This week in New England history: April 18-24
By NBP Staff | April 19, 2016, 7:13 EDT
A list of significant dates in New England history:
April 19
1775: The first battles of the Revolutionary War occur in Lexington and Concord when colonists gain intelligence that the British are planning to march on Concord to raid munitions stores. Paul Revere and others ride to warn patriot leaders and colonists about the British plan. When British troops arrive in Lexington, they encounter a colonial militia intent on stopping them. The first shots are fired, and the colonists disperse. The British move on to Concord, where they encounter militia from around the area at North Bridge. In Concord, American patriots inflict the first British casualties of the war. Eventually, the Brits are forced to retreat to Boston.
1897: The first running of the Boston Marathon to commemorate the Battles of Lexington and Concord are held. This year (2016) marks the 120th running of the Boston Marathon, the oldest annual marathon in the world.
April 20
1850: American sculptor Daniel Chester French, longtime resident of Massachusetts, and sculptor of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., and the minuteman statue in Concord, Mass., is born in Exeter, New Hampshire.
1912: Fenway Park opens with its first official game, the Red Sox vs. the New York Highlanders. The park’s opening is overshadowed at the time by the tragic sinking of the Titanic.