Miami

HISTORY

The Miami area was inhabited for thousands of years by indigenous cultures. An Indian village of hundreds of people dating to 500–600 BC was located at the mouth of the Miami River.

Miami's first recorded name was Chequescha. That's what Juan Ponce de Leon wrote down when he sailed into Biscayne Bay in 1513.

Miami is the only major city founded by a woman. Citrus grower Julia DeForest Tuttle (January 22, 1849  – September 14, 1898) used the money from her parents' estate to purchase the James Egan grant of 640 acres (2.6 km2), where the city of Miami is now located, on the north side of the river. In 1891, Tuttle brought her family to live there.

Julia Tuttle

Julia Tuttle induced railroad tycoon Henry Flagler to expand his Florida East Coast Railway railroad to Miami. Tuttle supplied Flagler with the land for a hotel and a railroad station for free, and they split the remainder of her 640 acres in alternating sections. On April 22, 1896, the train service of the Florida East Coast Railway came to the area.

On July 28, 1896 just over 300 male residents voted to incorporate a new city, Miami. Thereafter, Miami steadily grew from a small town with a population of around 700 to the seventh largest metropolis in the United States.

Just over 300 men voted for Miami's incorporation in 1896 in the building to the left

During a short period during the land boom of the 1920s, the Miami Herald was the biggest paper by advertising sales in the entire world.

It snowed for about a hour on January 19, 1977 in Miami, the only time in the history of the city that snow has fallen. It also fell the same day in the Bahamas.

The Metromover is a free mass transit automated people mover train system operated by Miami-Dade Transit in Miami,  It originally began service to the Downtown/Inner Loop on April 17, 1986, and was later expanded with the Omni and Brickell Loop extensions on May 26, 1994.  The Metromover's three loops connect to major attractions, including the Bayside Marketplace, the AmericanAirlines Arena, and the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts.

Outer Loop Metromover train departing Bayfront Park in Downtown on Biscayne Boulevard. By Joedamadman

FUN FACTS

Miami's Art Deco District located in the South Beach neighborhood of Miami Beach, contains the world's largest collection of Art Deco architecture with over 950 buildings.

A photograph taken of Ocean Drive in Miami Beach, Florida.By Massimo Catarinella - Wikipedia Commons

Miami has been the setting of scenes in three James Bond movies: Goldfinger, Thunderball, and Casino Royal. That's the most of any US city. Oddly, none of the actors playing James Bond have ever actually filmed a scene there.

The setting of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is heavily based on the city of Miami.

Downtown Miami is home to the largest concentration of international banks in the United States.

As of last count in 2014, Miami had the least amount of residential toilets per capita of any city in America.

Miami, Naples, and the surrounding areas are the only cities in the continental United States to have a tropical climate.

Miami is one of the three vertices of the Bermuda Triangle.

PortMiami is recognized, and has been for many years, as the "Cruise Capital of the World" and "Cargo Gateway of the Americas". It has retained its status as the number one passenger port in the world since the mid 1990s. It accommodates some of the world's largest cruise ships and operations, and is the busiest port in both passenger traffic and cruise lines.

Miami's port as seen from Miami Beach in December 2007, with seven cruise ships docked. By Marc Averette 

Miami has the most citizens born outside the country of any city in the world.

Miami has the largest amount of Cubans living outside of Cuba.

The Miami area is the only metro surrounded by two national parks — Everglades to the west, Biscayne to the east.

Source Miami Times