1513
Ponce de León lands on the coast of Florida and claims it for Spain. Amazed by the beauty of the land, he names it "Pasqua Florida," or Feast of Flowers. When the Spanish arrive, there are approximately 350,000 Native Americans from three major nations living in the Florida area, the Apalachee, the Timucua and the Calusa.

1520
Explorer Alvarez de Pineda settles the question of Florida's geography: He proves it is not an island, but part of a vast continent. July 1. Under the leadership of Cuitlahuac, the Aztecs force the Spaniards out of Veracruz, just a year after the Spaniards had come into the city. The Spaniards called this La Noche Triste (The Sad Night). Aztec Chief Moctezuma (sic) was stoned to death by his own people during this debacle.

1539
It is widely believed that the first Christmas to be celebrated in the United States was done so by Hernando De Soto in the vicinity of what is now the city of Tallahassee.

1565
Saint Augustine, Florida, the earliest settlement in North America, is founded. It remains a possession of Spain until 1819.

1821
The sun sets on Spanish Florida when the peninsula is purchased by the United States for $5 million.

1822
Citizens of Florida elect Joseph Marion Hernandez to Congress as a territorial delegate. He is the first Latino in the history of the U.S. to serve in Congress.

1959-1962
Fleeing Castro's revolution, 155,000 Cubans leave their homeland. A large number of these Cuban exiles settle in an area of Miami known as "Little Havana" because of its overwhelmingly Cuban population. Today, more than 60 percent of Miami's population is Latino, and more than 700,000 Cubans live in the Miami area.

http://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/fldesoto1.html
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/hispanic/flahistory.htm
http://www.gale.cengage.com/free_resources/chh/timeline