Statehood The 27th state Mar. 3, 1845 Captial Tallahassee State Motto In God we trust Origin of State Name The Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León called the region La Florida, roughly translated as Land of the Flowers, when he visited it in 1513. State Nickname The Sunshine State The state nickname reflects the economic importance of its climate, which has been called its most important natural resource. Interesting Facts The water hyacinth, a beautiful flowered aquatic plant, was introduced to Florida accidentally in the 1880s and grows so abundantly it has restricted commercial navigation on portions of the Saint Johns River. Inventor Thomas A. Edison maintained a winter home and laboratory in Fort Myers. The first U.S. earth satellite, Explorer I, was launched from the U.S. Air Force Missile Test Center at Cape Canaveral in 1958. Hurricane Andrew, which ripped through southeastern Florida in August 1992, killed 41 people and caused property damages in excess of $20 billion.