Southern history has long been a passion of mine – for better and for worse. My interest in the south has led me at times despite my progressive beliefs to defend the shameful side of the region’s history, including my long internal battle about the Confederate battle flag.  One of my favorite recent books about […]

Cape Canaveral was the center of so much of America and world’s attention in the 1960’s. This week, forty years ago the capsule was launched and eventually had the first space rendezvous (pictured) with its sister ship Gemini 7. More from Wikipedia.

This week in 1972, the final Moon landing of the Apollo program took place. The launch on December 7th took place from Cape Canaveral with Commander Eugene Cernan, Command Module Pilot Ronald Evans, and Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt, Space Exploration shifted to more practical ideas after the end of the Apollo program. The Space Shuttle […]

Downtown Fort Lauderdale is home to Florida’s oldest underwater vehicular road tunnel. The New River Tunnel now known as the “Henry Kinney Tunnel” opened in 1960 taking US underneath the New River and Las Olas Boulevard. The Tunnel was narrowly approved in a 1956 local referendum by a vote of 7,008 (52.3) to 6,401 (47.7%). The tunnel replaced an old two-lane drawbridge […]

We have spent lots of time in recent weeks talking about the history of seaplanes and its impact on Florida. As we’ve discussed before Chalk’s International Airways was bought in 1996 by Pan Am (the second edition of the famous airline) and rebranded as the “Pan Am Air Bridge” which brought back memories of the […]

Florida had two major electoral controversies in 2000 – one was settled by the Supreme Court and the other other by computers. The computer controversy was thanks to the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) which allowed Florida State to play for the National Championship against Oklahoma despite losing to Miami earlier in the season and like […]

  In 1943, at the height of World War II President Franklin D. Roosevelt took the first ever Presidential flight. In those days no such thing as Air Force One or Andrews Air Force Base (which would open five years later). Air travel was seen as risky for the President who continued to travel by […]

Florida’s most famous stolen election took place November 7, 2000. I was there in a prominent role to see it with my own eyes. The events of that day remain painful for those of us who care about this state and nation. Feel free to share your memories about the recount and the stolen election […]

US Airways will pass into history tonight as all flights previously operated by the airline are transferred to American Airlines beginning tomorrow. The airline through its various incarnations has been a staple in Florida’s skies and helped drive growth in the state. Allegheny Airlines the forerunner of US Airways began service to the Sunshine State […]