1964 – Bernie C. Papy, 62-year-old Key West political leader, died. He had served 14 consecutive terms in the state legislature before at last being defeated in 1962. Papy was a powerful and influential Monroe County politician, and at the height of his career was called “King of the Keys.”

1952 – Charles Cremata, a member of the Key West Fire Department for 15 years, was named fire chief. He replaced Leroy Torres, who had died two weeks before.

1956 – Construction of Key West’s new International Airport was expected to cost $1.1 million by the time of its scheduled opening in March 1957. The facility was badly needed as the number of passengers was growing considerably, from 39,000 in 1947 to an estimated 170,000 in 1956.

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.

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.

1980 – A task force of Key West business leaders was formed to combat the perception that Cuban refugees from the Mariel boatlift had overwhelmed the island. Merchants reported that business was down between 25 and 50 per cent compared to the previous year.

1935 – A film crew from Pathé News was in Key West to film interesting aspects of the island. On this date, they documented Raul’s Aquarium on Roosevelt Boulevard.

1976 – Monroe County commissioners voted to demolish the long-abandoned and “haunted” Clark mansion in Marathon. The once-palatial waterfront home had been vacant since the owner was found floating dead in an adjacent lagoon over 20 years earlier. In more recent times the structure had been occupied by transient squatters.

1945 – Harold Colee, executive vice president of the Florida State Chamber of Commerce, presented a centennial plaque to William Curry & Sons of Key West. William Curry & Sons, founded in 1843, was one only three businesses in the state that have been in continuous operation for more than 100 years.

1962 – The House Appropriations Committee in Washington approved a $2,516,000 expenditure for a new bachelor officers’ quarters building to be located on the Trumbo Seaplane Base. The new facility would be centrally located and replace all existing BOQs on the base.

1941 – The old Consumers’ Ice Plant at James and Grinnell streets in Key West burned. Firefighters had an especially difficult time with the idle structure’s cork insulation, which smoldered for hours after the main blaze was extinguished.

1939 – A Works Progress Administration sewer line project employing 442 Key West men had, to date, laid 20 miles of sewer pipe in the city.

1975 – Key West-based air Sunshine announced that despite rising fuel costs, they would not raise fares.

1911 – The French line steamer Louisiane, which had gone ashore at Sombrero Key in the hurricane of October 2010, was refloated.

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