April 23, 1982: The Conch Republic is declared, when Key West, Florida secedes from the United States of America. This actually happened, and in a town where weird things happen, it may be the weirdest ever.
In 1982, the United States Border Patrol set up a roadblock and inspection point, on U.S. Route 1 just north of the merger of County Route 905A onto Route 1, in front of the Last Chance Saloon in Florida City. Routes 1 and 905 A are the only two roads connecting the Florida Keys with the mainland.
Vehicles were stopped and searched for narcotics and illegal immigrants. This was just 2 years after the Mariel Boatlift dumped 125,000 Cubans onto Florida, many of them criminals who took up, or had already taken up, the drug trade. And it was a year and a half before a remake of the 1932 gangster film Scarface moved the action to early 1980s Miami, making the crime kingpin a Cuban cocaine lord played by an Italian-American actor, Al Pacino, instead of a Prohibition-era Italian-American booze bootlegger played by a Jewish actor, Paul Muni.
The Key West City Council complained repeatedly about the inconvenience for travelers to and from Key West, claiming that it hurt the Keys' important tourism industry. Eastern Air Lines, which had a hub at Miami International Airport, saw a window of opportunity when the roadblocks were established: Eastern was, at the time, the only airline to establish jet service to Key West International Airport, counting on travelers from Key West to Miami preferring to fly rather than to wait for police to search their vehicles.
When the City Council's complaints went unanswered by the U.S. federal government, and attempts to get an injunction against the roadblock failed in court, as a form of protest, Mayor Dennis Wardlow and the Council declared Key West's independence. In the eyes of the Council, since the U.S. federal government had set up the equivalent of a border station as if they were a foreign nation, they might as well become one. As many of the local citizens were referred to as Conchs (after the shell, pronounced "conk"), the nation took the name of the Conch Republic.
As part of the protest, Mayor Wardlow was proclaimed Prime Minister of the Republic, which immediately declared war against the United States. Wardlow symbolically broke a loaf of stale Cuban bread over the head of a man dressed in a naval uniform. He surrendered to this man after one minute, and applied for $1 billion dollars in foreign aid.
The faux secession and the events surrounding it generated great publicity for the Keys' plight. The roadblock and inspection station were removed soon afterward. It also resulted in the creation of a new avenue of tourism for the Keys.
To this day, through the City's website, the Conch Republic issues passports as souvenirs, with no legal authority. And several buildings in the city continue to fly Conch Republic flags. Their motto is, "We seceded where others failed."
Dennis Wardlow served as Mayor of Key West from 1981 to 1983, and again from 1991 to 1997. As of April 23, 2022, the 40th Anniversary of his "Premiership," he is still alive, at age 78 -- and, he says, still waiting for his foreign aid!
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April 23, 1982 was a Friday. A full slate of Major League Baseball games was played:
* The New York Yankees lost to the Detroit Tigers, 9-1 at Yankee Stadium. Dan Petry outpitched Dave Rightetti.
* The New York Mets lost to the Montreal Expos, 5-4 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal.
* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 9-2 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.
* The Chicago White Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles, 4-2 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.
* The San Diego Padres beat the Atlanta Braves, 6-3 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Sixto Lezcano hit a 3-run home run in the top of the 12th inning.
* The Boston Red Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-4 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto.
* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs, 12-10 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
* The Kansas City Royals beat the Cleveland Indians, 11-6 at Royals Stadium in Kansas City. (It was renamed Kauffman Stadium in 1993.)
* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Texas Rangers, 2-1 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.
* The Houston Astros beat the Cincinnati Reds, 7-3 at the Astrodome. Joe Niekro outpitched Tom Seaver.
* The California Angels beat the Oakland Athletics, 7-2 at Anaheim Stadium. (It was renamed Angel Stadium in 2004.)
* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat their arch-rivals, the San Francisco Giants, 9-0 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Bob Welch pitched a 7-hit shutout, aided by a home run by Ron Cey.
* And the Minnesota Twins beat the Seattle Mariners, 12-4 at the Kingdome in Seattle.
The NFL was out of season. There were 4 games played in the NBA that night:
* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Washington Bullets, 103-92 at the Capital Center in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.
* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Atlanta Hawks, 98-95 in overtime at The Omni in Atlanta.
* The Houston Rockets beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 91-70 at The Summit in Houston. (The arena has since been converted into the Central Campus of the Lakewood Church, Dr. Joel Osteen's "megachurch.") Moses Malone had 28 points and 23 rebounds.
* And the Phoenix Suns beat the Denver Nuggets, 126-110 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.
The Stanley Cup Playoffs were well underway. In a Patrick Division Final, the New York Islanders beat the New York Rangers, 5-3 at Madison Square Garden. Butch Goring and Bob Bourne each scored 2 goals for the defending Champion Isles.
In an Adams Division Final, the Boston Bruins beat the Quebec Nordiques, 6-5 in overtime at the Colisée de Québec. The winning goal was scored by Peter McNab, 10:45 into overtime.
And in a Norris Division Final, the Chicago Black Hawks beat the St. Louis Blues, 2-0 at the Chicago Stadium.
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