The Florida Explorer

13/04/2026

03/03/2026

The first time the State of Florida joined the federal union was a voluntary act reflecting the wishes of its people and took place on March 3, 1845, at which time Florida became the 27th state of the United States of America.

16/02/2026

Happy Washington’s Birthday!

Washington is a singularly unique figure in the history of America and the only one of the 45 duly and legally elected presidents of the United States whose character, honor, and deeds warrant a day set aside to honor him, not the office but the man who created the office.

PRESIDENTS' DAY IS OFFICIALLY WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY

Wishing all a very happy Washington's Birthday! The holiday is also incorrectly referred to as President's Day, but the official federal holiday remains Washington's Birthday.

Although Washington's birthday had been celebrated throughout the country for years on February 22d, it was first established as a federal holiday on January 31st, 1879 when Congress added February 22d to the list of federal holidays.

In 1968, Congress passed the Monday Holiday Law to "Provide uniform annual observances of certain legal public holidays on Mondays." The intent of Congress was to create more 3-day weekends to "Bring substantial benefits to both the spiritual and economic life of the nation."

Once this new law took effect, it moved the official celebration of Washington's birthday from February 22d to the third Monday of February each year.

25/01/2026

Happy National Florida Day!! January 25 is the date set aside to recognize the first time Florida voluntarily joined the federal union of states, which was achieved on the first occasion with the full consent of the majority of its citizens.

10/01/2026

Today is set aside to commemorate Florida Secession Day. On this date in 1861 the duly elected members of the legislature met in Tallahassee and voted to withdraw from the union of states they had decided to join less than 20 years before. Within a few weeks the legislature determined to join, and become a part of the newly formed Confederate States of America and over the course of the subsequent four years the State of Florida was forced at gun point by the northern states aligned with the federal government to reenter the United States. The rest as they say, is History.

27/11/2025

The First Thanksgiving. Of all the deficiencies inherent in our mandatory elementary/primary school systems, arguably the most significant is the systemic revision of the factual record. In this case students taught the story of the “First Thanksgiving”, have been inculcated with a nationally accepted version shaped and molded to fit a specific narrative and geographic agenda. The First Thanksgiving, the original ”feast” shared by European explorers and the aboriginal inhabitants of the mainland of what became the United States took place in St. Augustine in 1565, many decades before the landings in present day New England.

23/11/2025

18/11/2025

The Calusa may have been the only ancient people in North America who established a kingdom without practicing agriculture. Their sophistication and fierceness enabled them to resist Spanish domination for some 200 years. The Calusa king Caalus, perched high on his throne in his grand house, watc