Although most familiar as the hard-riding hero of Longfellow's poem, Paul Revere's claims to historical significance rest even more on his talent as a craftsman and on his industrial perspicacity. The son of a Huguenot silversmith, Apollos Rivoire, and Deborah Hitchbourn, Revere received a rudimentary "writing-school" education before turning to his father's trade.
1770 - On March 5 tensions are high between the British troops and the townspeople of Boston. Snowballs, ice, sticks and rocks are thrown at the guards, knocking one British soldier to the ground. The crowd daringly yells, "Fire on us!" and the British soldiers in their panic finally do.
On the night of April 18, 1775, silversmith Paul Revere left his small wooden home in Boston's North End and set out on a journey that would make him into a legend. Today that home is still standing at 19 North Square and has become a national historic landmark.
