Does everyone know what today is?

[hyphenate]

I'll give you all a great big hint:
















"Listen, my children and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere
On the 18th of April in '75
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year....."

[Orrex]

1. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's birthday?

I had no idea!

[hyphenate]

10. Close, but no cigar!

I come from and was raised in Boston Proper for most of my life, and I had it drilled into me nearly daily that Boston was, and is, the "Cradle of Liberty" and how important we were in the whole Revolutionary War. The "Freedom Trail" was reinforced as proof that we (Bostonians) were in on the "action" right from the start. It's humbling to see all the many locations where figures in our history actually participated in making this a "real" country, just like England, France and more. "They" might have "ancient" history, but we have something more tangible, I think.

So, today, April 18, 1775, is one of the first "shots" of the American revolution. It's something ALL Americans should be proud of, and Bostonians should be doubly proud of. :)

[shraby]

2. Mr. Shraby's ancestors lived a block from

Paul Revere's home, but lived there 50 years earlier than Paul Revere did...and I had 23 ancestors in the Revolutionary War. Both families came to this country in the mid 1600s.

[monmouth]

4. Did any of those brave souls fight in the Battle of Monmouth? Of

course that would have been way too far (New Jersey). Some of Washington's men trampled through what eventually was our back yard..LOL.

[panader0]

3. Cool. All I knew is that is was earth day.

At least in my little town. There was a small festival (what passes for an event around here). The native seed people gave away, for free, thousands of packets of seeds, native and otherwise. I've already got them in the sunroom in potting soil.

[cherokeeprogressive]

6. Earth Day is actually 4/22. n/t

[BlooInBloo]

5. Saturday.

[Quezacoatl]

7. Zimbabwe Independence Day

[stillcool]

8. Monday is a holiday!!

[waiting for hope]

9. Also on today:

2003: In four barricaded cottages in conquered Baghdad, Iraq, US troops find $656 million in US currency, in $100 bills stacked inside galvanized aluminum boxes sealed with blue strapping tape and green seals stamped "Bank of Jordan." On 22 April 2003, in the same Baghdad neighborhood, US troops would find another $112 million, similarly packed, hidden in seven dog kennels.

I don't think Paul Revere had this kind of military dominance in mind that evening in 1775.

[hyphenate]

11. ummmmm

Don't think so either. Muskets were not designed like AK-47s, either. ;)

[ananda]

12. I love Longfellow!

nt

[ConcernedCanuk]

13. yup - - 14 years ago - -

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http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=5487645&mesg_id=5487645

(sigh)

[roguevalley]

14. It's my dog Pippin's birthday. He hasn't got the heart of a poet but he

is a hoot. AND, he would have chased the hell out of Paul Revere when he rode past. Happy Birthday to both. :)

[Bluerthanblue]

15. my youngest son's 16th birthday!

:hi:

[progressoid]

16. Susan Boyle appreciation day?

[ohheckyeah]

17. It's my anniversary. n/t