Great New England Hurricane strikes Boston.

Throughout the region, the Category 5 storm kills some 700 people, injures more than 1,700, destroys 8,000 homes, and sinks 6,000 boats. Described as “The greatest single force of havoc [ever felt in Boston],” it generates sustained winds of 121 mph and gusts up to 186-miles-per-hour at the Blue Hills Observatory, the highest ever recorded on any continent up to that time. In Boston, the storm causes some $6 million in damage. With Mayor Maurice Tobin on a speaking tour in California, City Council President John Kerrigan serves as acting mayor during the emergency.