Fun facts about Key West, Florida

 Some fun and interesting facts about Key West, Florida

Photo credit: Aaron S. Robertson

 

I visited Key West between August 16-21, 2021, and this blog post is part of my broader Key West travel series. Stay tuned for plenty more material in the series, as I look forward to sharing with you my trip to Key West through recollections, stories, histories of the island and some of its more well-known residents, reviews, travel tips, and of course, more photos!

The wealthiest city in the United States per capita during the 1830s

You read that right - Key West was the wealthiest city per capita in the country during the 1830s. TravelExperta points out that much of the wealth during this time was generated from, "...treasure retrieval from shipwrecks off the coast." Florida-Backroads-Travel.com notes that Key West was the wealthiest and largest city in Florida in the years leading up to the Civil War, and it still remained near the top of the list for the wealthiest cities in the country during this time.

The only Union city south of the Mason-Dixon line during the Civil War

There were definitely Confederate sympathizers in Key West, no doubt, but Union forces were able to retain a tight grip on the city, thanks in large part to their control of Fort Zachary Taylor on the island, as well as Fort Jefferson some 70 miles west. It also certainly helped, as this post from the MilitaryHistoryNow.com blog entitled, "Key West - The Confederate City that Seceded from the Civil War," points out, that good portions of the residential population at the time were originally either from New England or the Bahamas, and therefore had no particular interest in fighting for the South - or for anyone, for that matter. These factors combined to award Key West the unique distinction of being the only Union city in the South.

Never above 100 degrees 

While walking the streets of downtown Key West, I overheard the tour guide/driver of a tour trolley explaining to his passengers that Key West, as hot and as muggy as the climate is, has never recorded a temperature over 100 degrees. This blog post from June 2017 entitled, "10 Cities in United States That Have Never Been Above 100 Degrees," published on the Joe Dorish Weather blog, confirms this.

Duval Street - the longest street in the world?

At just 1.25 miles long, Duval Street, the heart of the downtown Key West scene, can playfully boast that it's the longest street in the world - it runs from the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico.

That's a lot of bridges!

There are 42 bridges connecting the island to the Florida mainland. 

The Conch Republic - Key West secedes from the United States for a brief time in the 1980s!

You read that right, as well. For a very short time in 1982, Key West declared independence from the United States, and the Conch Republic was born. While the secession was largely in good fun and playful in nature, the frustration and annoyance felt by residents and business owners leading up to it was certainly real. The U.S. Border Patrol had set up a roadblock and checkpoint to inspect every car entering or leaving Key West for drugs and anyone here in the country illegally. You can read more about the formation of the Conch Republic on Wikipedia. 

Famous residents

Key West was home to, among others, Ernest Hemingway, Tennessee Williams, and Major League Baseball star John "Boog" Powell. President Harry Truman visited Key West 11 times, for a total of 175 days, during his presidency. He stayed at a house on a U.S. Navy base. That house is now a museum known as the Truman Little White House.

Christmas trivia

Did you know? Christmas trivia edition

With Christmas just around the corner, there's no better time than now to expand your Christmas knowledge. To get you started, here are three interesting facts about the December holiday.

1. If you were to gift your true love with all of the gifts mentioned in the song, "The Twelve Days of Christmas", you'd be gifting them a total of 364 gifts.

This includes 12 partridges (each in their own pear tree), 22 turtle doves, 30 French hens, 36 calling birds, 40 gold rings, 42 geese a-laying, 42 swans a-swimming, 40 maids a-milking, 36 ladies dancing, 30 lords a-leaping, 22 pipers piping, and 12 drummers drumming.

2. The Statue of Liberty is quite possibly the world's largest Christmas gift ever given.

The French gifted the United States with the Statue of Liberty on Christmas Day in 1886 to commemorate the two countries' allegiance during the American Revolution. The statue stands 151 feet tall from the base to the torch.

3. The first and last American states to give Christmas Day legal holiday status were Alabama and Oklahoma.

Alabama became the first American state to give Christmas Day legal holiday status in 1836. The last American state to do so was Oklahoma in 1907 when the state joined the Union. While Alaska and Hawaii were not yet part of the Union in 1907, both territories had already made Christmas Day a legal holiday in years prior.

If you enjoyed this post, you may be interested in our previous post, "How to save money on Christmas gifts".

Baseball trivia

Part of our occasional series, Interesting but useless trivia. Trivia that is certainly interesting, but yeah, pretty useless in the grand scheme of things. Not likely to result in a promotion, raise, or your next big career move.

Cy Young

Cy Young (Born Denton True Young, 1867-1955) was a major league pitcher from 1890-1911. He played for five teams in his 22-season career. A prestigious award is named in his honor that is given to one American League and one National League pitcher each year. Cy Young has the most wins (511) and the most losses (316) in major league history. Neither is close to ever being beaten. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cy_Young

Satchel Paige

Satchel Paige (Born Leroy Robert Paige, 1906-1982) made major league history when he became the oldest rookie in 1948 at the age of 42. He made his debut with the Cleveland Indians that season. But Satchel was far from a rookie. He was already a legend in the old Negro leagues, pitching for various teams since the mid-1920s, and had already faced a number of major league hitting stars in unofficial exhibition games across the country.

Also in 1948, Paige became the first Negro leagues player to pitch in a major league World Series. He retired in 1965 with the then-Kansas City Athletics - at the age of 59. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satchel_Paige

The most expensive baseball card in existence is the 1909-1911 T206 Honus Wagner card. In the late
1800s-early 1900s, baseball cards were largely manufactured by tobacco companies. Back then, cards did not feature the player’s stats. Rather, the backs usually had an advertisement - tobacco, candy, department stores (Boston Store came out with a set of cards in 1917), etc. Wagner, a Hall of Fame shortstop with the Pittsburgh Pirates, is said to have strongly objected to his likeness being affiliated with tobacco. As a result, his card was pulled from production, but not before a small number (50-200 estimated) made it to the public. Authentic copies can range anywhere from hundreds of thousands of dollars to nearly $3M, depending on condition.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T206_Honus_Wagner

Finally, for Brewers fans everywhere - long before the Milwaukee Brewers we have come to know and love, there was a minor league team also called the Milwaukee Brewers. That team existed from 1902-1952, and played in the then-American Association at Borchert Field on the city’s north side. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milwaukee_Brewers_(American_Association)

U.S. presidential trivia

Part of our occasional series, Interesting but useless trivia. Trivia that is certainly interesting, but yeah, pretty useless in the grand scheme of things. Not likely to result in a promotion, raise, or your next big career move.

U.S. presidential trivia

Keeping the White House in the family: John Adams is the father of John Quincy Adams. William Henry Harrison is the grandfather of Benjamin Harrison. Zachary Taylor and James Madison are second cousins. Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin Roosevelt are fifth cousins, and Theodore is also the uncle of Franklin’s wife, Eleanor. Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter are sixth cousins. George H.W. Bush is the father of George W. Bush.

The luckiest man in the world, or the unluckiest? You decide. Amidst all the turmoil going on in the Nixon administration, Gerald Ford, a long-time Republican congressman from Michigan, ended up becoming vice president, and, shortly after, president, without having been elected to either office. He had been serving as House Minority Leader in the House of Representatives up to the time of his confirmation by the Senate to become vice president.

William Henry Harrison (1773-1841): The first president to die in office; the last president born as
a British subject; until Ronald Reagan came along in 1981, he was the oldest president to take office; only one of four presidents to be a member of the Whig Party; the grandfather of a future president; the longest inaugural address at a whopping one hour and 45 minutes long; and the shortest amount of time in office with just 30 days.

President for one day? Read about the highly-controversial yet interesting claim that David Rice Atchison, a Democratic U.S. Senator from Missouri, served as president for one day, March 4, 1849: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Rice_Atchison





More neat and fun facts about U.S. presidents and the presidency:

http://www.legendsofamerica.com/ah-presidenttrivia.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Presidents_of_the_United_States_by_political_affiliation

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/08/0823_040823_presidentialtrivia.html

http://blogs.britannica.com/2009/01/inaugural-adresses-the-longest-shortest-dumbest-and-most-memorable

Gregorian and Julian calendars

Part of our occasional series, Interesting but useless trivia. Trivia that is certainly interesting, but yeah, pretty useless in the grand scheme of things. Not likely to result in a promotion, raise, or your next big career move.

In this latest installment of "Interesting but useless trivia," we look at the roots of the calendar system that we go by.

Pope Gregory XIII instituted the Gregorian calendar system.

The calendar has its roots deeply planted in Rome. Most of the world uses what's known as the Gregorian calendar. According to Wikipedia, “The Gregorian calendar is internationally the most widely used civil calendar. It is named after Pope Gregory XIII, who introduced it in October 1582.”

Prior to the Gregorian calendar, the Julian calendar, introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 BC, had been the dominant civil calendar used in the world, and, in fact, the Julian calendar was, according to an article on timeanddate.com, “...still used by some countries into the early 1900s. Some Orthodox churches still use it today to calculate the dates of moveable feasts, such as the Orthodox Church in Russia. Others who still use the Julian calendar include the Berber people of North Africa and on Mount Athos.”

Julius Caesar

When looking up the birth dates of certain historic figures, or the dates of certain historic events, you may see two dates given. One is designated as O.S. (for Old Style), and the other as N.S. (New Style). An O.S. date refers to the Julian calendar, while the N.S. date goes by the Gregorian.

Today, the difference between the two calendars is now at 13 days, with the Julian calendar trailing behind the Gregorian. The main difference between the two calendars has to do with calculating leap years. The Julian calendar has too many leap years, and so the goal of the Gregorian is to correct this and provide for a more accurate calendar.

For further information:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorian_calendar

https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/julian-calendar.html

President John Tyler's grandsons

Part of our occasional series, Interesting but useless trivia. Trivia that is certainly interesting, but yeah, pretty useless in the grand scheme of things. Not likely to result in a promotion, raise, or your next big career move.

John Tyler (1790-1862), 10th president of the United States from 1841-1845, has two grandsons still living. How is this possible, you ask? The former president was 63 when he and second wife Julia, 30 years his junior, welcomed son Lyon into the world. In turn, Lyon was 72 and 75, respectively, when he and second wife Sue had sons Lyon Jr. and Harrison.

Stalin's granddaughter Chrese Evans

Part of our occasional series, Interesting but useless trivia. Trivia that is certainly interesting, but yeah, pretty useless in the grand scheme of things. Not likely to result in a promotion, raise, or your next big career move.

Josef Stalin (1878-1953), who led the Soviet Union for nearly 30 years, from the mid-1920s until his death, has a granddaughter living in Portland, Oregon. Chrese Evans, 48, is the daughter of Stalin’s only daughter, Svetlana Alliluyeva. Svetlana died in 2011 at the age of 85, right here in Wisconsin.

Further Reading:

Portland granddaughter of Josef Stalin remembers her mother as a talented writer and lecturer in her own right (from OregonLive.com)

You think you know the story of Stalin until you read about the extraordinary life of his daughter Svetlana (from PBS.com)