What Happened in Histroy 18 April?

[22WRF]

Paul Revere’s Ride

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882)


LISTEN, my children, and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.
He said to his friend, ‘If the British march
By land or sea from the town to-night,
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch
Of the North Church tower as a signal light,—
One, if by land, and two, if by sea;
And I on the opposite shore will be,
Ready to ride and spread the alarm
Through every Middlesex village and farm,
For the country folk to be up and to arm.’

Then he said, ‘Good-night!’ and with muffled oar
Silently rowed to the Charlestown shore,
Just as the moon rose over the bay,
Where swinging wide at her moorings lay
The Somerset, British man-of-war;
A phantom ship, with each mast and spar
Across the moon like a prison bar,
And a huge black hulk, that was magnified
By its own reflection in the tide.

Meanwhile, his friend, through alley and street,
Wanders and watches with eager ears,
Till in the silence around him he hears
The muster of men at the barrack door,
The sound of arms, and the tramp of feet,
And the measured tread of the grenadiers,
Marching down to their boats on the shore.

Then he climbed the tower of the Old North Church,
By the wooden stairs, with stealthy tread,
To the belfry-chamber overhead,
And startled the pigeons from their perch
On the sombre rafters, that round him made
Masses and moving shapes of shade,—
By the trembling ladder, steep and tall,
To the highest window in the wall,
Where he paused to listen and look down
A moment on the roofs of the town,
And the moonlight flowing over all.

Beneath, in the churchyard, lay the dead,
In their night-encampment on the hill,
Wrapped in silence so deep and still
That he could hear, like a sentinel’s tread,
The watchful night-wind, as it went
Creeping along from tent to tent,
And seeming to whisper, ‘All is well!’
A moment only he feels the spell
Of the place and the hour, and the secret dread
Of the lonely belfry and the dead;
For suddenly all his thoughts are bent
On a shadowy something far away,
Where the river widens to meet the bay,—
A line of black that bends and floats
On the rising tide, like a bridge of boats.

Meanwhile, impatient to mount and ride,
Booted and spurred, with a heavy stride
On the opposite shore walked Paul Revere.
Now he patted his horse’s side,
Now gazed at the landscape far and near,
Then, impetuous, stamped the earth,
And turned and tightened his saddle-girth;
But mostly he watched with eager search
The belfry-tower of the Old North Church,
As it rose above the graves on the hill,
Lonely and spectral and sombre and still.
And lo! as he looks, on the belfry’s height
A glimmer, and then a gleam of light!
He springs to the saddle, the bridle he turns,
But lingers and gazes, till full on his sight
A second lamp in the belfry burns!

A hurry of hoofs in a village street,
A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark,
And beneath, from the pebbles, in passing, a spark
Struck out by a steed flying fearless and fleet;
That was all! And yet, through the gloom and the light,
The fate of a nation was riding that night;
And the spark struck out by that steed, in his flight,
Kindled the land into flame with its heat.

He has left the village and mounted the steep,
And beneath him, tranquil and broad and deep,
Is the Mystic, meeting the ocean tides;
And under the alders that skirt its edge,
Now soft on the sand, now loud on the ledge,
Is heard the tramp of his steed as he rides.

It was twelve by the village clock,
When he crossed the bridge into Medford town.
He heard the crowing of the cock,
And the barking of the farmer’s dog,
And felt the damp of the river fog,
That rises after the sun goes down.

It was one by the village clock,
When he galloped into Lexington.
He saw the gilded weathercock
Swim in the moonlight as he passed,
And the meeting-house windows, blank and bare,
Gaze at him with a spectral glare,
As if they already stood aghast
At the bloody work they would look upon.

It was two by the village clock,
When he came to the bridge in Concord town.
He heard the bleating of the flock,
And the twitter of birds among the trees,
And felt the breath of the morning breeze
Blowing over the meadows brown.
And one was safe and asleep in his bed.
Who at the bridge would be first to fall,
Who that day would be lying dead,
Pierced by a British musket-ball.

You know the rest. In the books you have read,
How the British Regulars fired and fled,—
How the farmers gave them ball for ball,
From behind each fence and farm-yard wall,
Chasing the red-coats down the lane,
Then crossing the fields to emerge again
Under the trees at the turn of the road,
And only pausing to fire and load.

So through the night rode Paul Revere;
And so through the night went his cry of alarm
To every Middlesex village and farm,—
A cry of defiance and not of fear,
A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door
And a word that shall echo forevermore!
For, borne on the night-wind of the Past,
Through all our history, to the last,
In the hour of darkness and peril and need,
The people will waken and listen to hear
The hurrying hoof-beats of that steed,
And the midnight message of Paul Revere

[SouthernMoss]

Thanks for posting this. It's important that we remember our history.

[Marlin]

On this day...

0310 St Eusebius begins his reign as Catholic Pope
0387 Bishop Ambrosius of Milan baptizes Augustinus
1521 Parliament of Worms Cardinal Alexander questions Martin Luther
1552 Mauritius of Saksen occupies Linz
1599 Valencia arch duke Albrecht of Austrian marries Isabella of Spain
1663 Osman declares war on Austria
1666 Peace of Kleef Netherlands & bishop Von Galen of Münster
1676 Sudbury MA attacked by Indians
1775 Paul Revere & William Dawes warn "the British are coming!"
1797 France & Austria sign cease fire
1809 1st run of 2,000 guineas horse race at Newmarket England
1834 Charles Darwin sails to Rio Santa Cruz up Patagonia
1835 William Lamb Lord Melbourne forms British government
1838 Wilkes' expedition to South Pole sails
1839 Henry Kendall, New South Wales Australia, poet (Bell Birds)
1853 1st train in Asia (Bombay to Tanna, 36 km)
1856 Russian Republic Chancellor Earl von Nesselrode resigns
1861 Colonel Robert E Lee turns down offer to command Union armies
1861 Battle of Harpers Ferry WV
1862 Battles of Fort Jackson, Fort St Philip & New Orleans LA
1864 Battle of Poison Springs AR (Camden Expedition)
1865 Confederate General Johnson surrendered to General Sherman in North Carolina
1868 San Francisco Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals formed
1869 1st international cricket match, held in San Francisco, is won by Californian
1876 Daniel O'Leary completes a 500 mile walk in 139 hours 32 minutes
1879 Trial of Standing Bear-Crook on Indians citizen rights begins
1881 Natural History Museum of South Kensington England opens
1890 New York Commission of Emigration ends, closing Castle Clinton
1899 John McGraw, at 36, managerial debut as Oriole manager
1902 Denmark is 1st country to adopt fingerprinting to identify criminals
1904 L'Humanité, under Jean Jaurès begins publishing
1906 San Francisco earthquake & fire kills nearly 4,000 & destroys 75% of the city
1906 Calvinist Reformed Union in Netherlands Church forms in Utrecht
1906 San Francisco Earthquake (one of the most significant earthquakes of all time) kills over 700 people
1907 Fairmont Hotel opens
1907 Augustus Thomas' "Witching Hour", premieres in NYC
1908 Tommy Burns KOs Jewy Smith in 5 for heavyweight boxing title
1909 Joan of Arc declared a saint
1918 Cleveland center fielder Tris Speaker turns an unassisted double play
1921 Junior Achievement incorporated in Colorado Springs CO
1921 Philip James Barry's "Punch for Judy", premieres in NYC
1922 Netherlands soccer team defeats Denmark 2-0
1923 74,000 (62,281 paid) on hand for opening of Yankee Stadium
1923 Poland annexes Central Lithuania
1924 1st crossword puzzle book published (Simon & Schuster)
1925 World's fair opens in Chicago
1926 Rhein Stadium opens in Dusseldorf Germany
1927 Chiang Kai-shek forms anti-government in China
1929 Palace for People's industry in Amsterdam devastated by fire
1934 1st "Washateria" (laundromat) opens (Fort Worth TX)
1934 Hitler names Joachim von Ribbentrop, ambassador for disarmament
1935 General Sarazen's double eagle on the 15th, wins him his 2nd Masters
1935 Netherlands election (Musserts NSB wins 8% of vote)
1936 Pan-Am Clipper begins regular passenger flights from San Francisco CA to Honolulu HI
1938 Headless Mad Butcher victim found in Cleveland
1939 Franz von Papen becomes German ambassador in Turkey
1939 Hubert Pierlot forms Belgian government
1942 "Stars & Stripes" paper for US armed forces starts
1942 James H Doolittle bombs Tokyo & other Japanese cities
1942 Stanley Cup Toronto Maple Leafs beat Detroit Red Wings, 4 games to 3
1944 48th Boston Marathon won by Gerard Coté of Canada in 2:31:50.4
1944 Leonard Bernstein & Jerome Robbins' ballet "Fancy Free" premieres in NYC
1945 Clandestine Radio 1212, after broadcasting pro-nazi propoganda for months used their influence to trap 350,000 German army group B troops
1945 1 armed outfielder, St Louis Brown Pete Gray, 1st game he goes 1 for 4
1945 Epe freed (by corporal G van Aken)
1946 League of Nations dissolves (3 months after the UN starts)
1946 "Call Me Mister" opens at National Theater NYC for 734 performances
1946 Jackie Robinson debuts as 2nd baseman for the Montréal Royals
1946 Rome/Auerbach/Horwitt's musical "Call Me Mister", premieres in NYC
1946 US recognizes Tito's Yugoslavia government
1948 International Court of Justice opens at Hague Netherlands
1949 Republic of Ireland withdraws from British Commonwealth
1950 1st transatlantic jet passenger trip
1950 New York Yankees win 15-10 after trailing Red Sox 9-0 in 6th
1950 1st opening night-game, St Louis Cardinals beat Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-2
1950 Polish Catholic church & government sign accord over relations
1950 Sam Jethroe is 1st black to play for Boston Braves
1951 "Make a Wish" opens at Winter Garden Theater NYC for 102 performances
1951 Dutch Antilles government of Da Costa Gomez forms
1951 France, West Germany & Benelux form European Steel & Coal Community
1951 New York Yankee Mickey Mantle goes 1-for-4 in his 1st game
1953 "Pal Joey" closes at Broadhurst Theater NYC after 542 performances
1954 Colonel Nasser seizes power & becomes PM of Egypt
1954 Louise Suggs wins LPGA Babe Didrikson-Zaharias Golf Open
1955 "Ankles Aweigh" opens at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC for 176 performances
1955 1st "Walk"/"Don't Walk" lighted street signals installed
1955 1st Bandoeng Conference - Afro-Asian conference opens
1956 Egypt & Israel agree to a cease fire
1958 Government troops reconquer Padang, Middle-Sumatra Indonesia
1958 National League single-game record of 78,682, Giants lose to Dogers 6-5, in Los Angeles
1959 Stanley Cup Montréal Canadiens beat Toronto Maple Leafs, 4 games to 1
1962 16th NBA Championship Boston Celtics beat Los Angeles Lakers, 4 games to 3
1963 "Sophie" opens at Winter Garden Theater NYC for 8 performances
1963 Dr James Campbell performed the 1st human nerve transplant
1963 Stanley Cup Toronto Maple Leafs beat Detroit Red Wings, 4 games to 1
1964 "Cafe Crown" closes at Martin Beck Theater NYC after 3 performances
1964 "Foxy" closes at Ziegfeld Theater NYC after 72 performances
1964 Artisans strike in Belgium ends
1964 Geraldine Mock of US becomes 1st woman to fly solo round the world
1964 Sandy Koufax is 1st to strike out the side on 9 pitches
1964 Van Joe Orton's "Entertaining Mr Sloane"
1966 Bill Russell became 1st black coach in NBA history (Boston Celtics)
1968 1st ABA basketball championship begins
1968 San Francisco's Old Hall of Justice is demolished
1968 178,000 employees of US Bell Telephone System go on strike
1968 Dutch Department of Amnesty International forms
1968 London Bridge is sold to US oil company (to be erected in Arizona)
1968 Mart Crowley's "Boys in the Band", premieres in NYC
1968 Peter Luke's "Hadrian VII", premieres in London
1968 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1969 Melina Mercouri establishes Greek Aid Fund
1971 Gavaskar makes 220 in 2nd inning vs West Indies after 124 in 1st
1971 Kathy Whitworth wins LPGA Raleigh Golf Classic
1972 "Lost in the Stars" opens at Imperial Theater NYC for 39 performances
1974 Red Brigade kidnaps Italian Attorney General Mario Sossi
1975 John Lennon releases "Stand by Me"
1976 30th Tony Awards Travesties & Chorus Line win
1976 Judy Rankin wins LPGA Karsten - Ping Golf Open
1977 6th Boston Women's Marathon won by Miki Gorman of California in 2:48:33
1977 81st Boston Marathon won by Jerome Drayton of Canada in 2:14:46
1977 Alex Haley, author of "Roots", awarded Pulitzer Prize
1977 Baltimore Orioles' Eddie Murray hits his 1st homerun
1977 Pulitzer prize awarded to Michael Cristofer for "Shadow Box"
1977 Stephen Sondheim's musical "Side by Side" premieres at Music Box NYC for 390 performances
1978 Senate votes to turn Panamá Canal over to Panamá on Dec 31, 1999
1979 "Real People" premieres on NBC TV
1979 Major Haddad declares South-Lebanon independent
1980 Zimbabwe (formerly Southern Rhodesia) declares independence from UK
1981 Pawtucket & Rochester start a 33-inning baseball game
1982 Canada Constitution Act replaces British North America Act
1982 Atlanta Braves win record 11th straight opening game (beat Houston Astros)
1982 Kathy Whitworth wins LPGA CPC Women's Golf International
1982 Zimbabwe capital Salisbury renamed Harare
1983 A lone suicide bomber kills 63, at the US Embassy in Lebanon
1983 KMO-AM in Tacoma WA changes call letters to KAMT (now KKMO)
1983 Rangers 3-Islanders 1-Patrick Division Finals-Series tied at 2-2
1983 12th Boston Women's Marathon won by Joan Benoit Samuelson in 2:22:43
1983 87th Boston Marathon won by Greg Meyer of Massachusetts in 2:09:00
1983 Pulitzer prize awarded to Alice Walker for "The Color Purple"
1984 Challenger flies back to Kennedy Space Center via Kelly AFB
1985 Flyers 3-Islanders 0-Patrick Division Finals-Flyers hold 1-0 lead
1986 Robert M Gates, becomes deputy director of CIA
1986 Titan rocket explodes seconds after liftoff from Vandenberg AFB
1987 An unconscious skydiver is rescued by another diver in mid-air
1987 Bob Land wins his 6th straight Kenduskeag Stream Canoe Race
1987 Mike Schmidt hits 500th home run (vs. Robinson-Pirates)
1987 Pat Knauff, France sets 1-leg downhill ski speed record (115.012 mph)
1987 US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Maralinga Australia
1988 Barbra Streisand records "Warm All Over"
1988 17th Boston Women's Marathon won by Rosa Mota of Portugal in 2:24:30
1988 92nd Boston Marathon won by Ibrahim Hussein of Kenya in 2:08:43
1990 Bankruptcy court forces Frank Lorenzo to give up Eastern Airlines
1990 Birmingham Fire issued an original franchise in the WLAF
1990 Supreme Court rules that states could make it a crime to possess or look at child pornography, even in one's home
1991 Congress ends railroad workers' 1 day strike
1991 Census Bureau says it failed to count up to 63 million in 1990 census
1991 John Stockton breaks his own NBA season assist record at 1,136
1992 Start of South Africa's 1st Test Cricket since 1970 (v West Indies Bridgetown)
1992 Tennis ace Stefan Edberg marries Annette Olsen in Sweden
1993 "Ain't Broadway Grand" opens at Lunt-Fontanne Theater NYC for 25 performances
1993 54th PGA Seniors Golf Championship Tom Wargo
1993 Beirut-hostage Terry Anderson marries Madeleine Bassil
1993 David Lee Roth arrested in New York NY for purchasing marijuana for $10
1993 Trish Johnson wins LPGA Atlanta Women's Golf Championship
1994 "Beauty & the Beast" opens at Palace Theater NYC
1994 23rd Boston Women's Marathon won by Uta Pippig of Germany in 2:21:45
1994 98th Boston Marathon won by Cosmas Ndeti of Kenya in 2:07:15
1994 Arsenio Hall announces he will end his show in May 1994
1994 Brian Lara scores 375 for West Indies vs England to beat Sobers' world record
1994 Former President Richard Nixon suffers a stroke & dies 4 days later
1994 Lebanon drops relations with Iran
1994 Roseanne Barr Arnold files for divorce from Tom Arnold
1994 STS-59 (Endeavour) lands [approximately]
1995 Houston Post folds after 116 years
1995 Quarterback Joe Montana announces his retirement from football
1996 "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum", opens at St James Theater NYC for 715 performances

[xxxxxxl]

Thanks! This is great history.

[Icon-oclast]

The *SECOND* battle of the American Revolution.

Now, who can tell me where the first one was fought (hint: it was several months earlier in a neighboring state and one of the proximate causes of the British thrust out of Boston!)?

Don't know how long before I have access problems with this site (again), but it's nice to be here for a while.

[SouthernMoss]

The Battle of Point Pleasant, Virginia.




Glad to see you back, Iconoclast. Sorry you're still having troubles.

[matty]

thanks for the post. we should never forget the past, it is what has brought us to where we are today.