Beaver II is dedicated.

A replica of one of the ships involved in the Tea Party, it is dedicated before some 40,000 people at a mooring near 306 Congress Street. The event, which kicks off the national Bicentennial celebration, attracts demonstrations by members of the National Organization for Women (who hold signs saying, “Taxation Without Equal Rights is Tyranny”) and a gay rights group (who carry a banner that reads, “Gay American Revolution”). A small museum opens nearby. The ship is struck by lightning and damaged by fire in 2001, damaged by another fire in 2007, towed to Gloucester for repairs and renovation, and reopens in 2012.*