1833 – German naturalist Dr. E.F. Leitner arrived at Key West after successfully crossing the Everglades alone. During the four-month solo adventure, he nearly died from snake bite and rheumatic fever. Though he had lost most of his specimen collection in a shipwreck at Pavilion Key, Leitner arrived at Key West with 700 species of plants, the skins of various animals and birds, and a manatee skeleton.
1902 – The three-masted schooner John F. Krantz arrived at Key West from Bath, Maine, with 900 tons of ice, ending an ice famine on the island. The ice would be sold by wagon delivery or at the warehouse for 75 cents per hundred pounds.
1906 – The following physicians were listed in the city directory: Arturo Castillo, J.N. Fogarty, Francisco Fors, J.V. Harris, Juan Hernandez, Samuel D.W. Light, Francisco Lopez, M.F. McCleary, John B. Maloney, Joseph W.V.R. Plummer and Myrtle Seiler.
1918 – The Key West Citizen noted that “Quietude prevailed upon the county road last night and searchlights failed to reveal the usual number of ‘romantic’ scenes. The sheriff, his force, and the police are to blame for this.”
1919 – The city council of Havana voted to donate a stage curtain for the new San Carlos Institute building at Key West. The curtain was to be painted by Cuban artist Alberto Rubiera and represent “one of the island’s most entrancing scenes.”
1922– Key West cigar factories surpassed the five million mark for August, with 5,233,012 cigars produced during the month.
1931 – Revolution leader and former mayor of Havana Miguel Mariano Gomez arrived from Cuba. He reported that Cuba was quiet but that the people wanted a president other than the one now in office and would remain rebellious until change occurred. Mr. Gomez left by train for New York where he would remain indefinitely.
1953 – The Florida State Board of Conservation reported that 11,463,661 pounds of shrimp were caught in the Tortugas beds in 1952. This was a decrease from the 19,246,367 pounds caught in 1951.
1970 – Rear Admiral D.F. Smith assumed command as Commander Key West Forces and Commander Fleet Air Key West. The command had been held since the retirement of Rear Admiral F.J. Brush by Captain J.A. Camera, who was set to resume duties as the Admiral’s Chief of Staff.
1976 – Pantry Pride Super Market at Key Plaza Shopping Center held its grand opening.
1978 – Key West had endured 26 days of on-again, off-again electrical blackouts caused by City Electric System generator issues. The power supply was so unpredictable, people were reluctant to cook or do laundry.
1979 – Sally Rand, who invented the fan dance that scandalized and delighted the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair, died at age 75. During the late 1940s and early 1950s, she lived in Key West.
Information compiled by Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: The interior of the earlier San Carlos. Ida Woodward Barron Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.