Florida By eme106740 1513 Juan Ponce de Leon lands on Florida coast. 1565 Pedro Menendez de Aviles establishes St. Augustine 1698 Spanish settlement established in Pensacola 1750 Creek Indians migrate to Florida Know as Seminole 1822 Florida becomes a U.S. territory. 1836 Florida's first railroads begin operating 1845 Florida admitted to the union as the 27th state 1861 Florida secedes from the union and joins the confederacy 1926 Mediterranean fruit fly infestation 1928 More than 1,800 killed in Okeechobee area hurricane 1950 Space research and rocket testing center opens at Cape Canaveral 1986 Space shuttle Challenger explodes after launch from Cape Canaveral 1992 Hurricane Andrew hits southern Florida