Broad Street Riot occurs.

It begins when a funeral procession by Irish-Americans to St. Francis de Sales Church refuses to make way for a fire company made up of Protestants returning from a fire in Roxbury. Mayor Samuel Eliot leads a cavalry regiment of 800 horsemen in an attempt to restore order, but is knocked from his horse several times in the process. Some 15,000 people subsequently engage in three days of rioting that leads to the homes of Irish residents of the Fort Hill area being looted and burned. The incident further inflames anti-Irish feelings in the city, but does spur efforts to professionalize the Boston Fire Department.