On the eighteenth of April in seventy-five,

...hardly a man is now alive,
who remembers that famous day and year.

Truer words were never spoken, because the year under consideration is not 1975 or even 1875.

The year under consideration is 1775. The man who could remember that famous day and year would now be equally famous for being the oldest person alive today.

I'm just saying.

Do you know who wrote the poem?

Do you know the title of the poem?

Do you know in which U.S. state the action described in the title occurred? (This is sort of a trick question.)

No fair looking things up.

Listen, my children, and you shall hear...

...Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere
On the eighteenth of April in Seventy-Five,
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year...

One if by land, and two if by sea,
And I on the opposite shore will be,
Ready to ride and spread the alarm
Through every Middlesex village and farm...

You can read the entire poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow here.


Seventy-Five, of course, refers to neither 1975 nor 1875, but 1775. This statue of Paul Revere stands in Boston, Massachusetts. If you look closely, you can see in the background the spire of the Old North Church, which played a prominent role in the famous midnight ride of April 18-19, 1775.