Juan Ponce de Leon also is known as Ponce de Leon was a Spanish Explorer known for leading the first official European expedition to Florida and the first governor of Puerto Rico.

Juan Ponce de Leon was born in the Spanish kingdom of Castile around the year 1474. Though little is known about his family, he was of noble birth and served in the Spanish military from a young age. He first came to the Americas as a "gentleman volunteer" with Christopher Columbus's second expedition in 1493.

On April 2, 1513, Juan spotted land. He thought it was another island, but it was really big. Because the land was beautiful and he discovered the land around Easter (which was called Pascua Florida, meaning the Festival of Flowers), he called the land "La Florida."

The Florida 50 Dollar Banknote features the portrait of Juan Ponce de Leon on its obverse face. The reverse of the note depicts the Manatees.

Image Source: robertsworldmoneyblog.com