1955 – An eight-event race card was topped by a 30-lap feature race at the new Stock Island Speedway. Over 1,500 fans were on hand to watch drivers from the Key West Stock Car Association compete with rival racers from Miami.

1935 – Officials from the Florida Works Progress Administration met with a large group of sponge fishermen to discuss the idea of a cooperative sponge exchange in Key West. By bringing better structure to the industry and finding new ways to market the product, it was thought Keys sponging could be revitalized.

1948 – Fausto Castillo began construction of a new Fausto’s grocery store at the corner of Fleming and Bahama streets in Key West.

1905 – A large group of Key Westers returned on the steamship Olivette after visiting the fair at Tampa. It was estimated that about 1,000 islanders had gone to see the fair in recent days.

1985 – The widening of U.S. 1 to four lanes through Marathon began with the stretch between 105th to 122nd Streets. The entirety of the road, from 41st Street to Coco Plum Drive, would eventually be done across multiple phases.

1960 – After the accidental shooting of a Miami man on No Name Key, Monroe County Sheriff’s officials denied reports the island was being used as an amphibious invasion training ground by Cuban refugees. Instead, they said, it was a group of unemployed drifters who had decided to “live off the land” of the remote key.

1960 – The East Martello Tower Museum opened a new exhibit called “The Playhouse,” which featured toys housed in the first playhouse built in Key West.

1985 – After months of delay and debate, Key West city commissioners approved development of “The Village at Key West” on 112 acres adjacent to the Stock Island landfill. The project was to include a 339-room hotel and convention center, 192 condominiums, a marina and a beach, a restaurant, and 10 retail shops.

1924 – The cornerstone of the new St. Peter’s Episcopal Church on Center Street in Key West was laid by the Reverend Cameron Mann, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of South Florida.

1918 – The Florida East Coast Hotel system announced that, with the end of World War I, the U.S. War Department had released the men and material necessary for the company to resume construction on the Casa Marina Hotel.

1946 – President Harry Truman arrived at Key West to begin his first of many vacations at the Little White House. He stayed for a week.

2008 – Due to the year-long economic down-turn, Florida Keys marinas were struggling to fill slips. Many were on the verge of bankruptcy.

1921 – Capt. John W. Pierce retired after serving 62 years as a coast and bar pilot at Key West, where he was generally considered the dean of pilots between Hampton Roads and Pensacola. Pierce was born on the island in 1839, to parents who had emigrated from Bermuda.

1937 – The Florida Keys Hurricane Monument on Upper Matecumbe Key was dedicated. The Monument was in memory of those who lost their lives in the Labor Day Storm of 1935, and the ashes of 23 of the victims were interred at the site.

1974 – Filming for “92 in the Shade” began at the Cow Key Marina on Stock Island, with actors Peter Fonda, Warren Oates, and Margot Kidder. The film, based on author Thomas McGuane’s novel of the same name, told a tale of rival Keys charter fishermen.

1996 – Key West native and aviation pioneer Steven F. Whalton died on his 96th birthday. He was the third employee of Pan American World Airways.

2015 – After a year of construction, the new Vietnam Living Memorial in Key West’s Bayview Park was unveiled. Hundreds attended the event, many of them veterans, along with their families and supporters.

1975 – According to a count by Hank Kokenzie, Director of Veterans Affairs for Monroe County, there were approximately 12,000 U.S. military veterans residing in the Keys.

1940 – The Navy was building 50 housing units for low-income personnel at the Trumbo Air Base – 17 two-family and 16 single-family buildings. 

1975 – A new city arena for horse shows and other equestrian events opened at Peary Court with a two-day championship rodeo sponsored by the Key West Fire Department. The arena was dedicated to Gilbert Gates, Jr. and Larry Brennan, two Key West boys electrocuted in a tragic boating accident.