1957 – Miguel Garcia became the first person to water ski from Havana to Key West, accomplishing the feat in four hours and 15 minutes and using one ski. Garcia was backed by the Cuban National Sports Commission and the Key West Chamber of Commerce, which held a reception for him after his landing.

1966 – Marine Lance Corporal Leland (Skipper) Albury, a Key West native, died from wounds he received in battle in Vietnam. Albury was a renowned tennis player for the Key West High School team, and the courts at Bayview Park are named in his honor.

1930 – The Key West Pilot Commission voted to cut pilotage charges in half on all ships calling for fuel, supplies, repairs, or other needs. The move was made to encourage more shipping at the port of Key West.

1925 – A new hotel to be built on a one-block lot at the corner of Washington and Thompson streets in Key West, and called the Ruy Lopez Hotel, was announced. In addition to the hotel, a new 15-block subdivision between it and the Atlantic Ocean was also planned.

1905 – Members of Key West’s Black community were urging a boycott of the Key West electric railway on account of a new “Jim Crow” rule that was scheduled to go into effect on July 1 to separate streetcar passengers by race.

1930 – It was reported that 100 sharks, averaging 7 feet each, were being caught daily near Big Pine Key by boats working for the Hydenoil Company. “Not a particle of the shark is thrown away” was said of Hydenoil’s processing system, which focused on shark leather and liver oil.

1916 – A Tampa newspaper correspondent reported, “The Key West Athletic building is becoming more popular every day. Every afternoon large crowds are seated in its cool porches enjoying the delightful sea breezes for which this city is famous.”

1936 – The Florida East Coast Railway company inquired to the Mallory Steamship Lines about moving 26,500 tons of rails, ties, and equipment, indicating it was preparing to remove the tracks of the Oversea Railroad.

1942 – The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Thetis sank the German submarine U-157 22 miles south of the Marquesas Keys by dropping seven depth charges around it. The kill was confirmed when clothing and other debris from the sub floated to the surface. The U-157 was the only U-Boat sunk in South Florida during World War II.

1959 – The Key West High School baseball team won the Class A State High School championship with a 3-to-2 victory over Milton High.

1962 – A reception was held at Truman Elementary School to honor Miss Miriam Carey, who was retiring after 43 years of teaching. The beloved Carey had taught multiple generations of Key Westers, and she was named Florida’s “Teacher of the Year” in 1960.

2015 – Members of the Douglass High School Class of 1965, the last to graduate from the segregated Key West school, gathered at the Marriott Beachside Resort for a 50th reunion.  “It’s always a pleasure to be among people you’ve known for years and some you haven’t seen in years,” said an attendee.  

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.

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

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. 

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.

1954 – Taxi drivers from two cab companies petitioned the Key West City Commission for exclusive rights to their traditional stand on Duval Street near Greene. They said outside drivers were moving in, which was creating crowding and a traffic hazard.

1963 – Entomologists were zeroing in a species of whitefly recently found on Stock Island as the spreader of a lethal yellowing virus that was destroying coconut palms. Since its first appearance in Key West in 1954, the disease had killed 80% of Lower Keys coconut trees.

1951 – A new concrete tennis court was opened at Key West’s Bayview Park, complementing two existing asphalt courts.

1959 – A simulated nuclear bomb drop was the central feature of Civil Defense exercises in Key West.