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1836 - The United States Congress was petitioned today for land grants to fund the creation of seminaries in East and West Florida. As early as 1823 the newly established Florida legislature began to plan a system of institutions of higher learning in the sparsely populated U.S. territory. The 1838 Constitution provided language guaranteeing the establishment and appropriation of land for seminaries in Florida.
1967- A three-day riot pitting collegians against police during Spring Break began in Fort Lauderdale on this date. At least 500 people were arrested as a result. The riot was sparked when a student lay in the middle of A1A and the police got involved. By the 1960s, sun, beaches, and beer made south Florida THE destination for college students on Spring Break.
1982 – The space shuttle Colombia (STS-3) lifted off from Cape Canaveral on its third flight, and only the third mission of the space shuttle program, on this date. Despite a one hour delay due to failure of a nitrogen gas ground support line heater, the mission was successfully completed and demonstrated a safe orbiter re-launch and return. The crew members onboard were pilot C. Gordon Fullerton and Commander Jack R. Lousma. Their journey lasted eight days, landing in White Sands, New Mexico on March 30 and returning to Kennedy Space Center on April 6.
1946 – Jackie Robinson, the first African American to play baseball in the Major Leagues, played his first Minor League exhibition game with the Montreal Royals against the Brooklyn Dodgers in Daytona Beach on this date. The following season, Robinson was called up to the Major Leagues and played for the Dodgers and won the MLB Rookie of the Year Award. He was the first African American to break the color barrier in Major League baseball since the 1880s. Robinson played in six World Series, including the Dodgers’ 1955 win against the New York Yankees, and was a six time All Star.
1910 - Barney Oldfield established a new land speed record of 131.7 miles-per-hour at Daytona Beach on this date. Oldfield was driving the “Blitzen Benz,” manufactured in Mannheim Germany in 1909 by the Benz & Cie which boasted an inline four cylinder engine producing 200hp. The Daytona/Ormond Beach area was ideal for these early land speed attempts and is often referred to as the “Birthplace of Speed.”
1960- The Key Largo Coral Reef was established on this date, thus establishing the underwater area as officially part of the state park system, and the first underwater park in the United States. The park encompasses approximately 70 nautical square miles of underwater reefs and mangrove areas. A few years after the underwater park was established, land was donated and developed to include a camping area and visitor’s center on land adjacent to the reefs.
1886 - Teachers from around the state met at the Florida Chatauqua in DeFuniak Springs and formed the Florida Education Association (FEA). At the time, most Florida teachers had a sixth-grade education and no formal training in teaching. Teachers' monthly wages ranged from $20 in Gadsden County to a high of $77.50 in Polk County. This teachers' union remains the state's predominant voice for educators and is affiliated with the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers.
1869 – Dr. Samuel Mudd left Fort Jefferson aboard the US schooner Matchless bound for Key West on this date. Mudd had been convicted of aiding and conspiring with John Wilkes Booth in the 1865 assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. Mudd was sentenced to life imprisonment and was sent to Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas, about 70 miles west of Key West. It was at this desolate post that Mudd would reside until being pardoned by President Johnson on February 8th, 1869. Mudd was officially released from confinement on March 8th.
1845 – Levy County was created on this date. Located on Florida’s Gulf coast, Levy County was named after prominent planter, businessman and politician David Levy Yulee, who served as one of Florida’s first two U.S. Senators. The county seat is Bronson. The city of Cedar Key on the coast became an important port in Florida during the 19th century, exporting large amounts of lumber, naval stores and cotton from the interior. The westernmost terminus of the Florida Railroad in Cedar Key connected Levy County with Fernandina on the east coast.
1909 – The keel of the USS Florida(BB-30) was laid during a ceremony at the Brooklyn Navy Yard on this date. The Florida was a Florida class dreadnought battleship which was commissioned in May of 1910. It had a displacement of 21,825 tons, was 521 ft. long and traveled at a maximum speed of 21 knots per hour. She was one of the first ships during the American occupation of Veracruz Mexico, and also served with the 6th Battle Squadron of the Grand Fleet, which patrolled the North Sea during WWI.