In the Sunshine State on this day in 1565 From the account of Pedro Menendez’s expedition to Florida in 1565 by Francisco Lopez de Mendoza Grajales, the chaplain to the expedition.

[We will continue with portions of this account in the coming days and will simply cite it as Laudonniere and Fort Caroline.

“At dawn on Thursday, the 6th, we began to make our course to the ship at anchor. We saw a vessel beginning to appear on the high seas, and thinking it to be ours, we gave land to the French Almiranta. That which came to reconnoiter us we found to be the French Capitana that our Capitana had chased. Seeing ourselves close to the two, we decided to stay behind the Capitana. Because they would not come up to us and they not have the desire that we await them, we went on the lookout for the port and river where Our Lord and His Blessed Mother were pleased that we found our Capitana with another vessel, since among them they had agreed to do the same as we had. The two captains went on land, one the Lord Captain Andres Lopez Patino and another the Lord Captain Juan de San Vicente, a great gentleman, and they were very well received by the Indians in a large house of the Chief, close to the river bank. Immediately, Captain Patino and Captain San Vicente with industry and diligence ordered a ditch and a foss to be made surrounding this house, with much terreplien of earth and fascines, which is the fortification of this land, there not being a stone for a landmark in all of it. We have disembarked 20 guns of bronze, of which the least is 25 quintals.”

“Our fort is about 15 leagues from that of the enemy. So great were the efforts which those two captains made with their industry, and the fingernails of their soldiers, that without have tools, they made a fort to defend themselves in such a manner that when the General [Menendez] disembarked he was astonished at what they had done.”

In 1854 The Alachua County commissioners today ordered a survey for a new county seat to be called Gainesville.

In 1920 The first bridge across the Indian River in St. Lucie County, first proposed in 1916, was finally completed. On the day of dedication, over 2000 people, bands and a parade of over 300 cars lined up to cross the toll bridge (free on opening day). After the key to the swing draw was handed to the mayor, the traditional bottle of spirits was broken over the steel draw. The ceremony concluded with the playing of Suwanee River and a picnic on the beach (which ended in thunderstorms). The tolls were five cents for children eight years or older; ten cents for horse, mule, ox, donkey, cow or pony; each motorcycle, five cents; automobiles, twenty cents; and on and on.

In 1928 The Great Lake Okeechobee Hurricane struck Florida as a Category 4 storm, with winds pushing lake waters to a storm surge of more than 15 feet. The area surrounding the lake’s south end, occupied primarily by migrant agricultural workers, flooded. The Red Cross’s death toll count reached 1,836, but additional bodies and skeletons were discovered after the end of the Red Cross count. In response to this disaster, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built dikes around the lake to prevent a recurrence. Florida author Zora Neale Hurston recorded the impact on this hurricane on migrants in her novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God .

In 1949 Washington Junior College, the first state-supported junior college for African-Americans, was established on this date in Pensacola.

In 1950 Rain continued today along the Gulf Coast as Hurricane Easy slowly moved along. In Yankeetown, residents face rising flood waters from the 38.7 inches of rain that would eventually fall.

In 1954 Governor Charley Johns presided over the opening of the two-laned Sunshine Skyway toll bridge over Tampa Bay. This bridge was Florida’s highest when it was opened. On May 9, 1980, a phosphate carrier toppled the main span of this bridge, causing 35 people to plunge to their deaths. A new bridge was constructed (182-1986) to replace it. The vertical clearance of the newest bridge is 175 feet and spans more than 1200 feet of water.

In 1960 Miami-Dade Community College was founded on this date.

In 1963 On this date, President John F. Kennedy signed the NASA Appropriations Bill ($5,350,820,400) for the fiscal year. Brevard County and the Space Coast residents greeted this news with cheers because the economy of the county was based to a large extent on the Space Center operations.