1830 – William R. Hackley recorded in his diary: Rose with the sun and went off to the schooner and brought Brother ashore to breakfast. Afterwards borrowed a horse from Captain Pardon Greene and he rode through the island and down the beach by the light house and I walked with him on his return he stopped at my rooms and Oliver O’Hara came in and sat for some time. It being George Weaver’s birthday he gave us some wine and Judge James Webb and Oliver O’Hara dined with us. Gave Brother my bed and took my sea mattress for myself. The mosquitoes were so bad that I could not sleep till near day. Wind variable from southwest to north northwest. The Schooner Pizzaso came down from the reef.
1904 – Herbie Melbourne was convicted of the murder of police officer Clarence Till and sentenced to be hanged. The Florida Supreme Court later overturned the verdict and Melbourne was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to one year in the county jail.
1947 – A brief violent storm with winds to 86 mph at Boca Chica struck the Lower Keys. The storm left most of the city without electric and telephone service.
1949 – President Harry Truman arrived for a three-week vacation at the Little White House. His wife Bess and daughter Margaret were with the President.
1972 – A made for TV movie titled “Key West” was being filmed by Warner Brothers in Key West.
1977 – The Florida Keys Community College Board of Trustees voted to name the College’s Fine Arts Center for renowned playwright and Key West resident Tennessee Williams.
1987 – Jimmy Buffett held a benefit concert for Save the Salt Ponds and Reef Relief at Wickers Field before a sell-out crowd.
Information compiled by Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, Florida Keys History Center, Monroe County Public Library
Image: Clarence Till. Florida Keys History Center, Monroe County Public Library. https://www.flickr.com/photos/keyslibraries/26100574332