Storming of the Bastille

July 14, 1789

A Parisian crowd, terrified of royal troops massing at the city gates, marched on the medieval fortress in search of gunpowder and freed its seven prisoners. The garrison's commander was beheaded on the spot. Within years the king himself would follow him to the blade. The fortress was torn down stone by stone; its key was sent to George Washington, who hung it at Mount Vernon.