1948 – President Harry Truman arrived in Key West for a vacation and a crowd estimated at 25,000 lined the streets to greet his motorcade as it went to the Little White House. It was one of the largest gatherings ever assembled in Key West.

1991 – The Key West City Commission backed down from renaming DuPont Lane for local businessman David Wolkowsky when they learned the original designation recognized Charles DuPont, the first Black man elected sheriff in Monroe County, and not the family of DuPont Chemical fame. Sheriff DuPont had lived at 725 Duval St., in front of the lane.

1946 – Residents in the 2500 block of Seidenberg Avenue in Key West complained about multiple loud explosions in the neighborhood that were coming from dynamiting by Charles Toppino & Sons, who were filling low-lying lots in the area. The city gave the company three weeks to complete the project.

1956 – Monroe County public schools had 5,712 students enrolled for the year. This was a 6 percent increase over 1955, which had already grown 10 percent from 1954.

1937 – A plan was approved to remove WPA highway workers from the Upper Keys and bring them to Key West in case of a hurricane. Coast Guard patrol boats were to be used to move the men to No Name Key where they would then be taken to Key West by automobile.

1963 – A strike by retail clerks of the Food Fair supermarkets in the Florida Keys became violent. In Key West, there was a bomb threat, a company accountant was beaten, and a newly hired cashier had his tires slashed. In Marathon, the store manager was threatened by a young man carrying a rifle.

1904 – The new St. Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Church on Division Street (now Truman Avenue) in Key West was dedicated by the Rt. Rev. W.J. Kenny, D.D., Bishop of St. Augustine. Solemn high mass was led by Reverend Father A.B. Friend, and music for the event was provided by Ayala’s orchestra, accompanied by the grand organ.

1978 – David Wolkowsky bought the Kress Building at 500 Duval Street in Key West from Norman Artman for $210,000.

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.

1926 – Boy Scout Troop No.1 of Key West was encamped at Pigeon Key. “There is some of the best fishing and swimming in the world to be had two hundred feet from camp. The boys say that this is the best time they have ever had,” wrote scoutmaster Charles Sands.

1961 – Monroe County Commissioner Clarence Higgs died suddenly at his Grinnell Street home in Key West at age 59. Higgs had been on the commission since 1944, and he was active in organized labor, having served as business manager of the local Carpenters’ Union for 22 years.

1980 – The Monroe County Advertising Commission allocated an additional $10,000 from its budget for advertising in South Florida to help turn around tourism losses resulting from damaging press about the Mariel Boatlift.

1926 – The Key West trolleys and tracks, along with their accompanying electric lines, began to be removed from city streets. The cars, because they were not of a standard gauge and were of an obsolete “open” style, would be sold for scrap.

1994 – The number of Cuban refugees who successfully crossed the Florida Straits in 1994 surpassed the 3,656 who completed the journey in 1993. Authorities estimated that only 4 out of 10 who attempted the crossing were successful.

1926 – Jumbo, a loggerhead sea turtle, celebrated his third birthday at the aquarium at the eastern end of Key West. Jumbo had been hatched in a sandbox onboard Peter Roberts’ fishing boat and then hand-raised alongside Roberts’ dock for two years, before being transferred to the aquarium because of his increasing size.

2001 – The City of Key West banned commercial kayaking tours in the island’s Salt Ponds.

1887 – As yellow fever raged across Key West, local health officers and officials of the Marine Hospital Service discussed a plan to remove people who were not “acclimated” to the disease from the island city to another key.

1923 – The local Key West baseball team defeated the visiting Havana Police Department contingent 5 to 3. Will Daughtry and “Midget” Sevilla were the outstanding players.

1992 – Key West’s El Salvador United Methodist Church disbanded after 115 years.

1979 – Acclaimed playwright and Key West resident Tennessee Williams and his friend Datson Rader were assaulted on Duval Street. Both men were punched but neither needed medical attention. Williams said of the attackers, “Maybe they weren't punks at all, but instead New York drama critics.”