An Aerovias Q DC-3 at Key West International Airport
1830 – It was announced that any vessels passing the Sand Key Lighthouse that showed their private signal or designating mark would be reported to the Key West Enquirer, and a notice of their safety published for the benefit of owners and underwriters.
1855 – Six sailors from the USS Jamestown deserted at Key West. When located and confronted by Lieut. Armstrong of the ship, one of the sailors swore he would not be taken alive and drew a Bowie knife. Armstrong shot the deserter and wounded him enough that he could be subdued.
1911 – The committee on the Over Sea Railroad celebration met and formally organized. George W. Allen was elected president and J.N. Fogarty and Elgin F. Curry vice-presidents.
1921 – The schooner Thirtie of Biloxi was seized by the Coast Guard for transporting liquor after running aground near Sombrero Key Light during an evasive maneuver. The schooner’s four crew were arrested and jailed at Key West.
1924 – The contest to name the new hotel being built at Duval and Fleming streets was the most popular ever held on the island. Hundreds of names were submitted, including Poinsettia, Tia Juana, El Sol, Eco Real, The Delicious, Eureka, Europa, Morro Castle, La Tourista, Crepusculo, Homerica, La Casa de Cayos, and La Casa de Mango.
1941 – Joe “Sloppy Joe” Russell, bar operator and friend of writer Ernest Hemingway, died in Havana at age 51.
1946 – The Cuban airline Aerovias Q made a preliminary flight between Key West and Havana, with the hope of establishing regular service.
1952 – Monroe County Schools needed thirty more teachers to handle the ever-growing school population.
1960 – FBI agents broke up a planned invasion of Cuba by a small “army” of 80 anti-Castro men who had gathered at a motel in Key Largo to await transport to Cuba. It was thought that henchmen of former Cuban leader Fulgencio Batista were behind the plan.
2011 – Monroe County School District representatives and the Key West City Commission met to discuss the new Horace O’Bryant School, which was much taller than city regulations allowed and had drawn the ire of many island residents.
Information compiled by Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: An Aerovias Q DC-3 plane at Key West International Airport. Jeff Brodhead Collection, gift of Sharon Wells.Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.