The Boston Massacre, known to the British as the Incident on King Street,[2] was a confrontation on March 5, 1770 in which British soldiers shot and killed several people while being harassed by a mob in Boston. The event was heavily publicized by leading Patriots such as Paul Revere and Samuel Adams.[3][4][5] British troops had been stationed in the Province of Massachusetts Bay since 1768 in order to support crown-appointed officials and to enforce unpopular Parliamentary legislation.Eight soldiers, one officer, and four civilians were arrested and charged with murder, and they were defended by future President John Adams. Six of the soldiers were acquitted; the other two were convicted of manslaughter and given reduced sentences. The men found guilty of manslaughter were sentenced to branding on their hand.
The Suez Canal facilitated access to key resources, notably oil from the Persian gulf. For this reason, the British particularly were reluctant to see Egypt under Nasser take full control of the canal. They launched an attack on Egypt in 1956 to eliminate Nasser and regain it.
