Fatal duel takes place on Boston Common.

In the duel, which grew out of an argument in the Royal Exchange Tavern, Henry Phillips kills his friend Benjamin Woodbridge. Woodbridge is buried in the Granary Burying Ground. Phillips, with the help of family friend Peter Faneuil, flees to France, where he soon dies, reputedly from guilt and loneliness. To discourage future duels in the future, the town passes an ordinance that orders victors “to be imprisoned 12 months without bail,” and the vanquished to be buried “near the usual place of public execution with a stake driven through the body.”