This Day in Central Florida History for the week of June 3

  • T.G. Lee Dairy first opened its doors for business.
  • The Daytona Beach City Commission passed a law prohibiting minors from getting body piercing without parental consent.
  • NASA launched the first shuttle mission dedicated solely to the life sciences.
  • Thousands of soldiers, many of whom were from Central Florida, took part in the Invasion of Normandy.
  • The Orlando Magic played their first game in the NBA Finals.
  • President Richard Nixon was the graduate speaker for Florida Technological University, which is now the University of Central Florida.
  • The great white shark, also known as Jaws, roared into life at Universal Studios.
Last Updated: Sunday, June 03, 2012

June 3, 1925

T.G. Lee Dairy first opened its doors for business.

Thomas Gilbert Lee and his wife started the business after his father gave him 20 acres of land and a family cow.

In the beginning, the company produced only milk and Lee did all the work.

Today, the company has expanded considerably and nearly 20 acres of what used to be T.G. Lee Dairy farmland is now the Colonial Plaza Shopping Center.

June 4, 1997

The Daytona Beach City Commission passed a law prohibiting minors from getting body piercing without parental consent.

The ordinance mandated that minors have written permission from a parent or guardian, and required area businesses to keep all permission slips on file.

Business owners who violated the ordinance faced up to six months in jail and fines as high as $500.

June 5, 1991

NASA launched the first shuttle mission dedicated solely to the life sciences.

The crew of Columbia took along 29 rats and close to 2,500 jellyfish on the nine-day flight to help researchers determine how hearts, lungs and nervous systems reacted to the weightlessness of orbit.

The Spacelab mission was supposed to happen five years earlier, but the Challenger disaster and other delays pushed it to 1991.

June 6, 1944

Thousands of soldiers, many of whom were from Central Florida, took part in the Invasion of Normandy.

One of the first paratroopers to land was a local man named Bill Coleman.

"We were supposed to capture the causeways coming in from the beach so that when they landed there they could make a very rapid exodus from the beach,” Coleman said. “And that was accomplished."

Coleman was later captured by the Germans and lived as a POW for a year.

D-Day marked the beginning of the end for Nazi Germany.

June 7, 1995

The Orlando Magic played their first game in the NBA finals.

The Magic ended up losing to the Houston Rockets 120-118 in overtime.

But, fans were still excited to see the team in the finals after only six seasons in the NBA.

At the time, they played with such stars as Shaquille O'Neal and Penny Hardaway.

June 8, 1973

President Richard Nixon was the graduate speaker for Florida Technological University, which is now the University of Central Florida.

He talked to the crowd about "What's Right With This Country."

Many though didn't turn out to listen to the president, but to protest.

His Central Florida speech was one of the last given at a college while he was president, as the Watergate Scandal would soon thereafter lead to his resignation.

June 9, 1990

The great white shark, also known as Jaws, roared into life at Universal Studios.

The attraction opened two days after the rest of the park saw its first guests.

At the time, Jaws was still trying to work out the bugs and the ride did have some technical glitches.

The ride shut down for good in 2012.

This Day in Central Florida History
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