July 9th: a Virtual NYC Walking Tour through History
Posted: Jul 9, 2013 | 1:52 AM
1776: General George Washington read The Declaration of Independence to his troops in New York in a clearing outside New York City where City Hall is today.
Soldiers and civilians rioted down Broadway to Bowling Green
where they tore down the statue of King George III (King George the Worst).
It depicted the King in Roman Imperial Robes on a horse, even though he could not ride a one. It was erected in the city of the Stamp Act Congress as the winds of revolution blew, and so the statue needed protection by an iron fence, which still stands minus its imperial crowns, which were hacked off. My British guests opined that the crowns and the statue were erected to stick it to us.
The Americans returned the gift of the statue to the British via thousands of musket balls (bullets) fired at them in the summer and autumn of 1776. They were manufactured from melting the gilded lead statue down.
Fragments of the statue have been saved, including this one
in the collection of the New York Historical Society.
We experience this on Colonial NYC tours, Downtown NYC Tours, George Washington's NYC tour, and Broadway tours.
1938: Pride of Columbia, Actor Brian Dennehy born.
Take a Columbia University tour with an alum who used to give official Columbia tours for the admissions office.
1997: Brooklyn's Boxer Mike Tyson banned from pro-boxing and fined $3 million for biting Evander Holyfield's ear during a match.