Shot Heard 'Round the World, at Lexington Green on this day in 1775, launched the shooting phase of the American Revolution.
The British Army sent out 700 - 800 grenadiers and light infantry soldiers on foot from Boston, with the intention of destroying Colonial gunpowder and cannons that were being stored in Concord.
When the British arrived on the Lexington Green not long after sunrise, they faced 77 men of the Lexington Militia, commanded by Captain John Parker. Someone — still unknown to this day — fired a shot, provoking an exchange of musket fire between the two sides. Eight Lexington militia men were killed, dozens more wounded. After the rout, the British marched on toward Concord. There, several hundred militia and minute men from nearby towns assembled near the Old North Bridge to turn back the British and prevent them from capturing and destroying the Colony's stores of gunpowder and military equipment. The British were turned back toward Boston and were harassed by gunfire all along their 18 mile route back to Boston by thousands of militia men firing their personal weapons at the retreating British, who lost 73 troops killed and more wounded.