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.

1962 – Square dancers from all 50 states converged on Key West to begin two days of dancing at the island’s convention center. Their “End of U.S. 1 Jamboree” was a follow-up to a just-completed national convention in Miami Beach.

1975 – The Florida State Unemployment Compensation Bureau in Key West moved from 419 to 421 Caroline Street. Both addresses were within the same building.

1959 – Some 25 members of the Marathon-based Tortugas Shrimpers Association met with elected officials in Tallahassee to urge the passage of a bill that would reopen areas of the Tortugas shrimp beds that had been closed for conservation.

1986 – The last “Blessing of the Shrimp Fleet” took place, with Father Tony Mullane performing the service.

1935 – The Long Key Fishing Camp was hosting its largest group of anglers in five years.

1934 – The Long Key Fishing Camp opened a week early for its 1935 season, and guests had already arrived.

1954 – The Key West Chamber of Commerce opened an anti-noise campaign by sending letters to over 900 motorcycle and motor scooter owners.

1910 – The Key West Bar Association met to gather support for the formation of a new judicial circuit.

1919 – The city council of Havana voted to donate a stage curtain for the new San Carlos Institute building at Key West.