Florida Frontiers

1885 – The City of Lakeland was incorporated on this date. Situated in Polk County along the Interstate-4 corridor between Tampa and Orlando, it is the largest city in the county. The area was first settled in the 1870s when rail lines began reaching south into the interior portion of the peninsula, but it was not until 1882 when a resident of Kentucky by the name of Abraham Munn purchased land in what is now downtown, and plotted out a city that Lakeland got its start. Citrus, cattle and phosphate mining became major industries in the Lakeland area, and in many ways still are.

1892 – Sculptor Augusta Christine Savage (née Fells) was born in Green Gove Springs on this date. Savage was considered a preeminent contributor to the Harlem Renaissance movement of the early 20^th century. Her work was featured in many prominent shows including the 1939 New York World's Fair and a permanent display at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Savage was a proponent of equal rights for African Americans throughout her life and also constantly worked to help teach future generations art and sculpture.

1976 – President Gerald Ford made a campaign stop in Miami on this date. Ford would go on to win the Republican primary against then Governor of California and future President Ronald Reagan, but lost the general election to Jimmy Carter. Ford had been President since August of 1974 when then President Richard Nixon resigned from office.  

1964 – President Lyndon B. Johnson spoke at the opening ceremonies of the Cross Florida Barge Canal on this date. President Johnson even detonated the first charge to break ground for the new project. In his speech Johnson said, “The challenge of a modern society is to make the resources of nature useful and beneficial to the community, so this is the passkey to economic growth.”  For centuries people theorized about building some kind of cross-state canal, but it was not until 1933 when the federal government authorized some funding.

1980 – The Crystal River 3 Nuclear Power Plant was shut down after a spill of radioactive water on this date. The problem stemmed from a malfunction on a control panel which triggered the emergency shutdown and the dumping of 430,000 gallons of radioactive water. The problem was eerily similar to the Three Mile Island incident in Pennsylvania in 1979, but was quickly contained.