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Florida Timeline
1500-Native Americans occupied Florida, including the Calusa in South Florida, the Apalachee in the Big Bend Area, and the Timucua in Northeast and Central Florida.
1513-An expedition, led by Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon, landed near present-day St. Augustine. The famous explorer named the peninsula "Florida." Ponce de Leon and his men were the first known Europeans to visit the Florida peninsula. 
1539-1542-Another famous explorer, Hernando de Soto, along with 800 men, landed in Florida. After spending the winter in present-day Tallahassee, de Soto and his men continued traveling throughout the Southeast.
1562-The French first explored Florida. Under Jean Ribault, a fleet of 150 colonists crossed the Atlantic Ocean and explored the mouth of the St. Johns River in what is now modern-day Jacksonville.
1565-The first permanent European settlement in North America, St. Augustine, was founded by Spain.
1763-As a result of the French and Indian War, Florida was transferred from Spain to England and divided into east and west territories. St. Augustine remained the east capital and Pensacola became the west capital.
1783-The American Revolution ended with the Treaty of Paris. Spain was to reoccupy Florida in exchange for assisting the colonies. As a result, most of the English settlers moved to England and the Bahamas.
1821-Andrew Jackson became Florida's first Governor when it became a U.S. territory.- 1822-Florida's first Legislative Council met in Pensacola. Travel was difficult and dangerous, which resulted in the meeting taking place more than a month later than the planned date of June 10, 1822.
1824-A new capital of Florida was established in Tallahassee by William P. DuVal, who was the territorial Governor at that time. - 1838-A constitution was drafted in anticipation of statehood by representatives of Florida's 20 counties. The representatives gathered at present-day Port St. Joe to accomplish this task. It took a little more than a month to draft the state constitution.
1845-On March 3, an act establishing Florida as a state in the Union was approved.- 1861-On January 10, an Ordination of Secession was adopted to withdraw Florida from the United States. Three months later, the Civil War began.
1865-At the Battle of Natural Bridge, home guards and cadets from West Florida Seminary (now Florida State University) saved Tallahassee from Union control. Later that year, the Civil War and slavery ended, and Florida fell under federal control.- 1868-According to the Constitution, the Seminole Tribe was permitted to have one member in the Senate and one member in the House of Representatives.
- 1905-Florida's higher education institutions were consolidated into the Florida State College for Women, the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical College for Negroes, and the University of Florida.
1917-1918-Because of excellent weather conditions, Florida became a site for training aviators and other World War I troops.
1937-Amelia Earhart and her navigator took off from Miami on June 1. It was the first over-water portion of a round-the-world flight. A month later, they disappeared over the Pacific Ocean.
1941-The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7. The next day, the United States entered the Second World War. Florida began to mobilize.
1959-The Daytona International Speedway, a 2.5-mile race course, opened. - 1969-Astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, and Michael Collins landed on the moon. Apollo 11 was launched from Cape Kennedy on July 16.
1971-Walt Disney World opened in Orlando.- 1978-Florida's present Capitol opened on March 31.
1981-The Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral launched the space shuttle Columbia.- 1990-Senator Gwen Margolis became the first woman elected as President of the Florida Senate.
- 1996-Toni Jennings was chosen by Governor Jeb Bush to become the first woman Lieutenant Governor of Florida.
