1830 – William Hackley recorded in his diary: Rose with the dawn and read the papers. The British Brig Allegro which was wrecked sometime since sailed today having undergone complete repairs under the direction of the English vice counsel who is also the agent for Lloyds. Broke a gap in my knife which took me some time to obliterate and afterward Captain John Jackson came in which made it so late that the time I had set aside for reading the “Acts” had elapsed so I read Hammond. After dinner read Stewart. In the evening Captain Jackson called again and sat sometime. A man by the name of Willis who lives on Key Vacas came down today and brought a load of sugar cane which are the finest I have ever seen. One of the finest and that not the largest which I purchased of him measured in circumference seven inches and in length ten feet and there were twenty six ripe joints on it besides several which had been cutoff in severing it from the roots. The other stalks of cane tho not so large generally ran uncommonly fine, much better indeed than any I have seen brought over from Cuba. If a man of any energy were to turn his attention to the cultivation of the Keys he could not fail in a short time and indeed the more I see and hear and the better I become acquainted with the Territory of Florida the better I am pleased with it. Played whist until after nine. The wind still continues from the northward and eastward but more moderately.
1923 – Florida Publishing Company, publisher of “Florida,” a Cuban weekly newspaper, was at 727 Whitehead St. Feliciano Castro was the editor and Juan P. Rolo the manager.
1923 – M.K. Gwyn was the surgeon in charge of the United States Marine Hospital.
1930 – The U.S. Coast Guard, while chasing a rum-running boat near Key West, fired at the boat before it stopped and the three men were arrested. The men claimed that Willie (Twisteye) Demerritt had been shot and fell overboard. A search failed to find his body. The local authorities tried to charge the Coast Guard men with murder but they were taken out of town and charges dropped. Demerritt was never seen again.
1960 – An Aerovias Q flight was hijacked over Cuba and forced to fly to Key West. In the hijacking, a Cuban guard was killed and three people were wounded.
Information compiled by Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, Florida Keys History Center, Monroe County Public Library
Image: Aerovias Q plane in Key West circa1950s. Jeff Broadhead Collection. Florida Keys History Center, Monroe County Public Library. https://www.flickr.com/photos/keyslibraries/8501289984