1838 – Tomas Sachetti was elected Mayor of Key West. He was the candidate of a group of merchants opposed to occupational licenses that former Mayor William Whitehead had passed to pay the city expenses.
1924 – J. Rowland Adams had 1,000 chicks at his new Key West poultry farm. The building that housed them was warmed by brooders and had a concrete floor covered by sand. Adams hoped to soon have 3,000 laying hens.
1948 – The County Home on Stock Island was opened and the 18 occupants of the old home, on Poorhouse Lane, were moved to the new facility.
1950 – Igor Sikorsky, famed aviator and plane manufacturer, arrived at the La Concha Hotel for a short vacation.
1964 – Former President Harry Truman and wife Bess arrived at Indies House on Duck Key to start a three-week vacation.
1974 – The shrimp trawler Lady Grace recovered the body of U.S. Navy lieutenant Frank Carson from waters near the Marquesas Keys. Carson’s RA-5C fighter jet had crashed in the area on March 5.
1986 – Astronomers from the Miami Space Transit Planetarium and Florida Keys Community College set up telescopes on South Roosevelt Boulevard so the public could see Halley’s Comet. The comet was expected to be visible in the pre-dawn hours through April.
2000 – The Monroe County Tourist Development Council agreed to spend 30% of its annual revenue on local capital-improvement projects and to shift its marketing focus in response to residents’ complaints about traffic and overcrowding.
2009 – Nationally-popular musician Kenny Chesney performed at Sloppy Joe’s in Key West. Chesney expressed his fondness for the island, which he had visited many times.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Former President Harry Truman and John Spottswood on Duck Key. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.