British Embassy Jokes About Burning Down the White House

     On August 24, 1814 during the War of 1812, the British captured Washington D.C., and burned down many public government buildings, including the White House. This event's 200th anniversary just passed, and as a result the British Embassy tweeted this picture with the following caption:

"Commemorating the 200th anniversary of burning the White House. Only sparklers this time!"

     As a result, many angry Americans, offended by this statement, tweeted the British Embassy mentioning things like how the Germans should drop firecrackers on a London cake in 2140, referencing the "London Blitz" in World War II where Nazi Germany strategically bombed London, and how grateful Americans were that the United States was not the only country that had diplomats with the inability to tweet. 

     Because of the strong backlash the British Embassy received for their joke, they tweeted an apology the following morning complete with a link to an article on the Huffington post written by the head of the British Embassy discussing the historical event and how both countries have put it behind them. Similar to the actual outcome of the War of 1812, the apology was met with acceptance from the American public and things returned to how they were before.