Today In Florida ...

"The first rule of hurricane coverage is that every broadcast must begin with palm trees bending in the wind. "

Carl Hiaasen

• 1865: The first African-American missionary, Reverend William G. Steward, arrived in Jacksonville today from Charleston to begin organizing churches for the newly liberated freedmen in the state.
• 1891: The City of Clermont was incorporated today. The city was later re-incorporated in 1917.
• 1966: Hurricane Alma struck northwest Florida today, 20 miles east-northeast of Apalachicola. Alma caused $10 million and six deaths.