251 years ago today
Battles of Lexington and Concord
On April 19, 1775, British regulars marched from Boston to seize colonial militia supplies stored at Concord, Massachusetts. At dawn on Lexington Green, a small band of minutemen stood in their path — and someone fired the "shot heard round the world." Eight colonists died at Lexington before the British moved on to Concord, where they were met by larger militia forces at the North Bridge. The redcoats were harassed by sniper fire all the way back to Boston, suffering nearly 300 casualties. The day marked the official beginning of the American Revolutionary War, transforming a political dispute into armed rebellion and beginning the process that would produce an independent nation. George Washington would take command of the newly formed Continental Army just weeks later.
On the record: George Washington
This day, across time
- 65 CEEventPiso's Conspiracy Against Nero Exposed
- 1012DiedÆlfheah of Canterbury
- 1529EventProtestant Princes Issue First Protest at Speyer
- 1560DiedPhilip Melanchthon
- 1721BornRoger Sherman
- 1770EventCaptain Cook Sights Eastern Australia
- 1770EventMarie Antoinette Marries Louis XVI by Proxy
- 1775FeaturedBattles of Lexington and Concord
- 1824DiedLord Byron
- 1882DiedCharles Darwin
- 1903BornEliot Ness
- 1943EventWarsaw Ghetto Uprising Begins
- 1993EventWaco Siege Ends in Fire
- 1995EventOklahoma City Bombing
Alive in 1775
OverlapSame years; not influence
George Washingtonturned 43 this year
Jane Austenborn this year
Adam Smithturned 52 this year
Andrew Jacksonturned 8 this year
Benjamin Franklinturned 69 this year
Catherine II of Russiaturned 46 this year
Immanuel Kantturned 51 this year
James Cookturned 47 this year
James Madisonturned 24 this year
John Adamsturned 40 this year
10 more figures were alive that year
On This Day in History
8 EventsPiso's Conspiracy Against Nero Exposed
The freedman Milichus betrays a major plot to assassinate Emperor Nero, leading to the arrest of dozens of Roman senators and knights. The conspiracy's collapse prompted a wave of purges that destroyed many of Rome's leading families.
Protestant Princes Issue First Protest at Speyer
A group of Lutheran rulers and cities formally protest the Second Diet of Speyer's ban on Lutheranism — giving the Protestant movement its very name. Their written protest marked the beginning of organized Protestant political opposition.
Captain Cook Sights Eastern Australia
Lieutenant James Cook, aboard HMS Endeavour, sights the eastern coast of the continent that would become Australia — the first recorded European observation of the continent's eastern shore.
Marie Antoinette Marries Louis XVI by Proxy
The fourteen-year-old Austrian archduchess Marie Antoinette is formally married to the French Dauphin Louis in a proxy ceremony, sealing a diplomatic alliance between France and Austria that would ultimately do neither dynasty any good.
Battles of Lexington and Concord — the American Revolution Begins
British regulars and American minutemen exchange fire at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, firing the "shot heard round the world." The American Revolutionary War has begun.
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Begins
Jewish fighters inside the Warsaw Ghetto launch a desperate armed uprising against the Nazi forces sent to liquidate the remaining population. The revolt, led largely by young fighters with limited weapons, lasted nearly a month — far longer than anyone had expected.
Waco Siege Ends in Fire
The 51-day standoff between federal agents and David Koresh's Branch Davidian sect near Waco, Texas, ends catastrophically when the compound burns, killing over 75 people including 25 children. The siege and its ending remained deeply controversial.
Oklahoma City Bombing
A truck bomb destroys the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people — including 19 children in the building's daycare center. It was the deadliest domestic terrorist attack in American history at that time.
Born on This Day
Eliot Ness
Prohibition Agent & Law Enforcement Officer
Eliot Ness led the "Untouchables," a team of incorruptible federal agents who built a case against Al Capone in Chicago during Prohibition. He later served as Safety Director of Cleveland during the era of the Torso Murders.
Roger Sherman
Founding Father & Politician
The only person to sign all four great founding documents of the United States — the Continental Association, the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution — Sherman was a self-taught lawyer and one of the framers' most pragmatic voices.
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Ælfheah of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury was captured by Viking raiders and, when he refused to allow his ransom to be paid from his impoverished diocese's funds, was pelted to death with bones and ox heads by drunken Danes at Greenwich. He was later canonized.
Philip Melanchthon
German Theologian & Reformer
Luther's closest collaborator and the primary systematizer of Lutheran theology, Melanchthon drafted the Augsburg Confession and worked tirelessly to moderate religious conflicts in Protestant Germany.
Lord Byron
Romantic Poet
George Gordon Byron, the flamboyant Romantic poet whose work scandalized and captivated Europe, died at Missolonghi in Greece while organizing the fight for Greek independence. He was 36.
Charles Darwin
English naturalist and biologist
The father of evolutionary biology, Darwin's On the Origin of Species revolutionized our understanding of life on Earth through the theory of natural selection.
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