March 5, 1770 - Boston - Tensions are high in the wake of the Stamp Act and the Townshend Acts. British soldiers of the 29th Regiment respond to a crowd of colonists who have gathered to confront an English officer accused of not paying his barber bill. The mob swells after the sound of church bells brings more people to the streets. Among the crowd is Crispus Attucks, a man of Wampanoag and African descent. The soldiers load their muskets, form up in a semicircular fashion and order the crowd to disperse. When a piece of wood strikes one of the soldiers, he discharges his weapon, after which the rest of the soldiers fire into the crowd. Crispus Attucks is struck and dies instantly, becoming the first American casualty of the American Revolutionary War. As an African American, Attucks becomes an icon of the anti-slavery movement and is remembered for his role in the history of the United States.