July 11 · This Day in America
At first light, two boats cross the Hudson to a ledge at Weehawken, where dueling is quietly tolerated. Aaron Burr, Vice President of the United States, faces Alexander Hamilton, the man who built the nation's finances out of nothing. Years of personal venom have led here. Hamilton has written beforehand that he means to throw away his fire — to stand and not aim. He never gets the chance. Burr's ball strikes him in the abdomen. Hamilton falls, is carried back across the river, and dies the next afternoon in Manhattan. The republic loses one of its sharpest architects, and a serving Vice President is charged with murder in two states. The young country had argued itself into being. It had not yet learned that the argument could be survived without the gun.
Source: www.nps.gov
Also on this day · 1914
At Fenway Park, a teenager just sold off by the Baltimore Orioles takes the mound for the Boston Red Sox and pitches seven strong innings to beat Cleveland, 4-3. George Herman Ruth had ridden a train all night to get here. At the plate that day he goes 0-for-2 and is yanked for a pinch hitter — nobody yet imagines what that bat will become. The Babe had arrived, pitching first.
Source: sabr.org
“I have resolved to reserve and throw away my first fire, and I have thoughts even of reserving my second fire.”Alexander Hamilton, 1804