Early history
15,000–7,500 BC Ice Age glaciers drive Paleo-Indian hunters southwards to the Florida peninsula.
7,500–5,000 BC North America’s first human burials, evidence of which is later found near Cape Canaveral.
Colonial times
1498 John and Sebastian Cabot make first European sighting of Florida.
1513 Juan Ponce de León lands at Cape Canaveral, claiming the territory for Spain.
1562 French settlers build a fort on the St Johns River but are driven out by the Spanish, who found St Augustine.
mid-1700s Creek Indians – dubbed Seminoles – and runaway African slaves are driven south by American settlers into Florida.
1764–83 Britain rules Florida for 19 years before it is returned to Spain.
1818 First Seminole War; US General Andrew Jackson campaigns against the Indians in order to take control of Florida.
1819 Spain cedes Florida to the US.
1821–42 Second Seminole War; Seminole leader Osceola is imprisoned and dies a martyr in 1838. Seminoles are driven into the Everglades or relocated to reservations in Arkansas.
A 1650s Native American village
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Development of Orlando
1843 Aaron and Isaac Jernigan found Jernigan settlement.
1845 Florida becomes a state with 57,921 residents. Mosquito County changes its name to Orange County in an effort to lure settlers.
1857 Jernigan is renamed Orlando.
1870 ‘Orange fever’ takes over and settlers begin planting citrus groves.
1875 Orlando is incorporated, becoming the seat of Orange County.
1880 Henry Plant’s South Florida Railroad is extended to central Florida, allowing expansion of Orlando’s agricultural markets.
1884 Fire destroys most of Orlando’s downtown business district.
1887 The first African-American township in the US, Eatonville, is built north of Orlando.
1894–99 Severe frosts kill 95 percent of Orange County’s citrus groves.
1898–9 Florida’s links with Cuba leads to US troops fighting in Spanish-American War; Cuba wins independence from Spain.
20th century
1903 First automobile is sold in Orlando; speed limit is 5mph (8kph).
1910–25 Land boom hits Florida. ‘Tin can tourists’ motor to Florida for winter.
1929 Mediterranean fruit flies devastate the citrus industry.
1936 Cypress Gardens opens south of Orlando.
1949 Gatorland opens.
1950s Post-war automobile tourism skyrockets.
1957 The Glenn L. Martin Company of Baltimore (now Lockheed Martin) relocates to Orlando, starting a population boom.
1959 Busch Gardens opens in Tampa Bay.
1964–5 Walt Disney secretly buys 47 sq miles (122 sq km) of rural land and announces plans to build Walt Disney World in Orlando.
1971 The Magic Kingdom opens.
1973 SeaWorld Orlando opens.
1982 Epcot opens.
1989 Disney’s Hollywood Studios opens (then Disney-MGM Studios).
1990 Universal Studios opens in Florida.
1998 Disney’s Animal Kingdom opens.
1999 Islands of Adventure opens.
Walt Disney’s plans for ‘The Florida Project’, which would become Walt Disney World
Walt Disney World Resort
21st century
2000 Discovery Cove opens.
2010 The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Hogsmeade opens at Islands of Adventure.
2011 LEGOLAND Florida opens on former Cypress Gardens land.
2014 The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley opens at Universal Orlando.
2016 50 people killed in shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub.
2017 Orlando City Soccer Club opens a new stadium. Volcano Bay water park opens at Universal Orlando; Pandora: The World of Avatar opens at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.