What was so important about Paul Revere?

Paul Revere is remembered in American history as the man who alerted the colonists to the arrival of the British militia at Lexington in Massachusetts in 1775. Born in Boston in 1735, Revere was a very successful silversmith and engraver who held strong views on American independence. In 1773 he took part in the Boston Tea Party, the famous protest in which demonstrators destroyed a shipment of tea in defiance of the Tea Act which Britain had introduced to the colonies. One year later, Revere became employed by the Massachusetts Committee of Safety as an express rider to carry important news and messages to cities like New York and Philadelphia. 

But it was that ride on April 18 1775 which makes Paul Revere so important in U.S. history.  That night, he was instructed by Dr Joseph Warren to ride to Lexington to warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock of their impending arrest by the British. He borrowed a horse and reached Lexington around midnight where he delivered his message to Adams and Hancock. He was later arrested by the British but released in time to witness some of the battle at Lexington Green.