1862 – The case of the ship S.R. Mallory, owned by Wm. Curry Sons of Key West, which wrecked on the Middle Key, at the Tortugas, was heard in Federal Court. The vessel sailing from New York to Fort Jefferson with troops was saved. Judge William Marvin awarded the salvors a fee of $200.
1871 - Ben and Henry Baker grew the first pineapples on Key Largo for commercial purposes.
1896 - Juana Borrero Pierra, Cuban patriot, poet, and painter, died of tuberculosis in Key West at the age of 18. Borrero began painting at age 5 and wrote her first poem at seven. By 1891, her work began to be recognized and published. Her gravesite in the Key West Cemetery was unidentified until 1972, when it was found by the Cuban Society of Archaeology and Ethnology in Exile.
1925 – Deputy U.S. Marshal Andre Lopez served a warrant against the captain of the Tug Warbler for dumping refuse oil into the waters of Key West Harbor.
1938 – After two years of discussion and planning, the Key West City Council passed an ordinance providing for zoning within city limits. The new law defined residential sections, business sections, and industrial zones.
1953 – Miss Etta Patterson’s famous coconut cake recipe was featured in “This Week Magazine” by food editor Clementine Paddleford.
1976 – The newly developed Windsor Village Condominium compound sold units to a number of famous authors. Authors buying units in the compound were Richard Wilbur, John Hersey, Ralph Ellison and John Ciardi.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: An aerial view of Key West taken by the aviation division of the State Road Department, 1938. Gift Joan Knight. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.