1. In 1856, the Battle of Gainesville took place in Florida, which was the largest battle fought in the state during the Third Seminole War. The battle lasted for three days and ended with the U.S. Army successfully taking control of the city from the Seminole Indians.

2. On May 21, 1881, Clara Barton, the founder of the American Red Cross, established a branch of the organization in Florida. The branch provided aid to victims of natural disasters and served the state for many years.

3. In 1927, the first commercial airline flight from Miami to New York was completed by Eastern Air Transport (later known as Eastern Air Lines). The flight took more than 18 hours and had to make multiple stops along the way.

4. On May 21, 1966, the historic Freedom Tower in Miami was designated as a national landmark. The tower served as the headquarters for the Cuban Refugee Assistance Program, which helped thousands of Cuban refugees settle in the United States.

5. In 2014, a sinkhole opened up beneath the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky, causing eight rare Corvettes to fall into the hole. One of the Corvettes, a 1962 model, had been on loan to the museum from the General Motors Heritage Center in Florida.