Today marks the Sunshine State’s 175th anniversary.

A public education initiative is being launched to celebrate Florida’s founding; 175-years-ago today.  The “Happy Birthday, Florida!” campaign will bring together public, private, and non-profit partners to conduct a year-long celebration beginning this Spring.

Historic City News learned that the publicity campaign will include a 30-minute special being televised statewide and in schools as well as a dynamic informational website.  Social and digital informative messages, special events, and a variety of other tools will educate Floridians about the Sunshine State’s authentic history and will celebrate the key people, places and milestones reached on the way to the terquasquicentennial.

“Today is a great time to reflect on how far we’ve come since Florida became the nation’s 27th state on March 3, 1845,” said Ron Sachs, the founder and CEO of Sachs Media Group. “We’re honoring the amazing story of our state and our citizens by creating an exciting, educational and entertaining project to highlight Florida’s grand history and heritage all-year long.”

Sachs Media Group also produced statewide initiatives for Florida’s 150th anniversary in 1995 and the “Viva Florida, 500” initiative in 2013 — the 500th anniversary of the discovery of Florida by Ponce de Leon.

Ed Moore, retired president of the Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida and a state history expert, said Florida has one of the most fascinating histories of any state in America.  Florida was admitted into the Union in 1845 and has now grown to be the third most populous state in America. The Sunshine State has 21 million residents and more than 400 municipalities, including St. Augustine, the nation’s oldest continuously occupied settlement.

“People have lived in Florida since the Ice Age, and Juan Ponce de Leon visited Florida more than 500 years ago,” said Moore. “Florida was making history before the Pilgrims set foot at Plymouth Rock. You could easily spend your entire life studying our state’s intriguing past.”