1832 – John James Audubon left from Charleston on board the Revenue Cutter Marion, bound for the Florida Keys.
1917 – Fire destroyed 18 houses known as the Murray Property at the corner of United and Thomas streets.
1923 – The Arthur Sawyer Post of the American Legion at Key West had raised enough funds to move the YMCA building at Fort Taylor to a new location at the corner of Whitehead and Southard Streets, where it would serve as their new post.
1934 – The Key West Fire Department received three gas masks. Chief Baker said the modern devices would allow his men to enter buildings with no fear of suffocation or asphyxiation from smoke or other gases.
1955 – Dorothy Raymer returned to The Key West Citizen as society editor. She previously held the post from 1951 to 1952.
1980 – The US Fish & Wildlife Service purchased 7,000 acres of North Key Largo to establish the Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge. One of the primary goals of the acquisition was to aid the recovery of the endangered American crocodile, of which it was estimated only 400-500 survived.
1982 – The roadblock, established by the U.S. Border Patrol to check the citizenship of everyone leaving Monroe County, continued despite efforts by locals to have it removed.
1990 – French President Francois Mitterand and President George H.W. Bush met at Ocean Reef on Key Largo. They proposed that the 16 NATO allies hold a summit to discuss the changing face of Europe.
Information compiled by Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Arthur Sawyer Post, American Legion on the Truman Annex before World War II. From the DeWolfe and Wood Collection in the Otto Hirzel Scrapbook. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.