1. On April 12, 1865, the Civil War officially ended in Tallahassee, Florida, when Confederate General William Miller surrendered the city to Union troops led by Brigadier General Edward McCook.

2. In 1981, on April 12, the very first launch of NASA's Space Shuttle Columbia took place from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission, known as STS-1, carried astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen into orbit for two days.

3. On April 12, 1935, a disastrous hurricane hit the Florida Keys, causing widespread destruction and claiming around 400 lives. Known as the "Labor Day Hurricane," it remains one of the deadliest natural disasters in U.S. history.

4. In 1955, on April 12, the University of Miami basketball team won the National Invitation Tournament, marking the school's first major national sports championship.

5. On April 12, 2013, an F3 tornado touched down in Pensacola, Florida, causing significant damage and destruction to the area. The tornado was one of a series of severe weather events that struck the Southeastern U.S. that day.