On this day in 1770, British soldiers, suppressing working people, shot and killed Crispus Attucks, a Black man, then killed others. Rope-maker Samuel Gray called out “Damn you! Don’t Fire!” just before being shot, at what became known as the ‘Boston Massacre’. The British soldiers were not only being quartered in the homes of colonists, but were also seeking jobs in the rope works, key industry in the port city of Boston, to supplement their meager salaries. When the workers sought to air their grievances in this regard, they were suppressed with force. Mr. Attucks is often cited as the first casualty of the Revolutionary War.