On July 14, 1789, Paris citizens stormed the Bastille.
The word “storm” in its various forms is almost invariably paired with “Bastille” in discussions of the event. It is one of the great clichés of history.
On the same date nine years later, in America, the Sedition Act was signed into law, prohibiting the writing, publishing, or speaking false or malicious statements about the United States government.
The passage of this repressive law spurred the formation of the first opposition party in the United States, with Thomas Jefferson as its leader and figurehead.