History & Celebrations Today – January 22

Celebrations Today – January 22

Holidays and observances

Celebrations Today – USA: January 22

National Blonde Brownie Day
National Answer Your Cat’s Questions Day
National Celebration of Life Day
National Come in From the Cold Day
National Dance of the Seven Veils Day
National Hot Sauce Day
National Polka Dot Day

Today in US History: January 22

Linking the Keys

On January 22, 1912, the nearly twenty thousand residents of the city of Key West, Florida, located on a small island some 128 miles south of the Florida peninsula, observed the completion of an overseas rail connection to the mainland. The Florida East Coast Railway served the island until 1935, when it was destroyed by a hurricane. It was replaced in 1938 by the Overseas Highway, built on the foundation of the old railroad bed. This system of forty-two bridges, which connects the Florida Keys to the mainland, is one of the longest over-water roads in the world.

Party leaving train
Mr. Henry M. Flagler and Party Leaving First Train to Arrive at Key West,
January 22, 1912.
Taking the Long View: Panoramic Photographs, 1851-1991

The construction of the overseas railway linking the Florida Keys to the mainland was the last major project undertaken by pioneering Florida developer Henry Morrison Flagler. After losing $100,000 in the failure of his first business venture, Flagler earned his fortune as a founding partner of Standard Oil. He visited St. Augustine in 1883 and, realizing the potential for the development of improved hotels and transportation there, began construction in 1885 of the 540-room Hotel Ponce de Leon. Flagler then bought and upgraded the Jacksonville, St. Augustine & Halifax Railway, built a railroad bridge across the St. John’s River, and by 1894 had extended the railroad to Palm Beach, where he developed two large hotels: the Hotel Royal Poinciana and the Palm Beach Inn, later renamed The Breakers. Flagler’s mansion, Whitehall, a wedding gift to his third wife, Mary Lily Kenan, was constructed in Palm Beach in 1902.

Key West, Fla. from City Hall tower
Key West, Florida from City Hall Tower, 1912.
Taking the Long View: Panoramic Photographs, 1851-1991

In 1896, Flagler extended his railway to the area that was soon named Miami. His investments in the town included the Royal Palm Hotel, opened in 1897. Henry Flagler died in 1913, a year after the completion of his renamed Florida East Coast Railway to its southern terminus in Key West.

Key West, the southernmost city of the continental United States, is a sand-and-coral island approximately 4 miles long and 1.5 miles wide. American businessman John Simonton acquired the island from a Spanish army officer in 1822; by 1823, the U.S. government officially recognized it as a part of the United States.

Today in History – January 22-External Links

Today’s Weather in History
Today in Earthquake History
This Day in Naval History
Today’s Document from the National Archives
Today’s Events, Births & Deaths –Wikipedia
Today in History by AP
On this Day -1950 to 2005 – Today’s Story–BBC
On This Day: The New York Times
This Day in History –History.com
Today in Canadian History – Canada Channel
History of Britain that took place On This Day
Russia in History –Russiapedia