Peter Griffin fascinated with a plastic bag flying in the wind is the reference to American Beauty (1999).
During a news report it is said that Fred Johnson is leading Betsy Lebow in the school board election. This is the second time Betsy tried to run for the school board unsuccessfully. The first was against Lois in S2E10: "Running Mates."
Neil Goldman is inspired by the writer of the same name.
The first episode with the new theme song in which you cannot hear Chris and Brian's voices separately.
The title is based on a line from the 1837 poem "Concord Hymn" about the Battle of Concord that started the American Revolution when the colonists fired on the British for the first time.
"By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled;
Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard 'round the world."