Watch: Concord marks 250 years since start of American Revolution with parade, North Bridge ceremony
Concord, like Lexington, was marking the 250th anniversary of the start of the American Revolution with a jam-packed slate of events on Saturday.
Watch: The Battle of Lexington reenactment, 250 years later
A 6 a.m. dawn salute was held at the Old North Bridge, often referred to as the location of the 'shot heard 'round the world,' and the beginning of the war.
On the morning of April 19, 1775 , Colonial Militia from Concord and surrounding towns exchanged gunfire with British regulars guarding the critical river crossing. Although the fighting at the North Bridge lasted only a few seconds, it marked the beginning of a massive battle that raged over 16 miles along the Bay Road from Boston to Concord, and included some 1,700 British regulars and over 4,000 Colonial militia.
Concord's Patriots' Day Parade then stepped off at 8:30 a.m., with thousands lining a route that went through picturesque Concord center, past the Civil War monument, through a neighborhood of historic homes decked out for the celebration, and up to the North Bridge.
At the North Bridge, a wreath-laying ceremony was held to commemorate the engagement between the Minuteman companies and British troops.
The British Consulate General laid a wreath at the British soldiers' grave, and the U.S. General laid a wreath at a memorial statue. There was an F-15 military flyover, as well as cannon and musket salutes.
Governor Maura Healey and other dignitaries spoke to mark the momentous anniversary.
The parade continued across the North Bridge and returned to Concord Center, with dignitaries participating from neighboring towns, the state, the nation, and foreign countries with ties to Concord.
After the parade, revelers were invited to stick around for something to eat, drink, shop, and take in a 250th block party.
Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
18 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Plane carrying six crashes off San Diego coast
Six people are feared dead after a light aircraft plummeted into the Pacific Ocean three miles south-west of San Diego, California. The twin-engined Cessna 414 crashed on Sunday at lunchtime. It was the second accident involving a private plane in the area within a matter of weeks. According to the US coastguard, which sent a helicopter, two rescue boats and a light aircraft to the scene, there was no sign of survivors. The seven-seat Cessna took off from San Diego for Phoenix, Arizona and crashed less than 30 minutes later. Local reports said the pilot told air traffic controllers that the plane was struggling to maintain its altitude before plunging into the ocean. 'A debris field has been located, but I do not currently have the size of it,' coastguard Petty Officer Ryan Graves told NBC 7. 'I saw him come down at an angle. He wasn't flying straight to the ground,' Tyson Wislofsky, a witness, told the station. 'The next time he came out of the clouds, he went straight into the water. But after I saw this splash, about six seconds later, it was dead silent. I knew that they went in the water, nose first, at a high speed.' The first Cessna 414 entered service in 1968, and an updated version was introduced in 1978. 'This is a twin-engine turbo, a piston airplane, that can fly on one of the two engines. So you could lose an engine,' Jim Kidrick, chief executive of the San Diego Air and Space museum, told ABC7. Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board are examining the cause of the accident. The worst crash involving a Cessna 414 took place in July 1982 when 12 people, including American Christian singer Keith Green, died shortly after taking off from a small airport in Texas. Investigations blamed the accident on the plane being overloaded. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
San Francisco Chronicle
2 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Today in History: June 18, War of 1812 begins
Today is Wednesday, June 18, the 169th day of 2025. There are 196 days left in the year. Today in history: On June 18, 1812, the War of 1812 began as the United States Congress approved, and President James Madison signed, a declaration of war against Britain. Also on this date: In 1778, American forces entered Philadelphia as the British withdrew during the Revolutionary War. In 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated in the Battle of Waterloo as British and Prussian troops defeated the French Imperial Army in Belgium. In 1979, President Jimmy Carter and Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev signed the SALT II strategic arms limitation treaty in Vienna. In 1983, astronaut Sally Ride became America's first woman in space as she and four other NASA astronauts blasted off aboard the space shuttle Challenger on a six-day mission. In 1986, 25 people were killed when a twin-engine plane and helicopter carrying sightseers collided over the Grand Canyon. In 1992, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Georgia v. McCollum, ruled that criminal defendants could not use race as a basis for excluding potential jurors from their trials. In 2018, President Donald Trump announced he was directing the Pentagon to create the Space Force as an independent branch of the United States armed forces. In 2020, the Supreme Court, in the case of Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of the University of California, rejected by a 5-4 decision President Donald Trump's effort to end legal protections for more than 650,000 young immigrants. In 2023, the submersible vessel Titan, on an expedition of view the wreckage of the Titanic in the North Atlantic Ocean, imploded, killing all five people aboard. Today's Birthdays: Musician Paul McCartney is 83. Actor Carol Kane is 73. Actor Isabella Rossellini is 73. Singer Alison Moyet is 64. Football Hall of Famer Bruce Smith is 62. Hockey Hall of Famer Martin St. Louis is 50. Actor Alana de la Garza is 49. Country musician Blake Shelton is 49. Football Hall of Famer Antonio Gates is 45.
Yahoo
20 hours ago
- Yahoo
Burial service to be held June 9 for Gravette WWII soldier killed in D-Day invasion
GRAVETTE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — After more than 80 years, a Northwest Arkansan hero is returning home. Private Rodger Dean Andrews, a World War II soldier from Gravette, will be laid to rest with full military honors at 2:00 p.m. Monday, June 9, at Bethel Cemetery in Gravette, according to the Benton County Sheriff's Office (BSCO). His remains, recently identified after decades of uncertainty, will arrive in Northwest Arkansas the evening of Sunday, June 8 and be received by Epting Funeral Home in Bentonville. On Monday, the BCSO Motor Division will escort Private Andrews to his final resting place, joined by Military Honors and the Patriot Guard. The procession will depart Epting Funeral Home (709 N. Walton Blvd, Bentonville) at 1:15 p.m. and follow this route: South on N. Walton Blvd Right on SW 14th Street (Highway 102) Right on Highway 59 through Decatur Right on Bethel Road in Gravette Left into Bethel Cemetery 'Community members are encouraged to line the route and pay their respects to honor the life and service of Private Rodger Dean Andrews, a true American hero,' BSCO said in a Facebook post. HISTORY: Grant Hardin's 12-day escape joins the state's most infamous escapes The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced in a news release on October 2 that U.S. Army Private Rodger D. Andrews, 19, was accounted for on June 5. Andrews was assigned in June 1944 to Company C of the 37th Engineer Combat Battalion in the European Theater. On June 6, 1944, American, Canadian and British forces came ashore on the beaches of Normandy in France during Operation Overlord. The release said that at some point during the battle, Andrews was killed, but due to the chaos, it is not known what happened to him. Private Rodger Dean Andrews' remains were recovered after D-Day but went unidentified for decades. In 2014, his family requested renewed efforts. A belt with his initials helped prompt a review, and in 2019, the remains were exhumed. Scientists confirmed his identity through dental and anthropological analysis. A rosette will now mark his name at the Normandy American Cemetery. Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders said during her remarks at the 2025 Memorial Day Observance at Camp Robinson in North Little Rock that U.S. Army Private Rodger D. Andrews, 18, will be laid to rest at a family plot on June 9, more than 81 years after his death. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
