1908 – The schooner Magic, a former America’s Cup race winner, was raised and towed into Key West harbor by owner John Lowe. The valuable schooner had sunk near Sand Key the day before.
1924 – U.S. Navy enlisted men Joseph Flowers and Harry Rudolph displayed a sawfish they had caught near Key West, and the 15-foot-long, 800-pound giant drew quite a crowd.
1931 – Mrs. Pauline Hemingway caught a sailfish that measured seven feet and one inch to set a record for the season.
1954 – The shrimp boat Elliott was on the rocks off Cottrell Key, badly holed with water coming in as fast as it could be pumped out. The crew was safe, and salvagers were determining if the sinking vessel could be saved.
1954 – T.W. Stalnaker was building a concrete-block house on Big Pine Key under the supervision of Clarence Key. Blasting had been going on for two days as trees were being cleared from the lot.
1963 – David Carey, a 1955 graduate of Douglass High School in Key West and an Army veteran, signed a contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Carey was a catcher-outfielder.
1967 – Wisteria Island (also known as Christmas Tree Island) was sold for $155,000. The seller was Wisteria Island, Inc. The buyer was F.E.B. Corporation of 1526 Washington St., the address of Ben Bernstein, a major land developer of Stock Island.
1970 – Guy Lombardo and his orchestra was the featured entertainment at the dedication of the new Indies Inn Convention Hall on Duck Key.
1972 – John M. Spottswood sold Munson Island to Country Johnston of Valdosta, Georgia, for $150,000.
1982 – An Air Florida passenger plane from Miami to Key West was hijacked and taken to Cuba.
Information compiled by Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: John Lowe Jr standing by the schooner Little Magic which in the ways circa 1900. From the Ida Woodward Barron Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.