Aaron Burr is the current vice president.
Pedro Velarde y Santillan -LRB- October 25 , 1779 -- May 2 , 1808 -RRB- was a Spanish artillery captain famous for his heroic death in the Dos de Mayo uprisings against the French occupation of Madrid .. Madrid. Madrid. Spanish. Spain. artillery. artillery. captain. Captain ( land and air ). Dos de Mayo. The May 2nd Uprising in Madrid ( 1808 ). French. France. He became a popular hero and martyr figure for Spain 's subsequent War of Independence from the French Empire .. Spain. Spain. French. France. martyr. martyr. War of Independence. Peninsular War. French Empire. First French Empire. Born to a Cantabrian family in Muriedas , Camargo , Velarde enrolled in the Artillery College -LRB- Colegio de Artilleria -RRB- at the Alcazar de Segovia in 1793 .. Muriedas. Muriedas. Camargo. List of municipalities in Cantabria. Alcazar de Segovia. Segovia. He graduated near the top of his class and was promoted to Sub-Lieutenant in 1799 .. Sub-Lieutenant. Sub-Lieutenant. Lieutenant. Lieutenant. He fought in the War of the Oranges against Portugal in 1800 and was promoted to Lieutenant in 1801 .. War of the Oranges. War of the Oranges. Portugal. Portugal. Lieutenant. Lieutenant. Velarde returned to the Artillery College after the war and worked as an instructor of mathematics and ballistics , in which he became something of an expert .. mathematics. mathematics. ballistics. ballistics. In 1806 he was made a secretary of the Artillery Corps ' Junta Superior Economica and established himself in Madrid .. Madrid. Madrid. Junta. Junta ( Peninsular War ). When the mass uprisings broke out against the French occupiers on May 2 , 1808 , Velarde took up arms and rallied his men .. French. France. Acting on orders from the local junta , Velarde led 37 soldiers to defend the Monteleon artillery barracks against the French .. artillery. artillery. French. France. junta. junta ( Peninsular War ). barracks. barracks. Velarde , along with his comrade Luis Daoiz de Torres and most of his soldiers , fell in the day 's heavy fighting in which hundreds died .. Luis Daoiz de Torres. Luis Daoiz de Torres. He was 28 years old .. The name of one of the two lions standing at the Congreso de los Diputados is Velarde .. Congreso de los Diputados. Congreso de los Diputados. The other lion 's name is Daoiz .. Daoiz. Luis Daoiz de Torres. His body was recovered from the battlefield and carried off to a burial .. Velarde 's epic last stand , immortalized in artwork and monuments , assured him a central place in the pantheon of heroes from the national resistance to Napoleon that has since formed part of Spain 's national mythology .. Spain. Spain. last stand. last stand. Napoleon. Napoleon I of France