1914 – The U.S. Internal Revenue office was at 423 Front Street. The Deputy Collector was C.L. Knowles, and J.L. Johnson was the Stamp Deputy.

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.

1954 – Key West City Commissioners gave Al Logun, owner of Logun’s Lobster House at the south end of Simonton Street, approval to extend the street 100 feet into the ocean. The extension would alleviate a crowded parking situation and provide visitors with a better view of the water. 

1958 – Famed band leader Guy Lombardo announced he was buying the Shamrock Restaurant and Key Colony Beach Club from Phil Sadowski. Lombardo said the Florida Keys should expect to see more of him and his band, the Royal Canadians.

1956 – The Monroe County School Board agreed to name a new elementary school on United Street May Sands Elementary School, the new high school on Flagler Avenue Key West High School, and the junior high school going into the old high school building on White Street Memorial Junior High School.

1957 – A ground-breaking ceremony was held for construction of the Key West Moose Lodge on Eisenhower Drive. The organization had recently purchased the lot for the club’s new home.

1961 – ABC Television aired an episode of the series “Expedition” featuring Marathon and the Middle Keys, with a focus on the area’s recovery from Hurricane Donna.

1943 – The Pirate’s Cove Fishing Lodge, along Bow Channel on Sugarloaf Key, was turned over to the Coast Guard. Work started immediately to convert the buildings into barracks for the Guardsmen who would be protecting Keys waters. 

1958 – Billy Watkins Moody, serving a sentence in Monroe County Jail for larceny, admitted to having started multiple fires in Key West.

1930 – The Lighthouse Service determined that small, battery-powered elecric light were a feasible replacement for those lit by gas.

1954 – The state Hotel Commission gave notice to the Island City House at 411 William Street that their license had been revoked.

1869 – Dr. Samuel Mudd, who had been a prisoner for four years at Fort Jefferson, was pardoned and released.

1935 – An excursion to Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas was offered to up to 16 passengers on the Commodore seaplane.

1912 – “Opening the Over Sea Railway to Key West” was the cover story of Collier’s National Weekly Magazine.

1925 – The Key West sponge fleet left port for their second trip of the season to the sponging grounds near Bahia Honda.

Caribbean monk seals were part of the Keys eco-system for thousands of years - but were driven to extinction about 100 years ago.