16 December 19

Tonight marks 246 years since the Boston "Tea Party." It was a truly nonviolent protest against the Tea Act, which was passed by Parliament in May 1773. By December the colonists around Boston were infused with enough rage against that tax that the "Sons of Liberty" boiled up a plan for a nighttime raid on three ships in Boston Harbor. They costumed themselves as Mohawk Indians, boarded the ships and subdued the guards (without harm), and broke apart 340 chests of tea and threw the remains into Boston Harbor. You can read more about these events at the Web site for the Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum. My tie displays a map of "Old Boston," dated 1722.