Shot heard around the world was fired today.

Today in history, the shot heard all around the world was fired. On April 12, 1861, Confederate General Beauregard fired a volley of shots upon the Federal Garrison at Fort Sumpter, S. Carolina, taking the fight to President Abraham Lincoln and ushering in the American Civil War. Countless deaths and General Tecumseh Sherman's "scorched earth" policy later, "a more perfect Union" is preserved and endures.