1829 – The New York Enquirer reported that over 10,000 bushels of salt had been produced at the Key West salt ponds over the previous year.
1894 – The Key West pineapple canning factory shipped 1,000 cans northward.
1901 – The schooners Lilly White and Dr. Lykes were seized at Key West by the revenue cutter McClane. The vessels, bound from Havana, were found to be carrying demijohn bottles of contraband rum and a quantity of unregistered cigarettes.
1911 – Curtiss Aircraft test pilot J.A.W. McCurdy attempted to fly from Key West to Havana but crashed short of the island and was rescued by a Navy destroyer.
1915 – Florida East Coast Railroad announced that it would begin fueling its locomotives with oil instead of coal, to make travel “both dustless and smokeless and add greatly to the comfort of the traveling public.” Oil storage tanks were to be installed at Key West and Miami for the purpose.
1916 – Over 500 people attended the Jewish Relief Ball hosted by the Hebrew Social Club at Aronovitz Hall on Duval Street. The event was organized to raise money for Jews suffering in the European war zones.
2005 – After more than two decades in service, F-14 Tomcat fighter jets flew for the last time at Boca Chica Naval Air Station. The aircraft were being phased out of military service to be replaced by F/A-18 E/F Super Hornets.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: F-14 Tomcat jet fighters at NAS Boca Chica in the summer of 1979, during filming of “The Final Countdown.” From the Dale McDonald Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.