1823 – Commodore David Porter of the U.S. Navy’s anti-piracy squadron was ill at Key West with yellow fever. Though there was hope for his improvement, he “was labouring principally under great debility.”
1884 – William Whitehead died in New Jersey at the age of 74. He came to Key West with his brother John who owned a quarter interest in the Island. In 1829, he completed the first survey of the Island of Key West. He had served as Collector of Customs and Mayor of Key West before he returned to his native New Jersey.
1924 – Nestor Alfonso, a Key West chauffeur, was abducted by five masked men from the corner of Duval and Greene streets, taken to the county road, and severely whipped. After the beating, Alfonso was returned to the city and left at the intersection of Greene and Fitzpatrick in a nearly nude condition.
1934 – Dr. Robert O. Van Deusen of the Philadelphia Aquarium reported that he had collected 1,400 fish of 104 different species from Keys waters. The fish were held in tanks at Key West and would be transferred to those on a ship for passage to Philadelphia.
1938 – A tiger shark was caught in Key West Harbor, and a six-inch diameter roll of paper printed with “C. del Peso Cia. Dragones 4 y 6 Habana” was found in its stomach.
1960 – Key West Policeman Sam Cagnina was arrested for armed robbery after he robbed Ringside Billiard Parlor at 922 Truman Avenue.
1987 – Superintendent of Schools A.J. Henriquez named Tommy Roberts principal of Key West High School.
1998 – The USCG Cutter Joshua Appleby (WEM 556) was launched. It was named for the keeper of the Sand Key Lighthouse who was killed by the hurricane Oct. 11, 1846.
2013 – Captain Tony Days, a three-day event, kicked off in Key West with a screening of the documentary “Captain Tony Years” at the Tropic Cinema.
Information compiled by Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Loading fish in the live wells aboard Philadelphia Aquarium ship in the 1930s. From a collection of photographs taken or collected during the 1930s by the WPA workers in Key West. The Heritage House Collection, donated by the Campbell, Poirier and Pound families. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.