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]) for its lush greenery and the Easter season (Pascua Florida in Spanish). 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 Indian Wars in U.S. history. 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.
... that an executive of Florida station WFTL-TV declared that he had "faith in its future", only to sell it within months and for the station to close within three years?
... that Florida radio station WEBY received three threats to blow it up if it did not stop criticizing the sheriff of Okaloosa County?
... that a man who fatally shot a Florida woman waving a gun at him from her front yard after a road-rage incident was not charged in connection with her death?
Image 18Snow 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 21A 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)
Image 33Juan 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)
Hurston was born in Notasulga, Alabama, and moved with her family to Eatonville, Florida in 1894. She later used Eatonville as the setting for many of her stories.
In her early career, Hurston conducted anthropological and ethnographic research as a scholar at Barnard College and Columbia University. She had an interest in African-American and Caribbean folklore, and how these contributed to the community's identity. (Full article...)