June 29

Marine Lance Corporal Leland W. (Skipper) Albury of Key West.

1875 - Key West health officer J. Vining Harris issued a dispatch reporting a death from yellow fever. “I am sorry to have to inform you of the prevalence of this disease as an epidemic at this time,” he wrote.

1940 – Thorvald Solberg, the first Registrar of Copyrights of the United States, visited Key West and stayed at the Overseas Hotel. Solberg had retired after having served over 50 years in the Library of Congress, but he continued to travel and write.

1951 – A Navy PBM crashed near Dredger’s Key after taking off from the Key West Sea Plane Base, killing eight of the nine-man crew.

1958 – The youth of Key West had divided reactions to the increasingly popular song “The Purple People Eater.” Gerald Thompson’s sentiment was typical: He thought the music was good but did not like the words.

1966 – Marine Lance Corporal Leland (Skipper) Albury, a Key West native, died from wounds he received in battle in Vietnam. Albury was a renowned tennis player for the Key West High School team, and the courts at Bayview Park are named in his honor.

1973 – Destroyer Squadron 18 and Submarine Squadron 12 were decommissioned in a joint ceremony at the Naval Station Key West. This ended Key West Naval Station’s use as an active base for submarines and destroyers that began before World War II.

1984 – A federal grand jury indicted a total of 22 people, charging them with a variety of offenses in connection with the operating of a cocaine trafficking ring and a protection network. Included in the group were the Key West deputy chief of police and two detectives.

Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.

Image: Marine Lance Corporal Leland W. (Skipper) Albury of Key West. Albury was killed in action in Vietnam on June 29, 1966. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.