1. On September 16, 1959, Florida's first university, the University of Florida, officially integrated six black students. George Starke, George Simpson, Vernon Swartsel, and Dwayne O. Williams were the first black students to enroll in undergraduate programs, while Wilhelmina C. Rolle and Florette Henrietta King enrolled in graduate programs.

2. In 1974, Hurricane Fifi made landfall in Florida on September 16. The Category 2 hurricane caused significant damage to the state's coastline and resulted in several fatalities.

3. On September 16, 1985, a tropical depression formed in the Gulf of Mexico, which later developed into Hurricane Gloria. The hurricane made landfall in North Carolina and caused severe damage in the Northeast U.S.

4. In 1997, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays played their final game at St. Petersburg's Tropicana Field on September 16. The team debuted in 1998 and played at the stadium until 2019.

5. On September 16, 2019, a letter was sent to Governor Ron DeSantis, urging him to make September 16 a statewide holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the U.S. The date marks the day when Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, and announced that all slaves were free, two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed.