1926 – Eduardo H. Gato, Key West’s leading cigar manufacturer, died in Havana. He was born in Cuba in 1847 and came to Key West in 1874. His factory employed more than 500 workers. His last factory on Simonton Street still stands and is now used for Monroe County government offices.

1955 – Admiral the Earl Mountbatten of Burma, K.G., the First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff for Great Britain, accompanied by U.S. Navy Chief of Staff Admiral Arleigh Burke, arrived in Key West for a demonstration cruise aboard the Navy’s cutting-edge submarine USS Albacore. 

1975 – City of Key West officials met with members of the Old Island Restoration Commission, and all agreed to an ordinance that would give the OIRC jurisdiction over the construction, repair, or alteration of structures in the city’s historic district.

1960 – Hurricane Donna passed over the Middle and Upper Keys with 150-mph winds, causing extensive damage: Over half of the structures from Marathon to Islamorada were destroyed; tides were 9 to 13.5 feet above normal; six highway bridges were severely damaged, and the water pipeline was wrecked in five places.

1981 – Peter Pell, one of the founders of Key West Hand Print Fabrics, died suddenly at his home in Key West. Pell, with his partner James Russell, founded Hand Print Fabrics in the early 1960’s.

1962 – The submarine USS Sea Poacher (SS 406) recorded its 5,000th dive in Gulf Stream waters off Key West. Sea Poacher was launched in 1944 and had been in Key West since 1951.

1958 – Over 300 members of the Outdoor Writers Association of America were holding their annual convention at Key Colony Beach. The group participated in laying the cornerstone of the new Key Colony Beach Convention Center. 

1961 – Key West’s Thirteenth Street was renamed to Kennedy Drive, and Fifth Street was changed to Macmillan Drive, to commemorate the meeting of President John F. Kennedy and British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan on the island.

1970 – The USS Quillback (SS 525) was open to the public for tours at Naval Station Key West’s Pier 1.

1955 – Southern Bell Telephone Company installed new dial equipment that gave all 8,700 phones in Key West new numbers.

1935 – A resolution by aFlorida Congressman to designate Key West Naval base a winter station for submarines met opposition from the Navy.

1993 – Key West resident and Pulitzer Prize-winning author John Hersey died at age 78.

1964 – The Navy awarded a $1,967,209 contract to Bauer Dredging Company to deepen Key West’s main ship’s channel to 34 feet.

1953 – The Key West City Commission approved a resolution that changed the name of Salt Pond Road to Jose Marti Drive.

1925 – At midnight, the U.S. Weather Bureau station at Sand Key was closed.

1935 – The cabanas at Rest Beach were fully booked by winter visitors for the season.

1946 – The U.S. Navy announced that a submarine squadron consisting of one tender and 10 submarines would be based in Key West.

1975 – Spurred by recent national press coverage, local interest was renewed in the Japanese “Midget C” submarine displayed in Key West.