In the very corner of the US is the 27th state to enter the Union, Florida, on March 3, 1845. Florida was founded in 1565 by Spanish settlers and the Spanish held this territory until it became a permanent US settlement in 1821. Northern state residents began to visit Florida and found Florida to be a lovely place for tourism as the weather was very favorable with its mild climate, earning its nickname The Sunshine State.
Their state flag was adopted in 1900 when Florida voters ratified a constitutional amendment based on an 1899 joint resolution of the state legislature. It was held to add diagonal red bars to their state flag in the style of the St. Andrew’s Cross (This flag is similar to Alabama’s state flag). Before then, it was only the state seal on a white backdrop. The state seal has a Native American Seminole Woman scattering flowers on a beach along with a steamboat, a sabal tree, and the sun. Surrounding the seal in a gold circle are the words, “State of Florida”, and “In God We Trust”, which is the state’s motto. The seal was revised in 1985 which originally depicted a Western Plains Indian woman, the steamboat was touched up a little bit, and the sabal palm tree was originally a cocoa palm tree.
Florida is home to many agencies like the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, also known as NASA. They are known for doing research on space and aeronautics and hold space missions. Although they are based out of Washington DC, the space shuttles for specific missions are launched out of Cape Canaveral, Florida, and the Kennedy Space Center.
As Florida is a popular tourist spot, it houses popular attractions and resorts like Walt Disney World, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, the Epcot Center and Universal Studios, all located in Orlando (there are similar theme parks in California, but they are called Disneyland and the Universal Studios in California is located in Universal City, CA). The city of Orlando attracts more tourists than any other theme park city in the US.
Food Fact: Florida is the largest Citrus producer in the US!
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