1763 – Florida came under British control. The last of the indigenous people of the Florida Keys left for Havana with the Spanish.
1931 – Key West was determined to be the third busiest port of entry in the U.S. with 38,391 passengers cleared by immigration authorities in 1930. Only New York and Boston had more arrivals.
1934 – The Clyde-Mallory freighter Ozark, carrying 1,500 tons of flour, arrived at Key West with a fire in its forward hold. For hours, water was pumped into the hold by hose with little effect. Officials ordered the vessel into Man O’ War harbor, where the burning compartment was completely flooded.
1937 – Mollie Parker, who had been the head of the WPA beautification program in Key West, resigned her position.
1947 – The Miami Sunsox of the Florida International Baseball League selected Key West for their spring training camp. City officials hoped this was a good step toward a major league team soon selecting the island for spring training headquarters.
1957 – Former President Harry Truman arrived at the Olney Inn at Islamorada. He remained until the 25th with a trip to Key West on the 23rd to speak at a benefit for his Presidential Library.
1959 – Kerr-McGee Drilling Company of Morgan City, Louisiana began testing for oil strata in an area 14 miles northwest of Key West.
1954 – After completing recent structural surveys, the State Road Department of Florida greenlighted two thousand feet of fishing catwalks to be attached to Keys bridges between Boca Chica and Whale Harbor.
1964 – Ground was broken for the 20-acre, million-dollar Searstown shopping center on North Roosevelt.
1964 – Southern Bell Telephone Company opened their new building on Simonton Street.
1971 – The final “official” 1970 Census figures for Key West showed a population of 29,312.
1984 – Twenty-seven-year-old Dante Jon Fascell, the only son of U.S. Congressman Dante B. Fascell, was killed in a fiery crash on the Seven Mile Bridge while on his way to work at a construction site in Marathon. The elder Fascell had been instrumental in securing funding for the bridge and was featured at its opening 22 months earlier.
1995 – Rear Admiral William Leahy, Commander of the 7th Coast Guard District, presented the Coast Guard Unit Commendation to the Coast Guard Group Key West for its work during the Cuban refugee exodus of 1994.
Information compiled by Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.