Happy birthday to Trayvon Martin. On February 26, 2012, George Zimmerman shot and killed Martin—an unarmed black child—and was eventually acquitted of murder on self-defense, with the staunch support of the NRA. Trayvon was walking […]
January 28, 1986: The Challenger Disaster
Today marks the 33rd anniversary of the Challenger Disaster. NASA shuttle orbiter mission STS-51-L marked the tenth flight of Space Shuttle Challenger (OV-99). The shuttle carried five NASA astronauts and two payload specialists, including Francis […]
Ted Bundy Put to Death, Jan 24, 1989
On this day in 1989, Ted Bundy was executed in Florida State Prison after admitting to at least 20 murders in the Pacific Northwest and Florida. Robert Keppel, a state investigator that tracked Bundy for […]
On the Cultural Track of the Skunk Ape
The Skunk Ape—or swampsquatch, abominable Florida apeman, abominable swamp slob, Florida Bigfoot, myakka skunk ape, swamp monkey, Holopaw gorilla, Squattam’s growler, stink ape, Sandman, swamp cabbage man, boggy bugger, or Bardin booger—is Florida’s own foul-smelling, […]
Happy Birthday to the Queen of the Harlem Renaissance
Zora Neale Hurston, famed Florida anthropologist and writer, was born January 7, 1891. Among her incredible body of work is a collection of African American songs, stories, histories, and traditions that she gathered from minority […]
Gallery: Calle Ocho, Little Havana, Miami
Photo-taking, empanada-eating, and cafecito-drinking credits go to Jordan Engelke.
Flight One: The First Scheduled Airline Service in the World
The railroads of Henries Plant and Flager. The Shuttles of Florida’s Space Coast. The Monorails of Disney (the most heavily used monorail system in the world, thank you very much). Florida’s contributions to innovative methods […]
The Wakulla Volcano, Part 3: A Florida Mystery “Solved”
In Part 1 of this series, we learned that traces of a volcano had been visible for at least a few decades, and perhaps much longer, and the this strange phenomenon was halted by an […]
On This Day: Dedication of Everglades National Park, 1947
On this day in 1947—one month after Marjorie Stoneman Douglas’ landmark book The Everglades: River of Grass was published—Everglades National Park was dedicated by President Harry Truman. Douglas, known as “the Grand Dame of the […]
The Wakulla Volcano, Part 2: In Search Of…
In Part 1 of this series, we learned that traces of a volcano had been visible for at least a few decades, and perhaps much longer, and the this strange phenomenon was halted by an […]
The Wakulla Volcano, Part 1: “The greatest physical phenomenon in Florida”
If you were alive sometime between the 1860s and the 1880s (or perhaps the 1500s and the 1820s) and were to stand atop any high point in the city of Tallahassee and gaze due south […]
On This Day: The Orange Blossom Special
On this day in 1925, the Orange Blossom Special set off from New York on its maiden voyage to Florida on the Seaboard Air Line Railroad. No doubt buttressed by the success of Henry Flagler, […]
Archive Dive: Who registered the first vehicle in Leon County?
The State Library and Archives of Florida has over 300,000 individual records housed in various collections, many of which have been digitized and are publicly accessible via floridamemory.com. These resources can be invaluable to research, […]
The Brutality of Florida’s Turpentine Industry
The turpentine, or naval stores, industry produced a pitch or resin that was most commonly used to caulk holes in wooden boats, and coat ropes and rigging for preservation and protection from salt water. Workers […]
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