1914 – Meat prices were so high that Key West labor organizers had called on their members to stop buying beef. As a result, the cattle boat from Punta Rassa stopped serving the island.
1955 – The Key West High School baseball team defeated Jackson High of Jacksonville 3-2 in 12 innings to win the Class AA State High School Baseball Championship.
1980 – A study ordered by Governor Bob Graham concluded that the policy of sheltering the population in a major hurricane was “clearly insufficient” and recommended that the Keys be completely evacuated.
1994 – Key West “grande dame” Floy Thompson died at the age of 85. Thompson was a staple of the island’s social, literary, and arts scenes, and she was close friends with Ernest and Pauline Hemingway, as well as Jimmy Buffett. Thompson had long sponsored a “community awareness” scholarship for Key West High School graduates and always met personally with every recipient.
2004 – The inaugural “ChickenFest Key West” kicked off a four-day celebration of the island’s feral poultry.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Artist Henry Faulkner and Floy Thompson, 1970s. Photo by Don Pinder. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.