St. Augustine

1513: On March 27 (Easter Sunday), Florida is discovered by Don Juan Ponce de Leon, while in search of gold and silver.

1565: The French establish a colony near the mouth of St. John's river.

1565:  Don Pedro Menendez de Avila, together with 700 colonists, land here and found St. Augustine, making it the oldest continually occupied European settlement in North America.

1586: St. Augustine is ransacked and burned by Sir Francis Drake, the famous English corsair.

1669: Queen Regent Mariana of Spain orders the construction of  a defensive stone fort at St. Augustine - Castillo de San Marco.

1763: Spain cedes Florida to Great Britain, in exchange for Cuba.

1783: Florida is returned to Spain, in exchange for the Bahama Islands.

1821: Spain sells Florida to the United States for five million dollars.

1845: Florida becomes a state.