Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
1946
Frozen concentrated orange juice is invented. As the nation's top orange producer, this event
leads to Florida's orange boom, giving birth to the orange millionaires of the '50s and '60s.
1947
Everglades National Park is established, successfully culminating a 19-year effort, led by Ernest
Coe and Marjory Stoneman Douglas, to protect the Everglades from the harm done by dredging
and draining.
1961
Brigade 2506, a 1300-strong volunteer army, invades Cuba's Bay of Pigs on April 16. President
Kennedy withholds air support, leading to Brigade 2506's immediate defeat and capture by Fidel
Castro.
1969
Apollo 11lifts off from Cape Canaveral, landing on the moon on July 20, winning the space race
with the Russians. Five more lunar-bound rockets take off through 1972.
1971
Walt Disney World in Orlando opens and around 10,000 people arrive on the first day. The park at-
tracts 10 million visitors during its first year.
May 1980
In the McDuffie trial, white cops are acquitted of wrongdoing in the death of a black man, igniting
racial tensions and Miami's Liberty City riots, killing 18 people.
1980
Castro declares the Cuban port of Mariel 'open.' The USA's ensuing Mariel Boatlift rescues
125,000 Marielitos,who face intense discrimination in Miami.
