1905 – The Key West schooners Magnolia, Island Home, Rowena, Ruth, Reliance, and Mount Vernon returned after having worked on the wreck of the Spanish ship Alicia, aground near Elliott’s Key. The cargo of the Alicia, consisting of silks, satins, linens, laces, and other dress goods, along with a variety of liquors, was the richest salvaged in years.
1922 – Navy aircraft located the missing Aeromarine seaplane Santa Maria near Andros Island, Bahamas, in good condition with all onboard alive and well. The plane was en route from Key West to Nassau when it ran out of fuel. Because Santa Maria had no wireless equipment, its crew could not communicate their plight.
1942 – The USS Sturtevant (DD 240), leaving Key West via the Northwest Channel, strayed into the U.S. Navy’s minefield and was sunk with a loss of 17 men.
1974 – Markers were installed designating the highway from Key West to Florida City the Harry S. Truman Overseas Highway.
1980 – Over 1,000 Cuban refugees arrived in Key West, pushing the week’s total to around 2,500. Hundreds of other boats ignored government warnings, high winds and seas to cross to Cuba for more refugees. The U.S. Customs Service began seizing boats returning from Cuba for landing illegal aliens in the United States.
1982 – Three-year-old Josh Sultzbaugh of Big Coppitt Key was found safe in Mexico City after having been kidnapped from his Florida Keys home over four months previously. Twenty-one-year-old Heidi Wolf of Wisconsin confessed to the abduction.
Information compiled by Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Aeromarine Airline’s plane Santa Maria circa 1920. Photo gift of Donald W. Roderick. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.