On this day in 1836 Seminole Indians attacked the Cape Florida lighthouse on Key Biscayne. Assistant keeper, John W. B. Thompson, and a slave returned fire until evening. The two men were wounded and the slave died. The Seminoles set the lighthouse afire, and when a large drum of oil was punctured, the entire building appears ready to burn. Thompson retreated to the top of the lighthouse to escape the flames. In desperation, he throws a keg of gunpowder to the bottom of the tower. The explosion rattled the building, momentarily suppressing the fire. The Seminoles were convinced that both men were dead and withdrew. Thompson managed to survive, although he was badly burned by the fire. He was rescued a few days later by the crew of the U.S.S. Motto, whose crew had heard the explosion although they were about twelve miles at sea.

In 1839 One enlisted man was killed when Seminoles attacked a column of the 2nd Dragoons, commanded by Colonel D. E. Twiggs, on the Caloosahatchee River, seven miles from Charlotte Harbor.

In 1917 Congregation Beth-David, Miami’s oldest Jewish congregation (begun in 1913 as B’nai Zion), was chartered.