2007 - In Central Florida, twenty-one people were killed and 76 others were injured in a tornado outbreak. Due to unstable weather conditions, a long-tracked supercell formed and produced four confirmed tornadoes in just over one hour and seventeen minutes. The supercell resulted in a 70-mile trail of damage. The first tornado damaged 1,145 homes and destroyed 200 others in Sumter County before hitting the Lady Lake area where it killed 8 people, damaged 180 homes and destroyed 101 homes in Lake County.

1929 - The Bok Tower Gardens and Bird Sanctuary in Lake Wales was dedicated by President and Mrs. Calvin Coolidge on this date. The brainchild of Dutch immigrant Edward W. Bok and his wife Mary Louis Curtis Bok who wintered in Florida, the complex features a 250 acre garden with thousands of different trees, shrubs and flowers designed by Fredrick Las Olmstead Jr. The centerpiece of the gardens, however, is the 205ft-tall stone Gothic Revival and Art Deco tower which houses a 60-bell carillon.

1961 - Ham, America's first Astrochimp, was launched into space in an 18 minute flight aboard a Mercury capsule that reached an altitude of 150 miles from Cape Canaveral on this date. Ham?s flight in the Mercury capsule was a preliminary test before the launching of a human into orbit later that year. After his first and only flight, Ham spent the next 17 years at the National Zoo in Washington D.C. and later the North Carolina Zoo.

1964 - The imposing Ringling Ritz-Carlton Hotel on Longboat was finally demolished on this date. John Ringling first moved to Sarasota on Florida's southwest coast in 1912 andin earnest developing the sleepy Florida town. One such project was a large luxury hotel which Ringling planned to be a part of the Ritz-Carlton franchise. Not long after construction began in 1926, the project ran into financial trouble and with the onset of the Great Depression the hotel was abandoned unfinished.

1903 – Louis S. Ross performed a record mile at 38.05 seconds in his Stanley Steamer powered “Wogglebug” race car at the Ormond-Daytona Beach on this date. Although Ross gained national attention for his racing achievements in his steam-powered automobiles, he was unable to mass produce and sell a steam powered car for the average consumer.

1885 – The City of Ocala was incorporated on this date. Located in Marion County in north central Florida, present-day Ocala was first inhabited by the Ocale Indians as early as the 16^th century when Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto recorded the settlement in 1539. In the 19^th century the U.S. government erected Fort King as an important base during the Second Seminole War in present-day Ocala. An agricultural community formed around the former site of Fort King, and in 1869, the town of Ocala was established.

1967 - Astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee were killed in a fire during a test firing of the first version of the Apollo spacecraft.  NASA officials said an electrical spark must have ignited the pure oxygen inside the cabin of the Apollo spacecraft as the three astronauts were seated in the cabin.  The fire broke out at 6:31 p.m.

1864 – John Robert Edward Lee Sr., was born into slavery in Seguin Texas on this date. J.R.E. Lee served as the third president of Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University from 1924 to 1944. Prior to his time at Florida A&M, Lee graduated from Bishop College in 1889, taught at the Tuskegee University under Booker T. Washington and also taught at Benedict College in South Carolina.

1834 – Hillsborough County, Florida’s 18^th county, was created on this date by carving out part of Alachua and Monroe Counties. Situated on Florida’s central west coast, it was named after Wills Hill, also known as the Earl of Hillsborough, who served as the British Secretary of State for the American Colonies from 1768-1772, which included the Florida colonies.

1949 – Dozens of foreign and domestic diplomats and dignitaries met in St. Augustine for the dedication of a bronze statue to Eloy Alfaro near the Oldest Wooden Schoolhouse Museum on this date. Alfaro served as President of Ecuador from 1895-1901 and from 1906-1911. He was known as a champion of free public schools for all Ecuadorians and was honored with the bronze statue by the Oldest Wooden House Museum because of this commitment to education. In attendance at the dedication ceremony was Eloy’s son and Ecuadorian Ambassador to the U.S.