Crispus Attucks

Crispus Attucks (circa 1723?-1770), leader of a group of American colonists, who was killed when the group was fired upon by British troops in the 1770 event known as the Boston Massacre. On March 5 of that year, a group of Boston citizens participating in a demonstration harassed a squad of British soldiers; the soldiers responded by firing into the crowd. Attucks was the first man killed. Four other Americans also died in the incident.

Little is known of Attucks's life prior to the Boston Massacre. It is uncertain whether he was black, of mixed black and white descent, or of both African and Native American ancestry. Many historians believe that he was a runaway slave. In 1888 a monument was erected in the Boston Common to honor Attucks and the others who died in the Boston Massacre.