The Anniversary of the ‘Shot Heard Around the World’
This illustration from the Library of Congress shows the battle of Concord, where the British Army was met by more than 400 minutemen.
On the night of April 18, 1775, Paul Revere made his famous ride through Massachusetts, hanging two lanterns in the Old North Church, warning his fellow colonists that the British were coming from across the harbor. The British Redcoats marched onto Lexington, Massachusetts where they were greeted by 77 American colonial “minutemen” around dawn on April 19, 1775.
A first shot was fired - still debated among historians which side fired first - but soon eight colonists lay dead in Lexington. The British moved on to Concord, where they were met by 400 more colonists. The first shot in Lexington became known as “the shot heard around the world” marking the start of the American Revolutionary War.
We welcome your comments if you are 13 or older, and hope that our conversations here will be polite. You are responsible for the content of your comments.
We do not discriminate against any views, but may delete any of the following:
- violent, obscene, profane, hateful, or racist comments
- comments that threaten or harm the reputation of any person or organization
- advertisements or solicitations of any kind
- comments that suggest or encourage illegal activity
- multiple off-topic posts or repetitive posts that are copied and pasted
- personal information including, but not limited to, e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, mailing addresses, or identification numbers
In short: be nice and add to the discussion. If you continually violate this policy, we may limit your ability to comment in the future. If you have any questions or comments about this policy, please e-mail us.
