Decatur leads raid to burn pirate-held frigate Philadelphia 210 years ago tonight (Feb 16 1804)

(Thursday, February 16, 1804, evening) — Lt. Stephen Decatur led a successful raid into Tripoli Harbor, the principal sea port in Tripoli, the capital of Libya, to burn the U.S. Navy frigate Philadelphia, which had fallen into the hands of pirates during the First Barbary War.