On the 18th of April in (17)75, two lanterns were hung in the steeple of Boston’s Old North Church, signalling the moves by the British Army so the colonists could react. This led directly to the start of the Revolutionary War, and America’s eventual independence from the British Empire.

On the evening of April 18, 1775 Robert Newman and John Pulling quietly entered Old North and carefully climbed to the top of the church’s bell tower. They briefly hung two lanterns near the windows and made their escape. This signal, from the tallest structure in the town of Boston, served as an early warning that a detachment of the British Army was crossing the Charles River and heading west towards the towns of Lexington and Concord. By the end of the next night, the American Revolutionary War had begun.

Two and a half centuries later, Old North Church is serving as the host for the British Consulate’s condolence book for Queen Elizabeth II. I guess they’re over it.