In the Sunshine State on this day in:

1672 Ground breaking ceremonies were held in St. Augustine for the construction of a coquina fortress capable of withstanding attacks from British colonists in Carolina.

1874 Green Cove Springs, first settled by loggers in the 1820s, was incorporated.

1885 Florida’s first female representative in Congress, Ruth Bryan Owen, daughter of three-time unsuccessful Democratic candidate for President, William Jennings Bryan, was born in Illinois.  Mrs. Owen served from 1929 until 1933 when she was defeated.  It was suspected by some observers that her staunch opposition to the repeal of Prohibition was the primary reason for this loss.

1900 Florida’s first law school campus, the John B. Stetson University College of Law, opened in Deland.

1972 Dr. Curtis McCray welcomed students to the first day of classes at the University of North Florida.  McCray, the first president of UNF, presided over the faculty, staff, and students of the University’s 1,000-acre campus.  Florida International University in Miami was also opened in 1972, although classes their began in late September.  Dr. Gregory Wolfe was president.