This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Wednesday, April 19th, 2023. 
 
Let’s just start with on this day in history…
 
On this day in history, April 19th,

1770 British explorer Captain James Cook first sights Australia. Writes in his log book that “what we have as yet seen of this land appears rather low, and not very hilly, the face of the Country green and Woody, but the Sea shore is all a white Sand.”
1775 American Revolution begins in Lexington, Massachusetts. The "Shot Heard Round the World" takes place later that day in Concord

Minutemen Capt John Parker orders not to fire unless fired upon
In the early hours of April 19, 1775, Capt. John Parker was alerted to mobilize the Lexington Company of the Middlesex County Brigade, Massachusetts Militia, in anticipation of a British 700-man force that was marching to Concord to capture provincial arms. By 2 a.m. Parker had mustered his company on the Lexington Green. The Lexington Company of militia was typical of the period. The youngest militiaman was 18, the oldest 63; eight fathers and sons served together. Most were farmers, while some were veterans of the French and Indian War. Just after sunrise Parker and his 77 militiamen stood in defiance of the British advance guard. "Stand your ground," Parker ordered. "Don't fire unless fired upon. But, if they want to have a war, let it begin here." Maj. John Pitcairn, commander of the British advance guard, ordered the militiamen to lay down their arms. Realizing that his company was outnumbered, Parker ordered his men to disperse. As the militiamen began to break ranks, a British officer fired his pistol. Without orders, the British troops opened fire. Although greatly outnumbered, the militiamen returned the fire. The battle went on for several minutes, all around the Green. When it was over, eight Americans lay dead and nine were wounded.

1775 New England militiamen begin the siege of Boston, hemming in the British army garrison
1775 Paul Revere, William Dawes and Samuel Prescott are captured by British troops riding from Lexington to Concord, Prescott escapes to warn Concord
1782 John Adams secures Dutch Republic's recognition of the United States as an independent government, a house he purchased in The Hague becomes America's first embassy
1874 Barracks on Alcatraz Island destroyed in fire
1909 Joan of Arc receives beatification by the Roman Catholic Church
1910 Halley's comet seen by naked eye 1st time this trip (Curacao)
1926 30th Boston Marathon won by Canadian Johnny Miles in 2:25:40.4
1943 Jews refuse to surrender the Warsaw Ghetto to SS officer Jürgen Stroop, who then orders its destruction, beginning the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
1951 General Douglas MacArthur ends his military career

 
And that, was on this day in history…
 
Now let’s get to current news:
 
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2023/04/17/us-sails-warship-through-taiwan-strait-after-chinas-drills.html
 
US Sails Warship Through Taiwan Strait After China's Drills
 
The United States Navy has sailed a warship through the Taiwan Strait in its first known transit since China carried out an encirclement exercise around self-ruled Taiwan.
 
The U.S. 7th Fleet said the transit through the strait by the USS Milius on Sunday was routine. The cruisers “transited through a corridor in the Strait that is beyond the territorial sea of any coastal State,” the statement said.
 
Last week China concluded large-scale air and sea drills in the strait in retaliation for Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen meeting with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on April 5 in California. China said Wednesday that the exercises simulating an encirclement of Taiwan were intended as a “serious warning” to pro-independence politicians on the self-governing island and their foreign supporters.
 
China protested the transit Monday, saying the U.S. transit was a “public hype” and that the Eastern Theater Command was ready at any time to “resolutely safeguard the c