1998 – The USCGC Keeper-class cutter Joshua Appleby (WLM 556) was launched. It was named for the keeper of the Sand Key Lighthouse who was killed by the hurricane of October 11, 1846.

1953 – Charles Aronovitz retired from the Key West business his father started in 1889 and which he had taken over in 1939. The Aronovitz name would remain on the island, though, as his son Sidney opened another retail store at 622 Duval Street.

1926 – The Monroe County Board of Public Instruction opened the bidding process for the construction of a kindergarten building at the corner of South and Reynolds streets and a high school annex at White and Seminary streets. Both projects had been long needed in Key West.

1936 – Prompted by the hurricane that struck the Upper Keys the previous September, a representative for the Works Progress Administration was in Key West to survey school buildings, City Hall, and the County Courthouse in preparation for making them more storm resistant.

1946 – The Marathon Chamber of Commerce said the community had grown to the point that the establishment of banking facilities was essential, and the group was starting a movement to establish a bank there.

1924 – Richard Peacon, Jr. died at his home at age 64. For 38 years he had operated a grocery store in Key West, and the time of his death he had the largest store on the island, located at the corner of Fleming and William streets.

1954 – Famed dancer Sally Rand was in trouble with the Bureau of Internal Revenue, which ordered her two Key West properties to be sold to pay back taxes.

1958 – Boog Powell was the leading hitter for the Key West High School varsity baseball team. Across the ’58 season, Powell had 27 hits in 64 at bats for a .415 average, along with 21 RBIs.

1954 – The Navy blimp ZPG-2, the world’s largest at 342 feet long, landed at Boca Chica Naval Air Station after being aloft for more than 200 hours without refueling – a new record. It had traveled from New Jersey and through the Caribbean before landing.

1926 – The shipment of Cuban pineapples from Key West by train was stymied when 150 men who transferred the fruit from the steamships to the rails walked off the job, demanding 60 cents an hour instead of 50 cents. The pineapple season was at its peak, and 160 railcar loads had shipped the day before.

1956 – Cuban Treasurer General Plutarco Villalobo Marquez presented a marble bust of José Martí to the Key West Art & Historical Society. Mayor C.B. Harvey thanked the Cuban government in both English and Spanish for the gesture of friendship.

1926 – Monroe County High School was accredited by the Florida Department of Education as a Class A institution. Graduates could now enter Florida colleges and universities without taking an examination.

1956 – The members of the First Baptist Church in Key West voted to build a new church building at their property on the corner of Eaton and Bahama streets, after the previous structure had been destroyed by fire a month earlier.

1955 – Work on the stands for the Key West High School Stadium was well underway, and the job was expected to be completed within the week. When done, the stands would seat 3,076 people.

1946 – Four Key West bars – Duffy’s Tavern at 506 Fleming; Boat Bar at 503 Duval; Bahama Club at 519 Duval; and Raoul’s Place on Smith Lane – were warned that their licenses could soon be revoked because they were within 300 feet of the San Carlos building, which housed a school.

1946 – As part of a “general clean-up” of the area, the Aeromarine Airways sheds on the beach at the foot of Duval Street were torn down. The twin sheds, from where Aeromarine “flying boats” traveled between Key West and Havana starting in 1920, were the first international air station in the United States.

1946 – In preparation of its new Key West distribution center, the Gulf Oil Company began construction of four 15,000-gallon tanks at its 0 Duval Street docks along the harbor front.

1986 – An 18½-foot, five-ton steel sculpture of a conch shell was installed at the entrance to Key West High School. The massive artwork was created by the school’s welding teacher George Carey and his 36 students. Dubbed the “largest conch shell in the world,” it took eight months to complete.

1942 – Four city blocks were condemned for expansion of the Key West Naval Station: One bounded by Whitehead, Fleming, Thomas and Eaton streets; others from Eaton to Angela between Thomas and Emma. The owners of the many homes in those blocks were paid a total of $165,702 for their properties.

1902 – Ground was broken for the foundation of the Key West Armory, and the John Lowe sawmill was cutting timber for the building’s construction.