1975 – The cruise ship Pacific Princess made its third visit to Key West in a month. Greeters presented hibiscus flowers to lady passengers as they disembarked, and tea towels from Key West Hand Print Fabrics were given to all passengers.

1975 – The Florida State Unemployment Compensation Bureau in Key West moved from 419 to 421 Caroline Street. Both addresses were within the same building.

1962 – Florida State Road Department surveyors were in Key West to examine the site for a proposed causeway to cross Garrison Bight. The span, to be built on fill from deepening the bight, would start between First and Fifth Streets on one end and join Palm Avenue at the intersection of Eisenhower Drive on the other.

1947 – The U.S. Civil Aeronautics Board authorized National Airlines to provide air service between Key West and Havana.

1955 – To “protect the efficiency, health, and welfare of military personnel,” the U.S. Navy declared three Key West businesses “off limits” for all enlisted men and officers: The 116 Club at 116 Fitzpatrick Street; a rooming house at 119 Duval Street; and The Tattoo at 713 ½ Duval Street.

1967 – The Navy announced that Truman Beach adjacent to Fort Taylor was permanently closed, with facilities moved to the Beach Patio area. The beach was closed because recent harbor dredging had carried away most of the sand, making the area dangerous.

1946 – The Monroe County Sheriff’s Department held a public demolition of recently-seized slot machines at the courthouse in Key West. The illegal gambling devices had been taken from Weaver’s Tourist Camp on Stock Island and Eddie’s Fish Basket on Sugarloaf Key. 

1956 – The Florida Internal Improvement Board turned down the City of Key West’s request for an 11.48-acre site at the foot of Whitehead Street for the establishment of a recreation area. The city wanted to turn the area into a beach that would be connected to the island by an extension of Whitehead Street.

1956 – Democratic Presidential candidate Tennessee Senator Estes Kefauver was campaigning in Key West. He promised Mayor C.B. Harvey that if he was elected, he would make Key West his vacation headquarters.

1911 – Norberg Thomson began construction of a concrete building that would house his cigar box factory on Caroline Street in Key West. The wooden boxes would be used by the local cigar manufactories.

1957 – The second mate and an oiler of the Key West-to-Havana ferry SS City of Havana were taken into custody by federal authorities at Key West on charges of smuggling aliens into the United States.

1962 – The Key West Citizen’s “Power for Peace” float was awarded the best-of-theme prize in the Key West Armed Forces Day parade.  

1913 – Agustin Parla Orduna, a Key West native, flew his sea plane to Cuba, becoming the second man to fly across the Florida Straits.

1989 – Shorty’s Diner, an institution on Key West’s Duval Street since 1942, closed. A.J. Galloway, son of the founder, announced he was moving to central Florida and taking a long rest.

1976 – The Singleton Corporation announced they had bought Sea Farms, Inc. and the Thompson & O’Neal Shrimp Company. The purchase included most of the waterfront of Key West Bight.

1961 – Key West’s Thirteenth Street was renamed to Kennedy Drive, and Fifth Street was changed to Macmillan Drive, to commemorate the meeting of President John F. Kennedy and British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan on the island.

1959 – Rear Admiral Francis D. McCorkle, Commanding Officer of Naval Station Key West, was unanimously chosen to be Grand Marshal for the island’s annual Armed Forces Day parade. The popular McCorkle, a highly decorated war hero, was considered an “adopted son” by Key Westers.

1873 – Lodge No. 13 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows was instituted at Key West.

1975 – The City of Key West was awarded a federal grant of $201,000 for its “Downtown ’76” restoration and redevelopment project. The funds would be used to make improvements along Duval Street in time for the nation’s Bicentennial observance.

1980 – A one-day record of 5,117 refugees arrived at Key West during the boatlift from Mariel, Cuba.