Here’s a brief look back in time for this day, April 19.
In 1775, the Battles of Lexington and Concord spark the American Revolution. The Patriots had been organizing militias and acquiring armaments for months in advance as tensions between the American colonies and the British Empire boiled. When word got out that British troops were on their way to seize the supplies, revolutionaries Samuel Prescott, William Dawes, and perhaps most famously Paul Revere, each partook on a midnight ride to warn militiamen. Armed and ready, the “shot heard around the world” was fired at sunrise, though it’s disputed which side shot first. The American Revolution has begun.
In 1995, a homemade truck bomb explodes in the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, OK. Within moments, most of the building was reduced to rubble. The building served as a complex for multiple government agencies, including the Social Security Administration, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), and most importantly in this case, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF). It reportedly killed more than 100 people; 19 of the victims were children located in the building’s daycare center. Nearly 80 miles away, a driver is pulled over and arrested for concealing a weapon. This individual was former U.S. Army soldier Timothy McVeigh, a conservative activist who vehemently distrusted the government. At this time, the cops had no idea McVeigh was the one who set off the bomb. However, detectives traced the rear axle of the exploded truck to a body shop in Kansas. They found that McVeigh had taken the truck to get work done; he was also identified by local hotel employees. Luckily, he’s still in prison a couple of states away: readily available for questioning. They found that not only was he the bomber, but he wasn’t alone. Accompanied by fellow veteran Terry Nichols, the duo procured ingredients to make the bomb. McVeigh specifically sought revenge against the ATF for their siege on Mount Carmel: the Branch Davidian complex that was destroyed a couple years prior in Waco, TX. He was even there handing out anti-government propaganda as the FBI standoff was going down. Lastly, he ensured that the bombing happened on the exact day Mount Carmel burned: April 19. With enough evidence to stand trial, both men were convicted in separate court cases. McVeigh was sentenced to death while Nichols was given life in federal prison. McVeigh was executed on June 11, 2001, in USP Terre Haute. As of 2026, Nichols is currently imprisoned at ADX Florence in Colorado.