This Weekend In History ...

"He who forgets history is doomed to repeat it"

George Santayana

• 1539 Hernando DeSoto, Spanish governor of Cuba, landed at Tampa Bay with men, animals, and equipment as he prepared to scour the southeast in search of gold and valuables.
• 1586 Sir Francis Drake, the famous English “Sea Dog” burned and sacked the town of St. Augustine today.
• 1849 Lincoln says "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and of people some of time, but you can't fool all of the people all of time".
• 1892 The Florida East Coast Railroad Company was incorporated today.
• 1889 Johnstown Flood; 2,209 die in Pennsylvania
• 1901 Memorial Day 1st observed in U.S.
• 1917 The Florida State Museum (now the Florida Museum of Natural History) was established at the University of Florida in Gainesville.
• 1922 U.S. Supreme Court rules organized baseball is a sport and not a business and thus not subject to antitrust laws.
• 1925 Martin County, Florida’s 64th county, was created today by the Florida Legislature.
• 1925 Indian River County, Florida’s 65th county, was created today by the Florida Legislature.
• 1955 Supreme Court orders school integration "with all deliberate speed".
• 1956 Eisenhower signs farm bill allows government to store agricultural surplus.
• 1961 Amnesty International founded (Nobel Peace Prize 1977).
• 1989 - Unseasonably hot weather continued in Florida. Five cities reported record high temperatures for the date. The record high of 98 degrees at Lakeland, FL, was their fifth in a row. Thunderstorms produced severe weather in Florida late in the day, with golf ball size hail reported at Kissimmee.
• 1991 Supreme Court rules prosecutors can be sued for legal advice they give police and can be held accountable
• 1995 Southwestern Florida outside of Tampa begins using new area code 941.