Lexington saw the opening clash of the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775.
British troops marched from Boston to seize or destroy military supplies reportedly stored at Concord. Patriot intelligence warned local militia leaders, and riders including Paul Revere, William Dawes, and Samuel Prescott helped spread the alarm.
At sunrise in Lexington, about 77 local militiamen faced the approaching British force on Lexington Common. A brief exchange of gunfire killed eight militiamen and wounded ten. The British then continued toward Concord, where further fighting occurred at the North Bridge and elsewhere.
The first shot at Lexington is often called “the shot heard round the world,” but historians cannot establish with certainty who fired it first. Lexington and Concord are commonly named together because they formed one connected military action, yet Lexington was the site of the opening encounter.