Florida History Trivia

1. Which Spanish explorer made the first recorded contact with Native tribes when he landed in Miami in 1566?

From Quiz History of Miami

Answer: Pedro Menendez de Aviles

Pedro Menendez de Aviles landed in what is now Miami in 1566 while searching for his lost son who was shipwrecked in the area years prior. There, he met the the Tequesta tribe with whom he was friendly with. However, Menendez and his crew exposed the Tequesta people to smallpox which killed many of them and made them easy fodder to their rival tribes. Prior to Menendez' arrival, Juan Ponce de Leon sailed by the area in 1513. Although it is not believed that de Leon landed in Miami, he named the area Chequescha.

From Quiz Florida History

Answer: Hillsborough River

The Hillsborough River flows 54 miles from the Green Swamp through downtown Tampa. Native Americans first settled on the banks of the Hillsborough River about 15,000 years ago.

From Quiz Florida Facts and History

Answer: Spain

Juan Ponce de Leon was a Spanish explorer and adventurer. Other Europeans may have discovered Florida earlier but there is no historical record of it.

From Quiz Florida History

Answer: Coquina

Coquina is slabs of shellrock that was quarried on Anastasia Island. It has remaind intact since it was built in 1672 and remains the oldest masonry fort in the United States.

From Quiz The Florida Keys

Answer: Cudjoe Key

Cudjoe is also known as Cutthroat Key.

From Quiz Florida Facts and History

Answer: "feast of the flowers"

Juan Ponce de Leon was the Spanish explorer that discovered Florida in 1513. The actual name he gave Florida was "la Florida".

From Quiz Florida

Answer: The Fountain of Youth

The popular story that he was seeking the Fountain of Youth was only attached to his life story years after his death and has parallels in a range of cultures.

From Quiz Florida History

Answer: John Milton

Just prior to the end of the Civil War, Governor Milton gave his final address to Florida and said "Death would be perferable to reunion." He went to his home in Marianna and shot himself on April 1, 1865.

From Quiz Florida

Answer: St Augustine

St Augustine is the oldest European-founded city in America and still has the original Spanish fort. (Some cities founded by Native Americans in the South West are older).

From Quiz History of Miami

Answer: A frost killed the citrus crop in north Florida

Julia Tuttle wrote to Flagler in 1891 asking him to build a railway down the Florida coast. Flagler declined, even when offered land by Tuttle and the Brickell Family, because he did not believe such a project would be profitable. However in 1894 and 1895, a deep frost killed off much of Florida's citrus crops in the north. Tuttle wrote again to Flagler to inform him that south Florida saw no frost during that time. Flagler sent a surveyor and he agreed to build the railway so as long as Tuttle's offer of land stood, which it did.

From Quiz The Florida Keys

Answer: It is where the stockyard serving Key West was located.

Moo! Before refrigeration it was necessary to maintain a stockyard in close proximity to the town in order to have fresh meat. US Navy facilities are located on Key West itself with the air station on nearby Boca Chica however, the Key West Jail is on Stock Island.

From Quiz Florida Facts and History

Answer: James K. Polk

Florida became a state on March 3, 1845 only a few months into Polk's Presidency. Andrew Jackson also had some influence on Florida, having been being named the military Governor of Florida in 1821.

From Quiz History of Miami

Answer: Prinz Valdemar

At the beginning of the 20th century, Miami saw a huge influx of people with the population sometimes doubling from year to year. All of this came to a head in the mid 1920s when the supplies for new buildings and infrastructure could not keep up with the massive demand. Home prices skyrocketed and projects were delayed well beyond the deadlines. Prospective homebuyers withdrew, causing several companies to go bankrupt. Building material trickled in very slowly. When the Prinz Valdemar, a Danish ship that was meant to be a floating hotel, sunk in Miami Harbor, it blocked the port for a month which further exacerbated the problems. The booming Miami housing industry burst as a result. A hurricane in 1926 and later the Great Depression halted Miami's growth.

From Quiz Florida History

Answer: 1513

He landed in what is now St. Augustine on April 2, 1513. De Leon is closely associated with the legend of the Fountain of Youth, which is located nearby his original landing site in St. Augustine.

From Quiz Florida Facts and History

Answer: John Branch

John Branch was Governor of the Florida Territory when it became a state. William Duval was the first non-military Governor while the state was still a territory. William D. Moseley was the first elected Governor of Florida.

From Quiz Florida

Answer: Manatee

The Manatee is one of the most remarkable mammals found in Florida. These animals are vegetarians and do not harm any other animals in the world. Their only enemy is man and the boats that man uses are what kills the majority of these very friendly animals.

From Quiz History of Miami

Answer: Bayfront Park

On February 15, 1933, President Roosevelt was visiting Miami's Bayfront Park and began to address the crowd when a disgruntled and anarchist bricklayer named Giuseppe Zangara attempted to shoot Roosevelt. A nearby woman hit Zangara with her purse which caused him to accidentally shoot Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak. Cermak died two weeks later. Rumors persisted at the time that Cermak was always the target of the assassination but this has been disproven.

From Quiz Florida History

Answer: Mississippi

Mississippi seceded on January 9,1861. The very next day Florida officially seceded.

From Quiz The Florida Keys

Answer: Key Largo

It is located offshore in the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, which was named in honor of the "Miami Herald" editor who led the fight to make the Everglades a National Park.

From Quiz Florida Facts and History

Answer: FSU, UF, Stetson University, Rollins College

Florida State University was established in 1851, the University of Florida in 1853, Stetson University in 1883, then Rollins College in 1885. They were the earliest founded Universities in Florida.

From Quiz Florida

Answer: Osceola

Osceola was the Chief of the Seminole indians when the US tried to get them to sign a treaty. Legend has it that when he was told of an attack on his people and was lied to by the US he refused to sign and actually stabbed his knife through the treaty when asked to sign. The US officials did not think he could understand English, but he could, so he knew they were lying to him. They then put him in prison.

From Quiz History of Miami

Answer: LGBT nightclub

La Paloma was a nightclub that operated in Miami. It was known primarily for its LGBT content, including drag performances, but also catered to heterosexual men. The owner of La Paloma had been arrested several times but the charges never stuck and the club remained open. After complaints from those in the neighborhood, the KKK raided the club on November 15, 1937 and destroyed it. In the aftermath, the Sheriff blamed the club owner, Al Youst, for the raid and shut La Paloma down. However, it reopened quickly and KKK drag performances became part of the show. La Paloma is considered one of the earliest places of historical significance in Miami's vibrant LGBT history.

From Quiz Florida History

Answer: Fort Brooke

Fort Brooke was established to contain the Seminoles on the West Coast of Florida. The Tampa Convention Center currently stands on the original site of the fort.

From Quiz The Florida Keys

Answer: Wreckers

The Wreckers were accused of deliberating making ships wreck on the reefs so they could get rich on the salvage. The John Wayne movie "Wake of the Red Witch" is based on life in Key West at the time when their operations peaked and Key West was the richest city in the US per capita as a result.

From Quiz Florida Facts and History

Answer: Seminole Wars

The Apalachee and Seminole Indian tribes were both located in Florida. There are still Seminoles in Florida but most of them were forced west by 1859.

From Quiz Florida

Answer: Davy Crockett

He had fought alongside Jackson in Florida before fighting at the Alamo.

From Quiz History of Miami

Answer: Military presence

During World War II, Miami was the site of a number of German U-Boat attacks off of its coast. A number of ships were sunk and the U.S. Military, specifically the Navy, decided to fortify and build up Miami to prevent further attacks. This brought in sailors from around the country to Miami. After the war, the military buildings were easily converted into hotels, bars, movie theaters and golf courses and the sailors who moved to the area during the war remained.

From Quiz Florida History

Answer: Fort Caroline

Fort Caroline was established in what is now present day Jacksonville. It is now a national monument.

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