Reading, Writing, Pondering: Big Life Themes, Literature, Contemporary/Historical Issues |
April 19 This date always marks for me a Day of Memoriam. Not only did I reach a personal “milestone” event on this date in 1974, which led directly to another event a week later which I have always regretted, but this date in history saw many tragic events. On April 19, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln, assassinated, was buried. On April 19, 1993, 74 people died-most of them unarmed and defenseless women and children-in the flaming inferno of the Branch Davidian Compound near Waco, Texas. This was the consequence of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms' intent to “smoke out” (pun unfortunately intentional) Compound cult leader David Koresh. Irrelevant is the intention to the consequences: innocent lives were tragically destroyed. On April 19, 1995, The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building was bombed, leading to a horrendous loss of life, again including 19 children, at the Building's Day care center. 168 died, and hundreds were injured. The alleged motive for the bombing was revenge against the Federal government for-wait for this-the Waco tragedy on April 19, 1993; and for the Ruby Ridge tragedies of August 21-22, 1992, which took the lives of a young boy, his mother, and the family's unarmed dog, at the hands of FBI Hostage Rescue Team snipers. Other April 19 events: Baltimore Riots 1861 Lord Byron's death, in Greece, 1824 American Revolution began, 1775 http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-alfred-p-murrah-federal-building-... http://www.answers.com/topic/ruby-ridge |