June 20
- Florida Keys History Center
- 8 hours ago
- 1 min read
1918 – Congress was eyeing the expansion of the submarine base at Key West, which would require the transfer of land from the Fort Taylor reservation from War Department ownership to the Navy Department.
1941 – Joe “Sloppy Joe” Russell, bar operator and friend of writer Ernest Hemingway, died in Havana at age 51.
1946 – Captain W.H. Hamilton, who had been in command of the U.S. Naval Air Station Key West, left for his new duties and Commander C.W. Rooney was named acting Commanding Officer.
1946 – A plane from Cuba’s Aerovias Q airline made a 30-minute flight from Havana to Key West to establish regular air service between the two cities. Aerovias Q representatives then met with Keys officials to discuss specifics of the new connection.
1951 – President Galo Plaza of Ecuador, with an official party, arrived in Key West early in the morning. They went to the Little White House for a brief rest before flying to Washington for a meeting with President Truman.
1952 – Monroe County School systems needed to hire 30 more teachers to handle the ever-growing school population.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: A plane from the Cuban airline Aerovias Q at the Key West airport, ca. 1950. Jeff Broadhead Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
