Palm Harbor

Near present-day St. Augustine, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon comes ashore on the Florida coast, and claims the territory for the Spanish crown.

Although other European navigators may have sighted the Florida peninsula before, Ponce de Leon is credited with the first recorded landing and the first detailed exploration of the Florida coast. The Spanish explorer was searching for the "Fountain of Youth," a fabled water source that was said to bring eternal youth. Ponce de Leon named the peninsula he believed to be an island "La Florida" because his discovery came during the time of the Easter feast, or Pascua Florida.

In 1521, he returned to Florida in an effort to establish a Spanish colony on the island. However, hostile Native Americans attacked his expedition soon after landing, and the party retreated to Cuba, where Ponce de Leon died from a mortal wound suffered during the battle. Successful Spanish colonization of the peninsula finally began at St. Augustine in 1565, and in 1819 the territory passed into U.S. control under the terms of the Florida Purchase Treaty between Spain and the United States.

1792  The U.S. Congress authorized the first U.S. Mint in Philadelphia, PA.

1805  Hans Christian Andersen is Born

1902  The first Motion Picture Theatre opened in Los Angeles

The Electric Theatre charged a dime to see an hour’s entertainment, including the films, The Capture of the Biddle Brothers and New York in a Blizzard.

The first American theater devoted solely to movies opens in Los Angeles on this day in 1902. Housed in a circus tent, the venue was dubbed "The Electric Theater." Its earliest pictures included "New York in a Blizzard." Admission cost about 10 cents for a one-hour show.

Inventors in Europe and the United States, including Thomas Edison, had been developing film cameras since the late 1880s. Early films were shown in individual viewing devices called Kinetoscopes.

1917  President Woodrow Wilson asks Congress to send U.S. troops into battle against Germany in World War I thus declaring war against Germany

1956  Two very successful daytime dramas premiered. The Edge of Night and As the World Turns were seen for the first time on CBS-TV.

1972  Actor Burt Reynolds appeared, ummm, nekkid as a jaybird in Cosmopolitan magazine.

1978  J.R. Ewing and the clan arrived at Southfork, when Dallas was seen for the first time.

1956The Poor People of Paris - Les Baxter
Heartbreak Hotel - Elvis Presley
Rock Island Line - Lonnie Donegan
Blue Suede Shoes - Carl Perkins

1964She Loves You - The Beatles
Twist and Shout - The Beatles
Suspicion - Terry Stafford

1972A Horse with No Name - America
Puppy Love - Donny Osmond
Mother and Child Reunion - Paul Simon

1980Another Brick in the Wall - Pink Floyd
Working My Way Back to You/Forgive Me, Girl - Spinners
Call Me - Blondie