Well maybe it wasn't the Liberty Bell (Freedom's Bell after all), and maybe there weren't even any bells ringing even though that would have been almost a sure thing to have happened, but the fact remains that today was the effective day that the United States of America won the war of revolution against Great Britain. It was October 19, 1781 when General Lord Charles Cornwallis signed surrender papers at Yorktown, VA. This was the second major surrender by the British in the Revolution. In all, at Yorktown, about 8,000 troops were taken captive by the Americans led by General George Washington, and all of Great Britain's hopes of winning the war were lost. For this victory we owe a lot to the French, for it was only with an assist from Commander Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur comte de Rochambeau and Admiral Francois de Grasse that this victory was achieved. Of course the treaty that truly ended the war was not signed until 1783, but the siege of Yorktown culminating with the surrender of Cornwallis' army marked freedom for the U.S.A..
For more info see:
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_yorktown
All the best,
Glenn B
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