Aaron Burr! Aaron Burr!

Magnets #505a, b and c - Aaron Burr, Dueling Pistols, Alexander Hamilton

I should have made these guys #505, #506 and #507, but their history is so intertwined that I thought they should be counted as one. I bought these magnets during the really cool Alexander Hamilton exhibition at the New-York Historical Society.

Incidentally, the N-YHS which has one of the best little gift shops, ever. I heart that place so much. Plus? If you ever go to one of their events? They have the best catering. I dunno what it is, but they really do a great chicken lollipop. Heh.

Moving on...today is Duel Day!

You can probably find a better recollection of the events and personalities online, but basically, Hamilton and Aaron Burr were at odds for years, and at some dinner, Hamilton supposedly said something derogatory about Burr (who had just lost the NY Governor's election the year before). Someone recapped it in the papers the next day, and Burr wrote him a letter saying, Dude, what up? Apologize!

Hamilton was all noncommittal, so Burr wrote another letter, and didn't get a response. And the next thing you know, today, in 1804, Aaron Burr shot Alexander Hamilton in a freakin' duel in Weehawken, NJ. There's all this stuff about how Hamilton shot averted his shot from hitting Burr, but, Burr who was supposedly not the nicest guy ever, totally shot the heck out of poor Alex.

In the end, they rowed Hamilton back to NYC, where he died the next day. Burr was actually indicted (for murder!) in both NY and Jersey State, but they never prosecuted him. Dudes, what up with that?

But, here's even something weirder to think about. Aaron Burr was vice president to Jefferson at the time, while Alexander was the architect of the U.S. Treasury many years earlier. Dang. That's almost like ole Joe Biden challenging Tim Geithner to a duel.

Meanwhile, not to make light of what's arguably the most famous duel in U.S. history, but really, would half the people reading this magnetpost know who killed Alex Hamilton if not for the Got Milk commercial, where the guy has to answer the trivia question, and was all muffly yelling, "Aaron Burr! Aaron Burr!"

Annnnd, here's something weirder. Michael freakin' Bay directed that commercial! Whoa. It's amazing what you learn on these here interwebs.