The Big Day: A historical day of history

It was strange times in America in 1804. The country was growing like a new puppy. It was rambunctious, curious, excited. Some days it did a fantastic trick. Other days it wet in the kitchen.
Oh, and did we mention that dueling was still legal back then? That’s right. Dueling. Not with swords. With guns. Yes, men - who else would do this? - walked into fields and in order to settle a squabble over a woman, who was paying the cable bill or whether Tom Brady or Payton Manning was a better QB, they would fire guns at each other. It was all very noble.

Right, the United States of America, circa 1804.

Anyhow, in July of 1804, things were really getting crazy. Alexander Hamilton, a Federalist, was generally aggravating everybody, telling them he knew how to run the government, state’s rights are for losers and making sketches of a new industrial nation on the back of men’s wig receipts. Hamilton would walk around saying: “Jefferson and Madison, why don’t you gentlemen cease to debase me in such felonious ways? And that shall be double for thou, Aaron Burr!” And you can bet Hamilton used all the right words because Noah Webster was a Federalist, too. That’s why they always won the National Crossword Off.
It was all incredibly annoying.

Anyhow, Hamilton - you may remember him from the ten dollar bill? - basically never knew when to shut up. And one day at a dinner party he said something about Aaron Burr, the Vice
President of the United States. What did he say? Well, that’s up for debate. Never the less, Hamilton said something and some reporter printed it in the paper. Burr decided he would have none of that.
So, of course, they decided to aim guns at each other’s heads. Brilliant.

Before drag racing, this is the best men could come up with.

So, the first treasurer of this great country and the sitting vice-president went out to Weehawken, New York, and shot at each other. Let me repeat: The vice-president of the United States of America shot someone. And this time, he killed the guy.
Hamilton allegedly aimed high (whoops!) and was hit in the stomach by Burr’s shot.
The doctors were briefly able to revive Hamilton and he lived into the next day, JULY 12. But the bullet had done too much damage.
As Hamilton lay dying at his home in New York, he was surrounded by family and friends. He gasped.
“I have only one regret,” he started, coughing and hacking as his life slipped away. “I…”
Just as Hamilton’s friends thought he might be gone for good, he continued.
“I only wish...cough...that I had lived 204 more years…” Hamilton said, trailing off again.
His friends were mystified. Were these the last words of the great man, the man who invented the National Bank? What did they mean? Questions and muttering began to spread between friends. Then, one man leaned closer and heard Hamilton continue.
“If I had lived exactly 204 more years, into the year 2008, I would have really liked to go to Lynne Seago and Matt Hanley’s wedding. I hear it’s going to be a blast. Also, Thomas Jefferson has a fat head.”
And, with that, Alexander Hamilton died.

Hamilton, dead.

Hamilton is gone, but Lynne and Matt's wedding, which will be taking place JULY 12, 2008, will go on.
That’s right JULY, 12, which will be the date of Lynne and Matt's wedding, is the date that Lynne and Matt selected for their wedding, which will be JULY 12, 2008.
Not a fan of the marginally accurate Hamilton-Burr duel story as a way to remember that JULY 12, 2008, will be the date when Lynne and Matt get married? How about the fact that the Etch-A-Sketch was first sold on JULY 12, the day of Lynne and Matt’s wedding?
Or Disco Demolition Night was held on JULY 12, which is coincidentally the same day that Lynne and Matt’s wedding will be held? And whole bunch of other stuff happened on JULY 12, the day of Lynne and Matt's wedding, including Kristi Yamaguchi’s birthday.

Bonus historical fact, unrelated to Alexander Hamilton or JULY 12 - which is the date of Lynne and Matt's wedding - but still interesting: ‘The assassination of President Abraham Lincoln’ is an anagram for ‘A pistol in an actor's rebel hands; A fine man is shot.’ Amazing, right? Now see if you can come up with an anagram for 'Lynne and Matt's wedding', which will be JULY 12, 2008. Post it below (you don't have to register - hit anonymous). The first five entries will get a free Save the Date card.

Check back soon for more information about where the wedding will be. We can’t give it all away at once!