How George Washington started a World War

America’s first President George Washington fired a shot heard round the world 21 years before the start of the American Revolution. That shot triggered what many historians consider the first global war, the Seven Years War.

In May 1754, Major George Washington led a motley crew of Seneca tribesmen and Virginia militiamen into what is now Western Pennsylvania. Washington’s mission was to establish Virginia’s claim to the region by building a small fort.

At first glance, Washington’s expedition seems harmless, but it was about to…