page_title: Shot heard round the world
section_title: Skirmish at the North Bridge
hierarchical_section_title: Shot heard round the world / Skirmish at the North Bridge
caption_attribution_description: English: Danial Chester French's statue of a minuteman, at the North Bridge in Concord, Massachusetts, showing base with inscription
context_page_description: "The shot heard round the world" is a phrase that refers to the opening shot of the Battle of Concord on April 19th, 1775, which began the American Revolutionary War and led to the creation of the United States of America. The phrase has subsequently also been applied to the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914 as well as other events.
context_section_description: The phrase comes from the opening stanza of Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Concord Hymn" (1837) and refers to the first shot of the American Revolution at the Old North Bridge in Concord, Massachusetts, where the first British soldiers fell in the battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775. Historically, no single shot can be cited as the first shot of the battle or the war. Shots were fired earlier that day at Lexington, Massachusetts, where eight Americans were killed and a British soldier was slightly wounded, but accounts of that event are confused and contradictory. The North Bridge skirmish did see the first shots by Americans acting under orders, the first organized volley by Americans, the first British fatalities, and the first British retreat.
  The towns of Lexington and Concord have debated over the point of origin for the Revolutionary War since 1824, when the Marquis de Lafayette visited the towns. He was welcomed to Lexington hearing it described as the "birthplace of American liberty", but he was then informed in Concord that the "first forcible resistance" was made there. President Ulysses S. Grant considered not attending the 1875 centennial celebrations in the area to evade the issue. In 1894, Lexington petitioned the state legislature to proclaim April 19 as "Lexington Day", to which Concord objected; the current name for the holiday is Patriots' Day.
  Emerson lived in a house known as the Old Manse at the time when he was composing the "Concord Hymn", from which his grandfather and father (then a young child) had witnessed the skirmish. The house is located approximately 300 feet (91 m) from the North Bridge.
caption: The opening stanza of "Concord Hymn" is inscribed at the base of The Minute Man statue by Daniel Chester French, located at the North Bridge in Concord, Massachusetts.
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