03/03/2026
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, FLORIDA! 🥳🎂
You're 181 years young today.
We’ve gone from a mosquito-infested, nearly unlivable hot swamp, to an international destination known for its theme parks, beaches, resorts and culture.
Florida is proud to have America's oldest continuously inhabited European established city (St. Augustine), the nation's most active space launch center, and of course, "Florida Man."
Florida is the center of it all.
When it was founded, steam engine power was the latest tech. Surgery existed, but anesthesia was not widely used until 1846. So in 1845, you were getting operated on fully conscious. No electricity in homes. No light bulbs. No cars. No airplanes. No germ theory yet.
Fast forward almost 200 years and now Florida lands reusable rockets and stream 4K video from orbit.
History moves like a glacier until it moves like a rocket. 1845 to now is one of those rocket phases.
The population followed. In 1940 Florida had about 1.9 million people. By 1970 it had nearly 6.8 million.
Why?
Air conditioning.
Today we boast over 21.5 million and growing. Why?
All of it!
