1835-The superintendent of the lighthouse system wrote to Winslow Lewis, "I perceive by a Mobile paper which I received this morning that the Mobile Point light has been fitted by you as a revolving light" similar to the nearby Pensacola lighthouse. "I am very sorry that you have don so." Lewis was a contractor who -- almost by himself -- virtually controlled the administration of the lighthouse system. The incident helped cause a Congressional investigation that ultimately created a modern lighthouse system in this country. 1839-Near Gloucester, Massachusetts, a storm from the southeast caught and dragged ashore or drove to sea over fifty vessels.