Orlando Dateline

• 1843 Mosquito County in Central Florida is renamed Orange County.
• 1856 Orlando becomes the seat of Orange County.
• 1875 Orlando is incorporated as a municipality.
• 1880 The South Florida Railroad paves the way for the expansion of Orlando’s agricultural markets. Swamp cabbage hits an all-time high on the commodities market.
• 1884 Fire destroys much of Orlando’s fledgling business district.
• 1894-95 Freezing temperatures destroy the citrus crops, wreaking havoc on the groves and causing many growers to lose everything.
• 1910-25 A land boom hits Florida. Fortunes are made overnight.
• 1926 The land boom goes bust. Fortunes are lost overnight.
• 1929 An invasion of Mediterranean fruit flies devastates Orlando’s citrus industry. But, who cares? Here comes the stock market crash.
• 1939-45 World War II revives Orlando’s ailing economy.
• 1964 Walt Disney begins surreptitiously buying Central Florida farmland, purchasing more than 28,000 acres for nearly $5.5 million.
• 1965 Disney announces his plan to build the world’s most spectacular theme park in Orlando.
• 1966 Walt Disney dies of lung cancer.
• 1971 The Magic Kingdom opens its gates for the first time.
• 1972 A new 1-day attendance mark is set December 27, when 72,328 people visit the Magic Kingdom. It will be broken almost every year thereafter.
• 1973 SeaWorld opens with a splash in Orlando.
• 1982 Epcot opens with vast hoopla.
• 1989 WDW launches Disney-MGM Studios (offering a behind-the-scenes look at Tinseltown), Typhoon Lagoon (a 56-acre water theme park), and Pleasure Island (a nightclub district for adults).
• 1990 Universal Studios Florida opens, bringing the movies to life for all who enter its gates.
• 1993 SeaWorld expands, and Universal Studios unleashes the fearsome Jaws.
• 1998 Disney starts its own cruise line and opens most of Animal Kingdom. Universal opens CityWalk, a vast new entertainment complex. Disney’s West Side, Pleasure Island, and Disney Village Marketplace become known as Downtown Disney.
• 1999 Islands of Adventure, Universal Orlando’s second theme park, featuring stomach-churning thrill rides, opens. The final section of Animal Kingdom, Asia, opens. The Disney Cruise Line launches Good Ship No. 2, the Wonder.
• 2000 SeaWorld opens its second park, Discovery Cove, offering a chance to swim with the fishes, er, dolphins. SeaWorld also delivers its first roller coaster, Kraken.
• 2001 Church Street Station closes its doors for good. The tourist industry takes a blow due to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
• 2003 The Waterfront entertainment district makes a splashy debut at SeaWorld.
• 2004 Cypress Gardens reopens as Cypress Gardens Adventure Park, featuring new thrill rides, water shows, concerts, and its famous botanical gardens.
• 2006 Expedition Everest becomes the first true thrill ride to debut at Animal Kingdom. SeaWorld debuts a new Shamu whale show.
• 2007 The Disney-MGM Studios becomes Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
• 2008 SeaWorld opens Aquatica. Disney shuts down the clubs at Pleasure Island.