April History 101

Another April, another tragedy.

April 16
2007-Virginia Tech-Male student, Cho Seung-Hiu, killed two in a Virginia Tech dorm, then killed 30 more 2 hours later in a classroom building. His suicide brought the death toll to 33, making the shooting rampage the most deadly in U.S. history. Fifteen others were wounded.

April 18th
1775-Paul Revere rode from Charlestown to Lexington to warn Massachusetts colonists of the arrival of British troops during the American Revolution.
1906-San Francisco Earthquake-4 square miles were destroyed and more than 500 died in San Francisco alone. (my gr gr grandparents lost everything they had and died three years later within days of each other).

April 19th
1775-The shot heard round the world....Colonial Minute Men took on British Army regulars at Lexington and Concord, MA.
1993-Waco Seige-The siege at Waco, Texas, ended when FBI moved into the Branch Davidian compound with tear gas and cult members set fire to the compound killing over 80 people.
1995-Oklahoma City Tragedy-The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City was destroyed by a car bomb. 168 people, including 19 children were killed.

April 20th
1999-Columbine High School Shooting-Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold went on a shooting spree at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo. 14 students (including the shooters) and 1 teacher were killed; 23 others were wounded.

April 28th
1996-The Port Arthur massacre in south-eastern Tasmania, Australia was a killing spree which claimed 35 lives and 37 wounded mainly at the historic Port Arthur prison colony, a popular tourist site. Martin Bryant (28yrs) eventually pleaded guilty to the crimes and was given 35 life sentences without possibility of parole.

May 18th
1927-The Bath School disaster in Bath Township Michigan USA was the setting of three bombings which killed 45 people and injured 58. Most of the victims were children in second to sixth grades attending the Bath Consolidated School. Their deaths constitute the deadliest act of mass murder in a school in U.S. history. The perpetrator was school board member Andrew Kehoe, who was upset by a property tax that had been levied to fund the construction of the school building. He blamed the additional tax for financial hardships which led to foreclosure proceedings against his farm. These events apparently provoked Kehoe to plan his attack.