1941 – Joe “Sloppy Joe” Russell, famed Key West bar operator, was stricken with a sudden illness while visiting his friend Ernest Hemingway in Cuba and died in a Havana hospital at age 51.

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.

1937 – The turtling schooner A.M. Adams arrived in Key West on its first voyage, delivering a cargo of 380 green sea turtles.

1911 – Curtiss Aircraft test pilot J.A.W. McCurdy attempted to fly from Key West to Havana but crashed just short of the goal.