Decemeber 27, 1817 First Seminole War begins approximately on this date
May 24, 1818 Andrew Jackson captures Pensacola
February 22, 18-- Spain "gives" Florida to the United States
July 17, 18-- Andrew Jackson, orchestrator of the Indian Removal Act,"trail of tears," and future US president, accepts Spanish flag for The United States
August 18, 1821 The first newspaper in Pensacola, The Floridian, is published
January 25, 1828 Pensacola Navy Yard "rents" its first African slaves. By the following year, 38 slaves were "employed" at the Pensacola Navy Yard
January 10, 1861 Florida leaves union
May 10, 1862 Pensacola surrenders to union forces. City government goes into exile in Alabama
August 15, 1876 Augusta Watts, Pensacola resident and oldest woman in the world, is born on this day. She would live to be 124!
March 30, 1888 Frederick Penco, Apache, becomes the first child born in custody at Fort Barrancas. He was held prisoner with members of his tribe, including Geronimo, by the US government.
November 21, 1899 Wesley Lawrence was lynched on this day
April 17, 1900 Booker T. Washington speaks in Pensacola
July 19, 1902 Unknown Black man lynched on this day.
October 14, 1905 Mayor vetoes streetcar segregation vote in city council on grounds that it is unconstitutional
September 27, 1906 Hurricane kills 134
October 1, 1907 Laborers, immigrants, and blacks vote heavily in special city election to defeat prohibition
April 7, 1908 Street Car operators for Pensacola Electric Company go one strike. This is to be the largest industrial strike in Florida history up to this time
April 10, 1908 Striker and sympathizers battle in the streets of downtown Pensacola with Pensacola Electric Company scabs from New York. The street fight lasts for two days
April 12, 1908 National Guard arrives to protect scabs and restore "order"
April 14, 1908 National Guard troops ordered to guard trolleys.
April 24, 1908 24 Pensacola Police officers refused orders to cross union picket lines and ride on Trolleys to protect them. Two thirds of the Pensacola Police force were fired in this instance.
May 11, 1908 Street car dynamited in Olde East Hill District. No one was injured.
May 13, 1908 Street car strike ends after several workers sign a statement with Pensacola Electric Company that says they will never again join a union. Remaining workers who would not sign treacherous statement were blacklisted.
July 28, 1908 Leander Shaw was lynched this day in Plaza Ferdinand.
April 5, 1909 David Alexander was lynched in Plaza Ferdinand.
June 11, 1910 Attempted Lynching of Robert Mathews
July 4, 1910 Localized race riots break out in Pensacola (and around the country) after African-American boxer Jack Johnson defeats "The Great White Hope" Jim Jeffries. City police make it illegal to show pictures of the fight for fear it would spark more riots
November 22, 1910 Robert Matthews was lynched on this day
February 2, 1914 Banks in Pensacola collapse
June 27, 1916 Dr. Anna H Shaw, suffragette, speaks in Pensacola to hundreds
July 24, 1917 150 women arrested in prostitution sting. Navy orders closing of Pensacola's "Red Light" district "at least for the duration of the war."
November 1, 1919 Florida governor acts to have Escambia County Sheriff Van Pelt removed from office for not enforcing prohibition
September 20, 1926 Hurricane kills 134 people
May 1, 1964 Jim Crow dies. Voluntary desegregation begins in all public facilities
November 14, 1968 6 local activists with the NAACP were arrested in segregation protest
October 15, 1969 Mass Action against war in Vietnam
April 15, 1970 Mass action in Pensacola takes place against war in Vietnam
April 22, 1970 First Earth Day in Pensacola
April 24, 1971 Mass action in Pensacola takes place against war in Vietnam
May 7, 1970 Rally to protest the shootings at Kent State and the invasion of Cambodia take place in Pensacola
January 23, 1971 New York Times reports that seven University of West Florida professors were sacked in a purge of leftists educators
January 20, 1973 Peace Rally in Plaza Ferdinand to end war in Viet Nam
July 4, 1974 Dozens of homosexuals arrested in homophobic police sting of local gay bars. Pensacola continues to become known as the gay riviera despite police harrassment.
January 24, 1975 One Thousand people march down Palafox Street to protest police shooting of Wendell Blackwell
February 26, 1975 Three hundred people gather in front of sheriff's department to protest the police shooting of a young African-American. Within three weeks, 46 people would be arrested in the continuous protests
July 18, 1975 Reverend H.K. Matthews sentenced to five years in prison for actions at a civil rights protest
July 26, 1977 Ku Klux Klan rallies at Escambia HIgh School under protest. Shake up in the school board follows
February 15, 1978 Serial Killer Ted Bundy was captured behind Oscar the Hot Cake King
December 25, 1984 Abortion clinic bombed in Pensacola by Christian fundamentalists who did bombing as a "gift" for the baby jesus
June 6, 1992 Ku Klux Klan rallies in Seville Sqaure. The rally is met by large protests where one woman was arrested
March 10, 1993 Dr David Gunn assassinated outside Pensacola abortion clinic
March 9, 1994 "Rock for Choice" starts tour in Pensacola to mark to the one year anniversary of the assassination of abortion provider, Dr David Gunn. The tour headlines with Pearl Jam and L7.
July 29, 1994 Dr David Britton and James Barret were shot and killed at a Pensacola abortion clinic by Christian fundamentalist, Paul Hill
December 6, 1994 Paul Hill, abortion doctor murderer, terrorist, and fundamentalist Christian minister was sentenced to death on this day
December 24, 1994 After abortion clinic attack in Massachusetts, hundreds in Pensacola join in solidarity action to protest shooting.
December 24, 1995 A year after abortion clinic attack in Massachusetts, hundreds in Pensacola join in solidarity action to protest shooting and all violence against women.
May 31, 1997 Ku Klux Klan attempts to recruit in Pensacola, but are driven away by confrontational protesters
September 24, 1999 Dozens rally in downtown Pensacola for political prisoner and activist, Mumia Abu-Jamal
January 14, 2000 Alcaniz Street renamed to Martin Luther King Jr Blvd. Martin Luther King III speaks at the commemoration ceremony
February 6, 2001 USA Today machine in front of the Burger King on Brent Lane was bombed. No one injured and no one claimed responsibility. The Burger King was open for business the next day.
April 23, 2001 Hundreds march to Pensacola Police station to protest the police shooting of Andrena Kitt, a pregnant 21 year old African-American woman. She was shot in the parking lot of the Grand Hotel in a "drug sting gone bad". The march for justice was led by her mother.
July 16, 2001 Augusta Watts dies in Pensacola nursing home at the age of 124! It was claimed that she was the oldest woman alive when she died, but it could not be proven for certain because African-Americans were not given birth certificates at the time of her birth in 1876.
September 27, 2001 Anti-war demonstrations begin over Afghan war. These weekly demonstrations would last for nine months, possibly being the longest continuous anti-war action in Pensacola history
October 5, 2001 Three Pensacola Junior College educators issue a statement against the war of retribution on Afghanistan. One is eventually fired.
January 16, 2002 Reverend Al Sharpton speaks at Bethel AME
February 27, 2002 Sixty people march down Alcaniz to protest the punk band Dead Kennedys performing without lead singer and punk icon, Jello Biafra
February 15, 2003 Three Hundred people gather in front of Federal Courthouse to protest the upcoming illegal invasion of Iraq
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