American contralto Marian Anderson refuses to sing for segregated audiences leading to the racial integration of Miami’s Dade County Auditorium.

Civil rights leader Rev. Theodore Gibson, pastor of Christ Episcopal Church in Coconut Grove, leads black riders to the front of the bus in an effort to end racial segregation in Miami.

Fidel Castro leads an armed revolt to seize control of the Cuban government. The Cuban Revolution results in a mass exodus of Cubans to Miami, and other parts of the United States.

A small portion of Florida’s Interstate Highway 1-95 opens in Miami.

Hurricane Betsy hits South Florida causing millions of dollars in damage in South Dade County and in the Florida Keys.

The Miami Dolphins football team play its first NFL game. The team initially played at the Miami Orange Bowl Stadium in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood before moving to Joe Robbie Stadium. The Orange Bowl, originally known as Burdine Stadium when it opened in 1937, was later was home to the University of Miami’s football team, the Miami Hurricanes. It was demolished in 2008.

Miami elects Maurice Antonio Ferré (1935-2019) as its first Hispanic mayor. Ferré was born in Puerto Rico.

Race riots erupt in Overtown and Liberty City following the acquittal of four white police officers in the beating death of a black insurance agent Arthur McDuffie. The riots last for two days and result in more than two dozen deaths and an estimated $100 million in property damage.

Artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude unveil Surrounded Islands, an environmental artwork covering 11 spoil islands in Biscayne Bay with floating pink fabric.

Hurricane Andrew, a Category 5 storm, makes landfall in Florida on Elliot Key and then Homestead. The storm caused widespread destruction across Greater Miami and was, at the time, the costliest hurricane to hit the US (it was later surpassed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005).