This Day in History

Sun, 21 Apr 2024

Brazilian Patriot Tiradentes Hanged, Drawn, and Quartered (1792)

Born José Joaquim da Silva Xavier, Tiradentes gained his nickname, which means "tooth-puller," working as a healer in his youth. In the late 1780s, he joined and soon became the leader of a revolutionary movement against Portuguese rule in Brazil that was inspired by the American Revolution. In 1789, the movement was betrayed and its leaders were imprisoned. They were freed and exiled in 1792 with the exception of Tiradentes, who was executed in Rio de Janeiro. What was done with his remains? Discuss

Sat, 20 Apr 2024

The Columbine High School Massacre (1999)

Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were seniors at Colorado's Columbine High School when they carried out one of the deadliest school shootings in US history, killing 12 students and one teacher and injuring 21 others before taking their own lives. The incident, widely covered by the media, stirred debate about the pair's motivation for the killings, the availability of firearms, and the role of bullying, video games, and music in acts of violence. For what crime had the two been previously arrested?

Fri, 19 Apr 2024

The Battles of Lexington and Concord (1775)

The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the opening engagements of the American Revolution. While marching from Boston to Concord to seize colonists' military stores, a British force of 700 was met at Lexington by 77 local minutemen. After a brief exchange of shots, the outnumbered colonists fell back. The British continued on to Concord, where they were defeated by a militia of about 500. Who had been sent to warn the people of the Massachusetts countryside about the impending British attack?