January 27, 1874
Dr. P. Phillips was born in Tennessee.
He eventually became a practicing physician, who later pursued farming here in Central Florida.
Phillips moved to Orlando in 1905 and owned a great deal of land in Osceola and southwest Orange County.
For years he was the world's largest individual citrus grower and developed the first canned orange juice through flash pasteurization.
January 28, 1986
The space shuttle Challenger exploded 73.6 seconds after its launch from Cape Canaveral.
Challenger was engulfed in flames after a seal on its right hand solid rocket booster failed, allowing hot gasses to escape its metal casing.
All seven astronauts on board the shuttle were killed, including teacher Christa McAuliffe, an educator from New Hampshire, who was selected to become NASA's first teacher in space.
January 29, 1988
The father of Florida tourism dies at age 87.
Dick Pope, Sr., put Florida on the map as an international tourist destination.
Pope was a showman for the Sunshine State. He set the stage for worldwide exposure, gaining the celebrated nickname "Mr. Florida."
Pope was a dedicated business and family man. However, many knew him best as the creator of Cypress Gardens.
January 30, 1973
Downtown Orlando gets a facelift.
As folks moved to the suburbs following World War II, the downtown area lost popularity with shoppers.
Therefore, the downtown developmental board began efforts to revitalize Orange Avenue.
Crews worked day and night to restore the City Beautiful.
January 31, 1971
NASA launched its 14th Apollo mission from the Kennedy Space Center.
This was the third in the Apollo series to successfully land on the moon.
Apollo 14 was launched after the failure of Apollo 13, in which a malfunction prevented it from landing on the moon.
It took five days for Apollo 14 to touch down on the moon's surface.
When they did, astronauts explored the lunar surface for almost nine hours.
February 1, 2003
It was a sad day in space history as the space shuttle Columbia broke up during its re-entry in the skies over Texas.
Columbia was finishing up a 16-day mission conducting experiments in orbit.
All seven astronauts on board were killed.
The crash was later blamed on a chunk of foam that struck the orbiter during liftoff. The disaster has led to changes and improvements to space shuttle safety.
February 2, 1925
The town of Windermere was incorporated.
The town was purchased by an Ohio businessman who liked the area because of the citrus crops and the Butler Chain of Lakes that surround the area.
The population of Windermere at the time of incorporation was about 200 people. But today the town boasts a population of more than 2,500.