Boston Light (first) goes into service.

It is located on Little Brewster Island. George Worthylake is the first keeper. The first lighthouse in North America and the oldest station in continued use in the U.S., it initially employs beeswax candles for light, and utilizes a canon as the first fog signal in the British Colonies in 1719. The building is damaged by the Great Storm of February 24, 1723, by fires in 1751 and 1757, by Colonists seeking to deprive the British of its use in 1775,* and destroyed by retreating British forces on June 13, 1776. Replaced by a new beacon (second) in 1783,* it is taken over by the federal government in 1790, and subsequently operated by the Coast Guard. The last lighthouse in the U.S. to be automated on April 16, 1998, it is the last to be staffed by the Coast Guard in 1991 begins is tended by a civilian keeper beginning in 2003.*