1848 – At a meeting of the Key West Whigs, all were in support of Zachary Taylor. They also voted to approve Representative Edward C. Cabell’s support of Robert C. Winthrop as Speaker of the House.
1859 – The brig Tyrant, which had been seized and condemned by the government for participation in the slave trade, was sold at Key West by the U.S. marshal for $3,760. The cargo and water casks brought another $529. The brig, its name changed to King Fish, was to be loaded with cotton for New York.
1889 – The Spanish newspaper El Yara started publishing daily. The paper was established in 1878 and was the official organ of the Cuban revolutionary clubs. J.D. Poyo was editor and proprietor and F. Ibern was business manager. The office was at 210 Duval St. and subscription was $10 per year.
1893 – The Daily Equator-Democrat was a daily newspaper except Sundays. The Key West Democrat founded in 1880 and Equator was founded in 1886 by Charles B. Pendleton and were consolidated in 1887. The publisher was Equator Publishing Company with Mary A. Taylor as Managing Editor. The office was at 435 Front St., telephone number 3. Subscription was $10 per year.
1924 – Curry’s aquarium in Key West had two unusual fish on display. One rarely swam but instead used its four pectoral fins as feet and legs to “walk” across the bottom. The other was called “the hedgehog,” and it had rudimentary spines and horns, but they were soft. Neither had ever before been seen by local fishermen.
1926 – Monroe County Sheriff Roland Curry arrested the promoter of a Stock Island cockfighting arena, while a fight was underway. Fala Rodriguez was charged with cruelty to animals and placed under $100 bond.
1982 – The U.S. Border Patrol established a roadblock at Florida City and began checking everyone leaving the Florida Keys for citizenship causing a traffic jam extending 15 miles. The Border Patrol had received information that illegal aliens were entering the country from the Keys.
1982 – Final approval by the State Legislature assured that Indian Key would become a major historic site.
1988 – Ernest Hemingway was posthumously inducted into the Florida Artist Hall of Fame by Florida Secretary of State Jim Smith in a ceremony at the Monroe County Public Library.
Information compiled by Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: A cockfight. Dewey Riggs Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.