1948 – President Harry S. Truman attended the dedication ceremony of the Charles O. Andrews causeway crowing Lake Estelle in Orlando. Andrews represented Florida in the U.S. Senate from 1936 until his death in 1946. Andrews was born in Ponce de Leon on March 7^th 1877 and graduated from the University of Florida in 1907 and studied law. Andrews had also served in the Florida Militia during the Spanish American War.

1982 – The Salvador Dalí Museum first opened its doors in St. Petersburg on this date. The museum features the largest collection of Spanish surrealist Salvador Dalí’s artwork in North America. The pieces were collected by A. Reynolds Morse and Eleanor R. Morse who began a long term relationship with the artist in 1942. The Morses originally opened a museum in their hometown of Beachwood Ohio, but later decided to purchase a marine warehouse in St. Petersburg to house their entire collection of Dalí artwork, which is approximately 1500 pieces.

1865 – The Battle of Natural Bridge between Union and Confederate troops took place just south of Tallahassee on this date. Brig. Gen. John Newton led a group of soldiers from the 2^nd and 99^th U.S. Colored Infantry and the 2^nd Florida Calvary (Union) against a group of Confederate troops comprised of Florida Military and Collegiate Institute students (Now Florida State University) and soldiers on leave or recovering from injuries as well as other capable men.

1889 – The Pensacola Daily News, the precursor to the Pensacola News Journal printed its first issue on this date. The initial circulation was 2,500 copies. By 1897 a competitor, the Pensacola Journal began publication and by 1924 the two companies were combined with one appearing in the morning and the other in the evening. It was not until 1985 that the two officially combined into one paper. The first paper printed in Pensacola after the U.S. acquired Florida was the Floridian, which appeared in August of 1821.  

1824 – Tallahassee officially became the capital of the territory of Florida on this date. Prior to this date, Florida was broken up into two colonies by the British in 1763, East and West Florida. Each colony had its own capital, Pensacola in West Florida and St. Augustine in East Florida. The Spanish continued this administrative separation during the Second Spanish Period (1783-1821). After the United States acquired Florida as part of the Adams-Ońis Treaty of 1819, the territorial government chose a site that was halfway between the two previous colonial cities.

1861- Construction of the first cross-peninsula railroad from Fernandina to Cedar Key was completed on this date. David Levy Yulee, United States Senator from Florida, was the driving force behind this railroad. Although used very little because of the outbreak of the War between the States in April, the railroad made Cedar Key a major urban site in the immediate postwar years.

1821 – Ossian B. Hart, Florida’s first governor native to the state was born in Jacksonville on this date. His father Isaiah Hart was one of the founders of the city of Jacksonville and they lived on a plantation on the banks of St. Johns River. He served in the Florida House of Representatives and held a seat on the Florida Supreme Court before being elected the state’s 10^th governor on January 7^th, 1873. Shortly after being elected however, Hart fell ill and died in Jacksonville on March 18^th, 1874.

1792 – William Augustus Bowles and a small army comprised of runaway slaves, Seminole Indians and ex-patriot English and Spanish citizens attacked and seized the St. Marks store on the Wakulla River, owned by the Indian trading firm Panton, Leslie and Company on this date. Bowles was born in Maryland before the American Revolution and joined the British Army at a young age. While stationed in Pensacola in the 1780s he left the British Army and headed into the interior with the Creek and Seminole Indians, eventually traveling to the Bahamas.

1948 – Ronald Wayne “Ronnie” Van Zant, lead singer of the famous rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd was born in Jacksonville on this date. Raised in Jacksonville, Ronnie Van Zant formed the band that would later become famous as Lynyrd Skynyrd with fellow classmates from Robert E. Lee High School in 1964. The band released such hits as “Sweet Home Alabama,” “Free Bird,” “Tuesday’s Gone,” and “Whats Your Name” in the 1970s.

1973 – The Miami Dolphins beat the Washington Redskins 14-7 to win Super Bowl VII at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in California. The Dolphins were the first and only team in NFL history to complete a perfect undefeated season. The Dolphins dominated play for most of the game and would have shut out the Redskins had it not been for a famous blocked field goal attempt in the final few minutes of the game which resulted in the only Redskins touchdown. This was the first Super Bowl win for coach Don Shula who coached the Dolphins to another Super Bowl win the following season.