BOSTON—A front swept away the rain clouds, leaving a bright moon overhead as Paul Revere made his way through Boston’s shadows on a chilly April night in 1775.
The British were coming. Revere got the news from Dr. Joseph Warren at around 10 p.m. on April 18.
He had to act quickly to alert the Sons of Liberty, a clandestine resistance group.
Revere likely met or got word to Robert Newman, the sexton of Christ Church, to hang two lanterns in what is now called the Old North Church—a warning that British troops were coming by sea.

He crossed the Charles River under the nose of a British warship to an awaiting horse. His thundering ride through the New England countryside alerted patriots along the way. The route took him to Lexington, where he warned John Hancock and Samuel Adams, both Founding Fathers, of the approaching British.​…