On this day in 1770, Crispus Attucks (a former slave), James Caldwell, Patrick Carr, Samuel Gray and Samuel Maverick were killed by infantrymen of the British 29th Regiment in an event that came to be known as the Boston Massacre — sometimes referenced by Brits as the Incident on King Street — which largely resulted from tensions that had built for years between the Colonies and the English crown.

Four years later, John Hancock delivered a powerful address in observance of the lives lost on this day and their consequential impact, which ultimately proved instrumental in rallying the colonials. John Adams himself later wrote that the “foundation of American independence was laid” on March 5, 1770. Indeed, war was imminent.

The Bloody Massacre Perpetrated in King Street, Boston engraving (above) by Paul Revere is sometimes referred to by revisionists, even to this day, as “Patriot propaganda.” Sounds familiar.