January 20, 1986
Federal employees already had a paid day off but a push continued in Florida for time to celebrate Martin Luther King Day.
A commission appointed by then Gov. Bob Graham was recommending that January 20 be a paid holiday for state workers.
Graham wanted Floridians to get the day off automatically, so they could remember the slain civil rights leader without having to take a vacation or personal day.
January 21, 1987
The Sunshine State pitched in to help Central Florida keep its students in school.
A study showed 35 percent of the ninth graders who started school in 1982 didn't graduate in 1986.
Therefore, five area agencies received funds from a $1 million state grant to expand dropout prevention programs.
The agencies served student needs ranging from drug prevention to tutoring to teen-parent counseling.
January 22, 1968
The Apollo 5 launched from Central Florida's Space Coast.
Apollo 5 was an unmanned, two-day mission designed to test a lunar module.
The spacecraft orbited the Earth to test its ascent and descent of Apollo's propulsion systems.
The Apollo 5 never returned to Earth.
January 23, 1986
The events leading up to the ill-fated Challenger mission began to unfold when the shuttle Columbia returned late to the Kennedy Space Center.
Columbia was being flown back to Florida from California, but the delay forced the Challenger mission to be pushed back for three days.
Challenger lifted off in near-freezing temperatures and the cold was blamed for the failure of an O-ring in the shuttle's right solid rocket booster.
January 24, 1989
Serial killer Ted Bundy was executed in the State of Florida.
He was put to death for the 1978 strangulation deaths of two sorority sisters and the murder of a 12-year-old Lake City schoolgirl.
Before his execution, Bundy confessed to more than 20 murders in the western region of the United States.
Florida Gov. Bob Martinez carried out the death sentence.
January 25, 1990
Central Florida got federal aid for farmers following a severe freeze.
President George Bush declared several counties across Florida disaster areas.
In response, the government awarded more than $28 million in federal aid to get citrus and vegetable growers back on their feet.
January 26, 1933
The tyrant of Lake Lucerne died.
His name was Billy the Swan, a local celebrity of sorts.
He was notorious for chasing Delaney school children and attacking cars driving near the water.
No one knows why the swan developed such an aggressive personality, but he did became a part of Central Florida folklore.