On this date in 1879 the first issue of the Florida Telegraph, now the Bradford County Telegraph, was published in Starke.

In 1886 the third hurricane in a month crossed Florida and caused serious damage to Cedar Keys and Jacksonville, Fla.

In 1901 Jacksonville’s Stanton School, founded in December 1868 as a pioneer high school for freedmen, was ordered rebuilt following the great Jacksonville fire. The fire, which occurred on May 3, 1901, destroyed 2,300 buildings and inflicted more than $15,000,000 in losses. More than 9,000 persons were made homeless.

In 1978 Jesse J. McCrary, Jr. was appointed Secretary of State by Governor Reubin Askew. McCrary was the second African-American to serve in this post and as a member of the Cabinet.