Interesting Facts About Florida
Enjoy these interesting facts about Florida.
Florida Facts
- The United States city with the highest rate of lightning strikes per capita is Clearwater.
- Key West has the highest average temperature in the United States.
- Gatorade was named for the University of Florida Gators where the drink was first developed.
- The crocodile is classified as an endangered species and there are only 400 to 500 remaining in Florida.
- The Saint John's River is one of the few rivers that flows north instead of south.
- The largest lake in Florida is Lake Okeechobee.
- Young aviator Tony Jannus made history on January 1, 1914 when he flew the world's first scheduled passenger service airline flight from St. Petersburg's downtown yacht basin to Tampa.
- The Florida Panther is the official state animal. The species is endangered, with only about 50 left in the wild.
- Niceville is home to the famous Boggy Bayou Mullet Festival celebrated the third weekend in October.
- Dr. John Gorrie of Apalachicola invented mechanical refrigeration in 1851.
- Gatorade was named for the University of Florida Gators where the drink was first developed.
- The state of Florida is bigger than England!
- Miami Beach pharmacist Benjamin Green invented the first suntan cream in 1944. He accomplished this development by cooking cocoa butter in a granite coffee pot on his wife's stove.
- Neil Smith and his brother of Montverde developed the first Snapper riding lawn mower.
Florida