From Wikipedia: Lexington is a suburban town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is 11 miles (17 km) from Downtown Boston. Settled in 1641 as a farming community, it is well known as the site of the first shots of the American Revolutionary War, in the Battle of Lexington on April 19, 1775. It is home to Minute Man National Historical Park. The area that is now Lexington was first settled circa 1642 as part of Cambridge, Massachusetts. As the population increased, Lexington was incorporated as a separate parish, called Cambridge Farms, in 1691. On April 19, 1775, what many regard as the first battle of the American Revolutionary War was the Battle at Lexington. On the night of April 18, the British Army had sent out 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, as well as capturing two leaders of the Sons of Liberty, John Hancock and Samuel Adams, who were staying in Lexington. Hancock and Adams were warned of the danger by two alarm riders, Paul Revere and William Dawes, who alerted the countryside of the British movements. When the British soldiers arrived on the Lexington Common 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.
