It was on this date 200 years ago that Aaron Burr, the Vice President of the United States, killed Alexander Hamilton, the former Secretary of the Treasury and the man depicted on the $10 bill even today.
From the Library of Congress:
At dawn on the morning of July 11, 1804, political antagonists and personal enemies Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr met on the heights of Weehawken, New Jersey to settle their longstanding differences with a duel. The participants fired their pistols in close succession. Burr’s shot met its target immediately, fatally wounding Hamilton and leading to his death the following day. Burr escaped unharmed. This tragically extreme incident reflected the depth of animosity aroused by the first emergence of the nation’s political party system.
Both men were political leaders in New York: Burr, a prominent Republican, and Hamilton, leader of the opposing Federalist party. Burr had found himself the brunt of Hamilton’s political maneuvering on several occasions, including the unusual presidential election of 1800, in which vice-presidential candidate Burr almost defeated his running mate, presidential candidate Thomas Jefferson. In 1804, Hamilton opposed Burr’s closely fought bid for governor of New York. On the heels of this narrow defeat, Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel on the grounds that Hamilton had publicly maligned his character.
For an excellent telling of the story of the duel, see Joseph J. Ellis, Founding Brothers.