1928 – President Calvin and First Lady Grace Coolidge arrived in Key West on the cruiser Memphis from Havana. Mayor Leslie Curry gave them a tour of the Naval Station, Army Barracks, and Meacham Airport, followed by a ride along the Boulevard. Crowds lined the streets, and hundreds of schoolchildren assembled at Bayview Park to cheer the distinguished visitors.

1928 – The first transoceanic airplanes in passenger service flew from Key West’s Meacham Field to Havana. The first Pan-American-operated plane carried mail and three passengers: Thomas Bryson, editor of the Citizen; Louis Bragassa, deputy collector of customs; and Albert Caviness, assistant emigration inspector. Passengers on a second plane were: Jorge Ponce, Cuban consul to Key West; Mr. and Mrs. Charles Peyson of New York; and Commander John Loudon, aide to President Cool

1911 – The 1910 U.S. census showed Key West had a population of 19,945. This was a significant increase from the 17,114 residents counted in 1900.

1951 – Popular entertainment personality Arthur Godfrey broadcast his daily, nationwide CBS Radio show from Pigeon Key.

2000 – After a two-year overhaul, the WWII-era patrol torpedo boat PT-728 was launched at Stock Island. The historic vessel would be berthed in Key West Bight and available for passenger tours.

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.

1960 – Monroe County was second place in the state for the highest percentage of homes with television sets: Of 16,400 residences, 90 percent had TVs. Broward County led with 91 percent.

1945 – The Key West Drug Company, at the corner of Simonton and Fleming streets, featured a window display of trophies collected in the South Pacific by Key Wester Leo Braxton Warren, Chief Pharmacist Mate, USN, during his wartime service.

1946 – After being re-tested, the waters of South Beach in Key West were declared safe and free of all disease germs. Staff from the Navy Hospital had issued a warning earlier in the week saying the beach was contaminated, unsafe for bathing, and off-limits to Navy personnel.

2011 – Islamorada’s Cheeca Lodge was purchased for $100 million by a subsidiary of New York-based Northwood Investors. In 2003, the property had sold for $33 million.

1863 – In a ceremony at Clinton Place in Key West, the local citizenry presented a $750 gold sword to Colonel Tilghman H. Good, Commander of the 47th Pennsylvania Regiment. Col. Good had rescinded an order that would have banished to Charleston nearly 600 Key Westers suspected of being Confederate sympathizers.

1950 - The USO/YMCA at the corner of Whitehead and Southard streets provided services and entertainment to the military men stationed in Key West.

1957 – Someone stole $7,311.89 from the Food Fair supermarket in Key West. The money was taken from the store’s safe, which was not broken into and had instead been opened by a combination known only to a few. “We have a very limited number of suspects,” said Key West Police.

1907 – The Excavator No.1 boat was blown up and destroyed by a gasoline explosion while employed on the Florida East Coat Railroad extension. Capt. Benjamin Peacon and Sonny Parks of Key West were severely burned and brought to the island for treatment.

1914 – Morris Garfunkel, who had long owned the Gulf City Furniture Company in Key West, announced he would soon be leaving the island to engage in business in Detroit, Michigan.

1962 – Rudy’s Bar was at 124 Duval Street, occupying the former Key West Custom House building, which had been moved to the location in 1891.

1917 - Ground was broken for the first Naval Air Station on Trumbo Point. The new air facility was on land rented from the Florida East Coast Railroad.

1974 – Fire destroyed the La Plaza grocery at 630 Fleming Street in Key West and an adjacent store and conch house at 628 and 624 Fleming. An Elizabeth Street home was damaged. The grocery building, across from the Key West Library, originally housed Pierce Bros. Hardware, established 75 years earlier.

1962 – Key West City Commissioner John dePoo was demanding that the archway signs proclaiming Telegraph Lane to be “Mitchell Wolfson Way” be removed as they had never been formally approved.

1990 – Key West Mayor Tony Tarracino and Corrine Crockett of Blue Heaven, Inc., a not-for-profit organization, cut the ribbon for the first Bahama Village Caribbean Festival. Musician Coffee Butler provided live entertainment, and island food and handicrafts were available along Petronia Street. Similar festivals were planned for the first Sunday of every month.