Funny moment: Yesterday, my cell phone rang while I sat in a waiting room. Normally, I keep my phone on vibrate, but for whatever reason its ringer was turned on.

Like many early American historians, I love the soundtrack to [simpleazon-link asin="B013JLBPGE" locale="us"]Hamilton the Musical[/simpleazon-link]. My ringer plays the "Silence! A message from the King!" lyric at the end of Samuel Seabury's "Farmer Refuted."

When my phone rang, everyone in the waiting room jumped a bit because I had a "message from the king."

After I shut the ringer off, I imagined King George III smiling about the fact that he could make a room full of Bostonians jump more than 200 years after the British Army left Boston and the United States declared its independence.

"Farmer Refuted," Hamilton the Musical

King George III's Message: "You'll Be Back," Hamilton the Musical