August 9
- Florida Keys History Center
- Aug 8
- 2 min read
1906 – Dr. J.W.V.R. Plummer died at age 64. He had come to Key West during the Civil War and was a prominent physician and civic leader. He served in the state legislature and was mayor of Key West from 1886 to 1888.
1950 – Thousands of fish were found in Key West streets after a heavy rain, with most along Caroline Street between William and Grinnell. One theory was that a large waterspout had carried the fish ashore, an idea supported by the fact that most of the fish were mullet which swim on the surface. Others insisted it had rained fish, and one man said he saw a full-grown sponge fall from the sky.
1953 – Infantry Sergeant Julio La Torre of Key West was among the first prisoners of war released by the North Korean military. He had been held captive for two and half years.
1956 – Key West Police Chief B.G. Perez warned parents that the city had a 9 p.m. curfew for children under 16, and it would be strictly administered. “The juvenile problem here has reached such proportions that we are forced to make no exceptions in the enforcement,” said Perez.
1965 – The ship Seven Seas was towed into the Port of Key West by the Coast Guard after the ship was found disabled at sea. A crewman had killed five of his fellow crewmen and then left the vessel in a small boat. He was later saved by another ship and turned over to the Coast Guard. He was charged with murder in federal court in Miami.
1966 – Professor Ros Bushnell of the Florida Keys Junior College was asking Keys residents to notify him if they discovered any manatee carcasses. “We’re doing some research on the strange-looking sea cows…however, all the instruction is by books. We don’t have any specimens to examine,” said the professor.
1967 – Key West won the Florida State Junior Major League baseball championship with a 3 to 2 victory over St. Petersburg.
2001 – The pilot of an airplane on a “mile high club” excursion was the only survivor after the aircraft crashed in the Florida Straits south of Key West. A couple had booked the flight for an intimate airborne excursion when, once aloft, they tried to hijack it to Cuba. In the resulting scuffle, the pilot lost control and the plane crashed. The hijackers were killed.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: A Florida Keys waterspout, 1971. Photo by Charles H. Anderson from Wright Langley Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
