1828 – The French brig Vigilant wrecked off Key Vaca carrying $32,000 in specie, as well as other cargo. Capt. Jacob Housman and other wreckers saved the vessel, towed it to Key West, and were awarded 75 percent of the value of the brig and cargo.
1845 – Mr. Leyer, a native of Poland and the principal draughtsman working on Fort Taylor for the Army Corps of Engineers, died of dysentery at Key West.
1927 – Sister Mary Marcienne, Mother Superior of the Convent of Mary Immaculate for the previous six years, left Key West for Montreal, where she had been permanently recalled to the Mother Home.
1938 – Firefighters were called to a blaze on Elizabeth Street between Greene and Caroline. The burning structure was an old, abandoned horse stable, so they took no action to save it. The stable had housed the horse of the late John Lowe, both once familiar figures on Key West streets.
1950 – Thousands of fish were found in the streets of Key West after a heavy rain, with most along Caroline Street between William and Grinnell. One theory was that a large waterspout had carried the fish ashore – a theory supported by the fact that most of the fish were mullet which swim on the surface and are easily sucked up by a waterspout. Still others insisted it had rained fish. One man said he had observed a full-grown sponge fall from the sky.
1953 – Infantry Sergeant Julio La Torre of Key West was among the first prisoners of war released by the North Koreans. He had been a prisoner for two and half years.
1965 – The ship Seven Seas was towed into port by the Coast Guard after the ship was found disabled at sea. A crewman had killed five of his fellow crewmen and then left the vessel in a small boat. He was later saved by another ship and turned over to the Coast Guard. He was charged with murder in Federal Court in Miami.
1967 – Key West won the Florida State championship in Junior Major League baseball with a 3 to 2 victory over St. Petersburg.
1992 – Some Big Pine Key parents were battling with government officials over the construction of a school on the island. Big Pine students were being bused to Sugarloaf School, which some felt was overcrowded and too far away. But the County Planning Board and federal wildlife managers said new construction on Big Pine would adversely impact Key deer habitat.
2011 – Long-distance swimmer Diana Nyad was forced to abandon her attempt to swim from Cuba to Key West after suffering a prolonged asthma attack halfway through the 100-mile crossing.
Information compiled by Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: A waterspout C 1971. Photo by Charles H. Anderson from Wright Langley Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.