETTLEMENT Prior to 1520 The earliest known people living in the geographical region now known as Georgia are the Paleo and Archaic people of 10,000-1,000 BCE. The Moundbuilders, a group of Native Americans whose leaders live in temples above large mounds of earth, live in the area from 1000 to 1550, when the first European settlers arrive. The Cherokee also occupy the northern part of the state. 1520-1666 EARLY EUROPEAN EXPLORATION 1526 Lucas Vazques de Ayllon establishes the first colony on mainland America; the location is now believed to have been on Georgia's Sapelo Island. 1540 March 9) Hernando de Soto reaches southern Georgia. He finds Native Americans raising domesticated turkeys, caged opossums, corn, beans, pumpkins, cucumbers, and plums. 1541 (May 8) De Soto discovers and crosses the Mississippi River, which he calls Rio de Espiritu Santo. He encounters the Cherokee tribe, who number about 25,000. 1566 The Spanish build forts along the Atlantic Coast; the first in Georgia is on Santa Catalina (or St. Catherine's Island). 1629 Charles I grants a charter to Sir Robert Heath that includes territory reaching approximately from Albemarle Sound in North Carolina to Jekyll Island off the coast of Georgia.  1650 The Cherokee Nation migrates south, occupying more than 40,000 square miles in the southern Appalachian Mountains. 1663 King Charles II of England awards land in America known as the Carolinas (including present-day Georgia) to eight members of the nobility who assisted with his restoration to power. 1666-1732 GEORGIA COLONY 1730 (July 30) British Member of Parliament James Oglethorpe and 20 associates petition King George II for a royal charter to establish a colony southwest of Carolina. Colonists name it Georgia in honor of the king. 1732 (April) King George signs Georgia's charter, and Georgia subsequently becomes the last of the 13 original colonies. 1733-1774 PRE-REVOLUTIONARY ERA 1733 (February 1) Oglethorpe and 116 colonists found Savannah, which is based on a grid of streets around six large squares. Oglethorpe hopes to establish an ideal colony for the resettlement of the English "worthy poor." He also imagines a "buffer state" to defend the southern parts of the British colonies from Spanish Florida. The colonists begin to grow upland cotton and peaches. (July 11) Forty Jews arrive in Savannah and form the Congregation Mickve Israel, one of the oldest synagogues in the U.S. 1735 Georgia enacts three Parliamentary laws. Slaves are now prohibited in the colony, as is rum. Traders are also required to purchase a license before trading with Native Americans. 1742 (July 7) The Battle of Bloody Marsh is fought at Fort Frederica and Fort St. Simons. Great Britain has declared war on Spain over the disputed border between Georgia and Florida. During the War of Jenkin's Ear (initiated in part by a Spanish soldier literally cutting off part of British mariner Robert Jenkins' ear), the Spanish invade Georgia. Oglethorpe troops hold them off, securing Georgia for the British, who finally defeat the Spanish in 1748. 1749 Georgia's law prohibiting the importation of slaves is rescinded. From 1750–1775, planters rapidly import slaves so that their population grows from 500 to approximately 18,000. 1752 (May 16) A group of 280 Puritans arrive in Georgia from Dorchester, South Carolina, bringing 536 slaves with them. A second group of 70 Puritans then arrives with 1,500 slaves. The groups settle at Midway and Sunbury. Georgia becomes a royal colony with an elected an assembly. King George appoints James Wright governor, and the right to vote is extended to Protestant freemen, with certain property restrictions. Suffrage, however, is denied to Catholics. 1756 Four hundred French Acadians arrive in Georgia after the Great Expulsion of 1755–1763, when British colonial officers and New England militia deport more than 14,00 Acadians from the Canadian maritime provinces. 1757 (February 8) Reflecting growing resentment and discrimination toward the Acadian community, the Georgia Assembly enacts a bill that permits justices of the peace to "bind out" (something akin to indentured servitude) all Acadians who refuse to work to anyone willing to feed, lodge, and clothe them in return for service. 1774–1790 REVOLUTIONARY GEORGIA 1774 (October) The First Continental Congress adopts the Association, an agreement to import nothing from Great Britain and to export nothing to Great Britain, Ireland, or the British West Indies. The Association is ratified within six months by all the colonies except New York and Georgia, which refuses to send delegates. (December) St John's Parish ratifies the acts of the Continental Congress and attempts to secede from Georgia to join South Carolina. The Continental Congress bans all interaction with Georgia except for St. John's Parish. 1775 (May 10) Lyman Hall convinces St. John's Parish to send him to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia on behalf of Georgia. (May) Georgia patriots storm the royal magazine in Savannah and carry off ammunition. The following month, they use the occasion of the king's birthday for a raucous demonstration against the monarchy. 1776 (February) Royal governor Wright flees Georgia. (April 15) A new, patriot-controlled Congress adopts "Rules and Regulations" of Georgia. Congress elects Archibald Bulloch as president. He serves only six months in office. In response to Georgia's refusal to adopt the Continental Congress's legislation, South Carolina adopts a resolution to annex Georgia. It threatens to destroy the state by constructing a town opposite Savannah, thus drying up Georgia's commerce. 1776 Georgia representatives Button Gwinnett, George Walton, and Lyman Hall sign the U.S. Declaration of Independence. 1777 (September 16) An act subordinates all Georgia laws to the Continental Congress. 1778 (December 29) British troops attempt a new strategy to defeat the colonials by capturing Savannah. Slaves escape to British lines, where they are promised freedom. By the end of the war, more than one-third of Georgia's slaves (approximately 5,000) have escaped. 1779 At the siege of Savannah, American and French troops attempt unsuccessfully to retake Savannah. The British remain in control of the city until July 1782. (February 14) Patriots defeat American Loyalists and the British at Kettle Creek, one of the most important battles to be fought in Georgia. The victory by the Patriots demonstrates the inability of the British to hold the interior of the state. 1788 (January 2) Georgia becomes the fourth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution. 1790-1859 ANTEBELLUM GEORGIA 1794 Eli Whitney patents his cotton gin invention. King Cotton quickly comes to dominate Georgia agriculture, and the state's slave population, integral to the harvesting process, continues to grow. 1798 Georgia forbids the further importation of slaves. 1817 The First Seminole War begins as Georgia backwoodsmen attack Native Americans just north of the Florida border. It ends the following year. The Georgia Legislature enacts laws to define the common boundary with Tennessee and creates a boundary commission to survey and mark the state border. 1823 (December 19) Georgia passes the first U.S. state birth registration law. 1825 (February 12) Creek Indian chiefs cede all Creek lands in Georgia to the U.S. in the Treaty of Indian Springs. All but the Tukabatchee promise to leave Georgia for lands west of the Mississippi River by September 1. 1826 (January 24) The Treaty of Washington abrogates the Treaty of Indian Springs. The Creeks cede a smaller area of land to the federal government. By 1827 the Creeks are gone from Georgia. 1829 Gold is discovered in the north Georgia mountains, leading to the Georgia Gold Rush, the first gold rush in the U.S. 1830 The Indian Removal Act sends all tribes west to reservations in present-day Oklahoma, giving Georgia access to tribal lands. 1831 The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Cherokee Nation vs. Georgia that a Native American tribe may not sue in federal court. The following year, the Supreme Court rules that the U.S. Government has exclusive authority over Native Americans and their lands within any state in Worcester vs. Georgia. 1831–32 Slaves and Irish workers build the 16.5-mile Savannah-Ogeechee Canal to transport cotton and timber between the two rivers. 1835–38 tA Cherokee minority agrees to the migration of the whole tribe by signing the Treaty of New Echota. The treaty cedes all Cherokee land to the U.S. President Martin Van Buren sends federal troops to round up the Cherokee and move them west of the Mississippi in an act that becomes known as the "Trail of Tears." 1859-1900 THE CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION ERAS 1861 (January 19) Georgia secedes from the Union and becomes the fifth state to join the Confederacy. 1863 The two-day Battle of Chickamauga between Union and Confederate troops in northwestern Georgia is a significant Union defeat. It forces Union troops to retreat into Tennessee. 1864 The first Union prisoners arrive at Camp Sumter prison near Andersonville. The camp is designed for 6,000 prisoners but holds 33,000 by the end of the summer. Over the course of the Civil War, 45,000 Union prisoners are brought to Andersonville, and 29 percent die there. (May 6) Union general Sherman and his troops begin to advance on Atlanta. The siege forces Confederate troops to retreat to the mountains. General Sherman's forces seize Atlanta on September 2. (November 15) General Sherman begins his "March to the Sea." The campaign ends with the capture of the port of Savannah on December 21. About 10,000 slaves flee captivity to join Sherman's Army. Under Sherman's "scorched earth" policies, troops destroy much of the state, including civilian property, during the 300-mile march. Causing an estimated $100 million in damage, the army also destroys railroads and telegraph lines and seizes or destroys livestock and crops. The devastating Confederate defeat becomes a turning point in the war, and an infamous chapter in Georgia history. 1865 (December 9) The Georgia Legislature ratifies the 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery. 1870 (Jul 15) Georgia is the last of the Confederate states to be readmitted to the Union. 1886 (May) John S. Pemberton invents a cola beverage in Atlanta. Manufactured as a sugary syrup meant to be mixed with carbonated water; it contains small amounts of cocaine and more caffeine than the drink contains today. Frank Robinson, Pemberton's bookkeeper, suggests the name "Coca-Cola," writing it in the cursive script still featured in the company's logo. Jacob's Pharmacy in Atlanta is the first soda fountain to sell the drink. 1895 Two hundred Georgians of African descent leave Savannah for Liberia, an African country created as a home for repatriated former slaves. 1900–1929 EARLY 20TH CENTURY 1904 (December 28) Farmers burn two million bales of cotton in an attempt to prop up falling prices. 1905 Alonzo Herndon, a former slave, spends $140 to create Atlanta Mutual, which sells burial insurance to Atlanta's African-American community. The company becomes Atlanta Life Financial Group. 1906 (September 22) The Atlanta Race Riot begins. Rising tension between whites and African-Americans over job competition and civil rights erupts in race riots that kill 25–40 people before the violence is quelled on September 26. 1912 Juliette Gordon Low organizes the Girl Guides in Savannah, which later becomes the Girl Scouts of America. 1919 (July 24) Georgia rejects the 19th Amendment, denying women the right to vote. 1921 The boll weevil, which feeds on cotton buds and flowers, cuts Georgia's cotton production in half. The boll weevil infestation contributes to the South expanding into peanut farming. 1922 Rebecca Felton becomes the first woman to be seated in the U.S. Senate after serving out her deceased husband's remaining term. 1926 Teaching the theory of evolution becomes legally forbidden in Atlanta schools. 1930–1950 THE GREAT DEPRESSION AND WORLD WAR II 1936 (April 6) A category 4 tornado kills 202 and injures 1,800 in Gainesville. 1939 (March 18) Georgia ratifies the Bill of Rights, along with Connecticut and Massachusetts. While the legislation went into effect in 1791, these three states considered it unnecessary. (December 15) The motion picture Gone With the Wind, which features a vivid recreation of the state during the Civil War era, has its world premiere in Atlanta. Based on the book by Margaret Mitchell, it remains the highest-grossing film of all time adjusting for inflation. 1943 Georgia grants 18-year-olds voting rights. 1950–PRESENT MODERN GEORGIA 1953 (February 19) Georgia becomes the first state to approve a literature censorship board in a campaign against "obscene literature," reviewing books such as Erksine Caldwell's God's Little Acres and J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye. The commission ceases operations in 1973. 1961 (December 12) Martin Luther King, Jr. and 700 demonstrators are arrested in Albany, Georgia. King would be arrested several more times in Georgia through 1962. He is buried in Atlanta. 1970 (February 20) Georgia becomes the 45th state to ratify the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote. The amendment actually went into effect in 1920. Ted Turner buys an Atlanta UHF station and builds it into the Turner Broadcasting System. It spawns CNN among other cable TV networks, becoming a broadcasting titan. The company merges with Time Warner in 1996. 1973 The Atlanta school system agrees to desegregate. 1974 Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves breaks Babe Ruth's home-run record by hitting his 715th career home run in a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. 1978 Larry Flynt, founder of Hustler magazine, is shot and wounded outside a Georgia courtroom during a legal battle related to obscenity charges. White supremacist Joseph Paul Franklin confesses to the shootings, claiming he was outraged by an interracial photo shoot in the magazine. 1996 (July 27) A pipe bomb is set off at Centennial Olympic Park during the 26th Summer Olympic Games. One person is killed and 111 are injured. Security guard Richard Jewell is falsely accused of the attack, but Eric Rudolphe later pleads guilty to the bombing. 2003 Georgia's governor signs legislation to redesign the state flag without the Confederate emblem, which is considered by many to be evocative of Georgia's past history as a slave state.
	Click to enlarge an image Pre-1520: Present-day Flag of the Cherokee Nation 1526: Detail of the American Coast. Map by Diego Ribero. 1540: Hernando De Soto, Spanish explorer and conquistador 1541: Various routes have been proposed for de Soto's trail. 1629: Sir Robert Heath 1663: Charles II 1733: James Edward Oglethorpe, Georgia's founder 1733: Congregation Mickve Israel, one of the oldest synagogues in the United States   1775: Lyman Hall, signer of the Declaration of Independence 1776: Archibald Bulloch, lawyer, soldier, statesman 1778: map depicting Savannah, probably drawn by a British engineer 1829: Gold veinlets in gneiss from the Battle Branch Mine 1835: While Robert Lindneux' painting commemorates the Trail of Tears, it does not do justice to the death-march conditions.   1863: Battle of Chickamauga (lithograph by Kurz and Allison) 1864: Andersonville National Cemetery holds the remains of thousands of Union POWs. 1865: Sherman's March to the Sea left devastation in its wake. The burning of Columbia, South Carolina is depicted here by William Waud for Harper's Weekly. 1886: John Stith Pemberton, inventor of Coca-Cola 1912: Juliette Gordon Low (center) standing with two Girl Scouts 1921: Cotton Boll Weevil 1922: United States Senator Rebecca Ann Latimer Felton 1939: Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara 1961: Martin Luther King, Jr. 1974: Hank Aaron's plaque at the Baseball Hall of Fame 1978: Building from which Larry Flynt was shot 2003: redesign of the state flag

Florida: A Historical Timeline
PRIOR TO 1700 PRE-EUROPEAN SETTLEMENT 10,000 BCE Humans inhabit Florida at least 12,000 years ago. The sea level is much lower than today, and as a result, the Florida peninsula is more than twice as large as it is now. Florida’s first peoples lived mostly on small animals, plants, nuts, and shellfish. 800– 1700 CE Dubbed "the fierce ones," The Calusa tribe dominates Florida’s Gulf Coast. They escape from Florida to Cuba in the early 1700s after Spanish soldiers and other tribes overrun the region. At the time of first European contact an estimated 350,000 people belonging to a variety of tribes inhabit Florida. 1497– 1514 Europeans first discover the region. A Spanish map from 1502 depicts a Florida-like peninsula. 1513 Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Léon becomes the first European to explore Florida while searching for the fabled Fountain of Youth. He claims the region for Spain and calls it "la Florida" in honor of "La Pascua Florida" ("Feast of Flowers"), Spain’s Easter celebration. He is unable to establish a colony due to attacks from Native Americans. 1539 Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto lands in Tampa Bay in search of gold. He explores central and northern Florida on his way to the Mississippi River and names Espiritu Santo Springs while searching for the Fountain of Youth. 1559 Tristan de Luna y Arellano leads another attempt to colonize Florida. He establishes a settlement at Pensacola Bay; a series of misfortunes causes the settlement to be abandoned after two only years. 1561 Philip II of Spain gives orders to halt colonizing efforts in Florida. 1564 French missionaries settle Fort Caroline near present-day Jacksonville as a haven for Protestant Huguenots fleeing religious persecution. 1565 Spanish troops arrive and massacre the French Huguenot soldiers in Fort Caroline (sparing only a few Catholics). Spanish admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés establishes Saint Augustine, the first permanent European settlement in North America. The fort is renamed Fort San Mateo. 1567 Jesuits establish missions in La Florida, staying until 1572 1568 Led by French nobleman Dominique de Gourgue, French forces return to Florida and slaughter hundreds of Spanish in revenge for the Huguenot massacre. After Spanish surrender, the French and their native allies, the Saturiwa, murder all prisoners. De Gourgue then returns to France. 1586 English captain Sir Francis Drake loots and burns the village of St. Augustine. 1573 Franciscans assume formerly Jesuit missions, eventually running more than 100 in the area. 1700–1799 EARLY EUROPEAN EXPLORATION AND SETTLEMENT 1702 English colonists and their Creek Native American allies attack and plunder Spanish-held St. Augustine. 1704 English forces begin burning Spanish missions in north Florida and executing Native Americans friendly with the Spanish. They attack the Apalachee Native Americans in Florida, driving them into slavery and exile. About 800 Apalachee flee west to French-held Mobile. 1719 The French capture the Spanish settlement at Pensacola. It is restored to Spain in 1722. 1738 The country’s first legally sanctioned free community of ex-slaves is established in St. Augustine, called Fort Mose. Populated by those who escaped from slavery in the British colonies, it serves as the northern defense of the city. 1739 England declares war on Spain over border disputes in Florida. The war is known as the War of Jenkins’ Ear is named for British seaman Robert Jenkins, who exhibited his severed ear in Parliament after Spanish coast guards boarded his ship and cut it off in 1731. The English are victorious, capturing St. Augustine from the Spanish. 1763 Spain cedes Florida to Britain in exchange for Havana, Cuba, which the British captured from Spain during the Seven Years War. Spain evacuates Florida, leaving the region nearly empty. Britain begins recruiting settlers to the area by offering free land and backing for export businesses. Old Kings Road becomes the first graded road in Florida. 1783 During the Revolutionary War, Spanish troops enter Florida and repossess most of its western region from the British. Settlers attempt revolution several times against Spain. 1800–1849 FLORIDA TERRITORY 1810 The U.S. annexes West Florida from Spain after settlers there rebel against Spanish authority. The following year, in a secret session, Congress plans to annex Spanish East Florida. 1812 During the War of 1812, Spain allows Great Britain to use Pensacola as a naval base. 1814 Led by Andrew Jackson, American troops attack and capture Pensacola, defeating the Spanish and driving out the British. 1816 U.S. troops destroy the Seminole Native Americans’ Fort Apalachicola to punish them for harboring runaway slaves. The following year the First Seminole War begins, pitting Seminoles against the federal government. 1819 (February 22) Spain signs the Adams-Onis Treaty with the United States, ceding Florida to the U.S. after the U.S. renounces its claims to Texas. 1822 Congress combines East and West Florida, thus organizing the Florida Territory. Settlers enter by the thousands. The U.S. government offers land in Oklahoma to the Seminole Native Americans who live in the region, but many refuse to leave. 1835–42 The Second Seminole War. U.S. troops led by General Thomas Jesup siege the Seminole chief Osceola under a flag of truce. Jesup’s trickery outrages Americans. At the end of the war most Native Americans are forced to move from Florida to Oklahoma. 1840s The first grapefruit trees arrive in Florida from Spain. Today the second largest industry in Florida is agriculture, particularly citrus fruit growing. Florida produces 54 percent of all the grapefruit grown in the nation. 1845 (March 3) After being delayed by Congress’ reluctance to admit another slave state, Florida becomes the 27th state to be admitted to the Union. 1850–1899 STATE OF FLORIDA 1855–58 The Third Seminole War occurs as white settlers again encroach on lands used by the Seminole. By war’s end, an estimated 100 Seminole are left in Florida, most of whom surrender and are sent west. 1861 (January 10) Florida becomes the third state to secede from the Union. During the Civil War, Florida provides 15,000 troops and supplies to the Confederacy, but more than 2,000 Floridians join the Union army. 1864 Although most of Florida’s coast is captured by Union troops, Confederate troops win the Battle of Olustee, protecting Tallahassee and Florida’s interior region. 1865 The last Confederate victory of the Civil War occurs at the Battle of Natural Bridge near Tallahassee. A small band of Confederate troops, mostly teenagers from the nearby Florida Military and Collegiate Institute, prevent Union forces from crossing the Natural Bridge. This action stops the Union from capturing the Florida capital, making Tallahassee the only Confederate capital east of the Mississippi River not captured by Union forces during the war. Florida is readmitted to the Union. African Americans are given the right to vote and are guaranteed other civil rights by the adoption of a new state constitution. 1896 The city of Miami is incorporated. It’s the only major U.S. city founded by a woman, local citrus grower Julia Tuttle. In 1896 its population is just over 300. 1898 The port city of Tampa serves as the primary staging area for U.S. troops bound for the Spanish-American War in Cuba. Many Floridians support the Cuban people’s desire to be free of Spanish colonial rule. 1900–1949 EARLY 20TH CENTURY 1900 Florida’s wineries are wiped out by Pierce’s Disease, a bacterial infection deadly to grapevines. Growers switch to orange trees as a result. In 2006 Florida will produce 74 percent of U.S. oranges. 1903 President Theodore Roosevelt sets aside five acres of Pelican Island to protect pelicans and other birds from hunters. This begins the wildlife refuge system in the U.S. 1909 St. Cloud is founded as a colony for Union veterans. In response to advertisements in the National Tribune, more than 1,000 former soldiers buy land in the area sight unseen. 1912 Railroads expand to Key West, opening new land for development. The growing tourism industry attracts visitors from around the world. Citrus groves expand throughout northern and south-central parts of the state. 1914 The St. Petersburg–Tampa Airboat Line offers the world’s first regularly scheduled airline service. 1923 A Ku Klux Klan surprise attack on an African-American residential area of Rosewood kills eight people and the north Florida community is burned to the ground. 1924 Florida abolishes income and inheritance taxes to attract investors. 1933 President-elect Franklin Roosevelt escapes an assassination attempt in Miami. An unemployed bricklayer from Italy, Giuseppa Zangara, fires five pistol shots at the back of Roosevelt’s head from 25 feet away. All five rounds miss their target, but one kills Mayor Anton Cermak of Chicago. 1939–45 World War II. Military bases are established along the coast of Florida, and Miami plays an important role in the battle against German submarines. 1939 The "Voyage of the Damned." The MS St. Louis is turned away from the Florida coast, carrying 907 Jewish refugees from Germany. Also denied permission to dock in Cuba and Canada, the ship eventually returns to Europe, and approximately 260 of the refugees later die in Nazi concentration camps. 1944 Miami Beach pharmacist Benjamin Green invents the first suntan lotion by cooking cocoa butter in a granite coffee pot on the stove. 1945 After World War II tourism continues to be the state’s leading industry, but new industries prosper, including chemical, computer, electronics, and oceanography sectors. 1950–PRESENT MODERN FLORIDA 1956 African Americans defy a city law in Tallahassee and occupy front bus seats. Within a few days, segregation on buses is outlawed in the city. 1958 The first U.S. Earth satellite, Explorer I, is launched from the U.S. Air Force Missile Test Center at Cape Canaveral. 1959 Fidel Castro takes over as leader of Cuba, and the exodus of Cuban refugees to Miami begins. It soon transforms Miami into a major center of commerce, finance, and transportation for all of Latin America. Today Miami is still a center of immigration from Haiti, other Caribbean countries, and Central and South America. 1960s After Cape Canaveral is established as a launch site in the 1950s, the space program generates a huge economic boom for the area, which is now collectively known as the Space Coast. It is a major center of the aerospace industry. To date, all manned orbital spaceflights launched by the U.S. have been done so from Cape Canaveral’s Kennedy Space Center. 1964 As a tribute to assassinated president John F. Kennedy, Cape Canaveral is renamed Cape Kennedy. However, most Floridians oppose the name change ("Canaveral" had been in use for 400 years). In 1973 the state restored the previous moniker, although the space center retains the Kennedy name. Cassius Clay (later known as Muhammad Ali) becomes a world heavyweight-boxing champion by defeating Sonny Liston in Miami Beach. 1969 (May 13) Florida is the 43rd state to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment, granting women the right to vote. (October 1) Walt Disney World opens in Orlando after construction costing an estimated $500 to $600 million. 1975 Author and Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard secretly purchases a historic hotel in Clearwater and begins to establish the town as home for his Church of Scientology. 1977 A severe cold devastates citrus and vegetable plants, causing President Jimmy Carter to proclaim a state of disaster in 34 Florida counties. 1980 Race riots occur in Miami’s Liberty City neighborhood after an all-white jury in Tampa acquits four former Miami police officers of fatally beating an African-American insurance executive. Eighteen people die in the riots. 1986 America’s worst space tragedy on record occurs when the space shuttle Challenger explodes after takeoff from Cape Canaveral. All seven astronauts aboard are killed, including civilian Christa McAuliffe, the first member of the Teacher in Space program. 1992 South Florida is devastated by the costliest natural disaster in American history, Hurricane Andrew. The hurricane destroys 25,000 homes and costs billions in aid. 1998 Florida passes the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which says governments cannot impose a "substantial burden" on people’s freedom of religious expression. 1999 A fire in the Everglades consumes 170,000 acres. Sport fishermen off the Florida coast save the life of five-year-old Cuban refugee Elian Gonzalez. While the boy is in Miami, his father calls for his return to Cuba, setting off an international custody battle between relatives in both countries. In Miami, hundreds of Cuban-Americans protest the Immigration and Naturalization Service’s ultimate decision to return Elian to his father in Cuba. 2000 (November 8) Nineteen thousand presidential election votes are disqualified in West Palm Beach as election officials begin a recount in the contest battle between Democratic nominee Al Gore and Republican nominee George W. Bush. (November 12) The Palm Beach Canvassing Board decides to recount all county votes, approximately 425,000, by hand. The Florida Supreme Court extends the recount deadline from November 14 to November 26. (December 8) The Florida Supreme Court orders a manual recount of disputed ballots in all Florida counties (December 12) The U.S. Supreme Court overturns the Florida Supreme Court’s decision, ordering the recount stopped. As a result, Secretary of State Katherine Harris certifies Bush the winner. Both the ruling and the certification immediately come under fire: the former for its split down partisan lines, the latter because Harris works under Bush’s brother, Florida governor Jeb Bush. 2005 A severely brain-damaged woman named Terri Schiavo dies in Florida after the U.S. Supreme Court allows her feeding tube to be removed following an epic legal and medical battle waged in the media and in Congress. 2005 Hurricane Katrina caused an estimated $623 million worth of damage across the state of Florida.
	Click to enlarge an image 800: Calusa carving of an alligator's head 1502: Cantino Planisphere Map 1513: Juan Ponce de León 1561: Portrait of Philip II 1565: Pedro Menéndez de Avilés 1586: Sir Francis Drake 1783: Spanish grenadiers and militia pour into Fort George 1816: Trial of Robert Ambrister and Arbuthnot during the First Seminole War 1835: Osceola, Seminole leader 1864: Battle of Olustee 1896: Julia Tuttle, "Mother of Miami" 1903: Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge 1933: Mug shot of Giuseppe Zangara 1939: MS St. Louis 1958: Explorer I 1964: Kennedy Space Center with a fly-over by the USAF Thunderbirds 1964: Muhammad Ali 1986: Space Shuttle Challenger's smoke plume after in-flight breakup 1986: Challenger's crew, from left: (front row) Michael J. Smith, Dick Scobee, Ronald McNair; (back row) Ellison Onizuka, Christa McAuliffe, Gregory Jarvis, Judith Resnik 1992: Infrared image of Hurricane Andrew making landfall in Florida 2000: Protestors surrounded the site of the Palm Beach County recount