[FHStoday] TODAY IN FLORIDA HISTORY FOR DECEMBER 11

[Nick Wynne]

TODAY IN FLORIDA HISTORY
DECEMBER 11
1862            In action near Fredericksburg, Virginia, today the 8th 
Florida Infantry Regiment suffered losses.  Twenty men were lost in battle, 
while an addition 2 were captured.

1862            The Florida Methodist Conference met today in Tallahassee.

1863            The United States bark, Restless, with the assistance of 
two other Federal ships, the Bloomer and the Caroline, began shelling 
Confederate works in the town of St. Andrews today.  Confederate forces in 
the area were stationed there to protect the valuable salt works in the area.

1886            Horticulturalist Lue Gim Gong settled in DeLand on this 
day.  Gim Gong's experiments with producing a hardy and commercially viable 
orange led to the development of a fruit that today bears his name.

1941            Floridians were still reeling at the horror of the Japanese 
attack of Pearl Harbor and other American installations in the 
Pacific.  They were gearing up for a long and extended battle on two fronts 
as the United States Congress responded to the declarations of war by 
Adolph Hitler and Benito Mussolini by declaring war on Italy and 
Germany.  This titanic struggle would be a seminal watershed for the people 
of Florida.
                 Here are some of the results of World War II on the 
state.  During the next four years, Floridians would:
                 *construct 1,560 miles of new highways
                 *build the only fully powered concrete ships in the world
                 *drill the first producing oll well in the state in 
Collier County
                 *be invaded by a small force of German saboteurs at Ponta 
Vedra Beach
                 *see the state's permanent population rise from 1,897,144 
in 1940 to 2,771,305 in                        1950
                 *become home to more than 4,000 German prisoners in 16 
sites around the state