“Listen, my children, and you shall hear of the midnight ride of Paul Revere… ” On Saturday, April 18, 2026—the anniversary of the most famous horse ride in American history —author Kostya Kennedy will visit the New Haven Museum to present little-known aspects of a beloved story in, “The Ride: Paul Revere and the Night That Saved America,” based on his book of the same title. The free NHM250 event will be held at 2 p.m. and preceded by a reception at 1:30 p.m.

Revere, a Boston-based silversmith, engraver, and staunch anti-British political operative, inspired the poem and legend of “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere.” But, according to Kennedy, the story of Revere’s ride to warn of approaching British troop is deeper and richer than previously assumed. “That night in 1775 was 12 hours that changed the world,” Kennedy says.

Revere was not the only rider that April night in 1775, but he was by far the most critical. The patriots’ best and most trusted “express rider,” he had already completed at least 18 previous rides throughout New England, disseminating intelligence about British movements. But this ride was like no other, Kennedy asserts, and its consequences in the months and years following—as the American Revolution transitioned from isolated skirmishes to a full-fledged war—became one of our founding tales.

“There’s a layered story to Paul Revere’s ride, a story that speaks directly to the tenor, values and resolve of America’s founding,” Kennedy says. “Without the ride, the course of the nation’s history would have begun much differently than it did.”