1887 – The Marine Hospital reported a yellow fever epidemic in Key West had caused 110 cases with 30 deaths. By the time the fever ended in September, there had been 282 cases with 63 deaths.
1901 – The Key West Post Office began delivering mail three times a day. The letter carriers left the Post Office at 7:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.
1900 – The case of Mr. Edgar J. Watson, charged with intent to murder, was continued until the next term by the Criminal Court at Key West. Watson had never been apprehended as he was in the wilds of mainland Monroe County “in the vicinity of extreme South Florida.”
1942 – The merchant vessel Pennsylvania Sun was sunk 54 miles southwest of the Dry Tortugas by the German submarine U-571.
1964 – The Navy began work on the new Bachelor Officers Quarters (now Fly Navy Building) on the Trumbo Annex of the Naval Air Station.
1974 – Air Sunshine began regular service to Marathon with four flights daily between there, Key West, and Miami. Additional service to Fort Lauderdale was planned for the near future.
1994 – Former Key West City Commissioner Harry Powell was sentenced to two years in Florida State Prison and 13 years of probation for having strapped explosives to his chest and threatened to blow up the U.S. Navy construction site at Peary Court in January.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Air Sunshine, 1974. Photo by Wendy Tucker. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.