Florida Trivia & Tidbits - Page 15

Looking for Florida trivia? Try our list Florida little know facts, tidbits and trivia.

Joseph Warren Stilwell, born in Palatka (pop.10,033) in 1883, was the first American general to command a Chinese army, which he did during World War II.

first appeared: 10/14/2001

Big Tree Park in Orlando is home to the 3,500-year-old, 138-foot-tall bald cypress tree called “The Senator.”

first appeared: 10/7/2001

A series of 42 bridges connect the Florida Keys—the longest stretching seven miles. Located in Marathon (pop. 10,255), the Seven Mile Bridge was featured in the 1994 movie True Lies.

first appeared: 9/30/2001

Thomas Edison built his winter home, Seminole Lodge, in Fort Myers after he learned of the area’s bounty of bamboo—which he tried to use as an electric lamp filament.

first appeared: 9/23/2001

The town of Hernando (pop. 8,253) in Citrus County marks the geographic center of the state.

first appeared: 9/16/2001

Jefferson County, established in 1827, was named after Thomas Jefferson; and its county seat, Monticello, was named for Jefferson’s Virginia home.

first appeared: 9/9/2001

People first reached Florida about 12,000 years ago, when the state was also home to saber-tooth tigers, mastodons, and camels.

first appeared: 9/2/2001

April 2 became the official State Day in 1953. The state legislature bestowed the honor because it was approximately that day in 1513 that Ponce de León first sighted Florida.

first appeared: 8/26/2001

Wakulla Springs in Wakulla County (pop. 22,863) is one of the world’s deepest natural springs. Explored to 300 feet, the spring has been of interest to scientists since 1850 when the bones of an ancient mastodon were found there.

first appeared: 8/19/2001

Said to be one of the stops on Hernando DeSoto’s 1539 expedition, Punta Gorda (pop. 14,344), founded in 1887, is the only incorporated city in Charlotte County.

first appeared: 8/12/2001

The pool at The Biltmore Hotel, built in 1926 in Coral Gables, is considered the largest hotel pool in the continental United States—holding more than 600,000 gallons of water.

first appeared: 8/5/2001

The community of Oldsmar (pop. 11,910) was founded in 1916 by automobile manufacturer R.E. Olds of Oldsmobile fame. The town was originally named R. E. Olds-On-The-Bay.

first appeared: 7/29/2001

The smallest post office in the country is an 8-by-7-foot shed serving the 200 families living in and around Ochopee. The building, once a tool shed, became the post office in 1953.

first appeared: 7/22/2001

Franklin County (pop. 10,000) in northwestern Florida produces 90 percent of Florida’s—and 10 percent of the country’s—oysters.

first appeared: 7/15/2001

Lake Okeechobee covers 730 square miles and is the third largest freshwater lake resting entirely in the United States.

first appeared: 7/8/2001

Arthur Blessitt, a preacher from North Fort Myers, has walked across 290 countries and seven continents carrying a 12-foot cross. He started his mission in 1969.

first appeared: 7/1/2001

Sleeping with the fishes takes on a whole new meaning at Jules’ Undersea Lodge. The name isn’t just a gimmick. This underwater hotel—the only one in the world—opened in the 1980s in Key Largo. The lodge, 21 feet underwater, has two bedrooms, a bathroom, a living room, and the amenities of a regular hotel.

first appeared: 6/24/2001

Terry Williams of Homestead (pop. 23,005) was the first woman in the United States to receive an athletic scholarship to a major college. In 1973, Williams got a golfing scholarship from the University of Miami.

first appeared: 6/17/2001

On Nov. 12, 1799, Andrew Ellicott observed and documented a meteor shower, which occurred off the Florida Keys. The meteors were “as numerous as the stars,” he wrote.

first appeared: 6/10/2001

The Fowey Rocks Lighthouse, located off Key Biscayne (pop. 8,854), was automated in the early 1970s. It was the last of Florida reef lighthouses to be automated.

first appeared: 6/3/2001

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