This day in history...

Interesting parallel between the OKC bombing and COVID.....I remember that the first impression on OKC was that it must have been Islamic terrorists. I was a big Limbaugh fan at the time, and his show was pre-empted by coverage all that day. The next day he came on and said it was time for us to put our differences aside and rally behind our President, Bill Clinton. The only time I ever heard him sound respectful of Clinton, and it really struck me. Of course, two days later Clinton blamed the bombing on right wing talk radio....so much for that. But its interesting to think of Rush's reaction then, and now to watch the media use this crisis as a political nuke against the President.

 

On April 20, 2010, an explosion and fire aboard the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico, approximately 50 miles off the Louisiana coast, kills 11 people and injures 17. The fire is fought for two days before the rig collapses and sinks in 5,000 feet of water. But the rig crew had been unable to activate the "blowout preventer", the emergency shutoff of the flow of oil, before evacuating. The rig sinking breaks the flow line at its base, and for the next three months, oil spews unimpeded into the Gulf, despite numerous tries to seal it. By the time well operator BP "temporarily" caps the rig in mid-July, more than five million barrels (about 205 million gallons) of oil have been released, the largest offshore oil spill in American history. Investigations the following year determine that the disaster was "foreseeable and preventable", and BP eventually pays almost $19 billion in fines and restitution.


On April 20, 1999, two teenage gunmen kill 13 people in a shooting spree at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, south of Denver. At approximately 11:19 a.m., Dylan Klebold, 18, and Eric Harris, 17, dressed in trench coats, began shooting students outside the school before moving inside to continue their rampage. By 11:35 a.m., Klebold and Harris had killed 12 fellow students and a teacher and wounded another 23 people. Shortly after noon, the two teens turned their guns on themselves and committed suicide. Subsequent investigations determined that Harris and Klebold chose their victims randomly. Their original plan was for two propane bombs to explode in the school’s cafeteria, potentially killing hundreds of people and forcing the survivors outside and into the gunmen’s line of fire. When the bombs didn’t work, Harris and Klebold went into the school to carry out their murderous rampage.


On April 20, 1986, the Chicago Bulls’ Michael Jordan scores 63 points in an NBA playoff game against the Boston Celtics. Despite the post-season record scoring spree, the Bulls lost to the Celtics in double overtime, 135-131. Boston swept the three-game series and went on to win the NBA championship.

 

Correct, part of the reason the price collapsed is that we've been restocking the reserves over the last couple of months, and they're full.

 

On April 21, 1995, a massive manhunt for suspects in the Oklahoma City bombing 2 days earlier results in the capture of Timothy McVeigh, a 27-year-old former U.S. Army soldier who matched an eyewitness description of a man seen at the scene of the crime. On the same day, Terry Nichols, an associate of McVeigh’s, surrenders at Herington, Kansas, after learning that the police were looking for him. Both men were found to be members of a radical right-wing survivalist group based in Michigan.

On April 21, 1836, the Texas militia under Sam Houston launches a surprise attack against the forces of Mexican General Santa Anna along the San Jacinto River. The Mexicans are thoroughly defeated, and hundreds are taken prisoner, including General Santa Anna himself. In exchange for his freedom, Santa Anna recognizes Texas’s independence.

On April 21, 1989, some 100,000 students gather at Beijing’s Tiananmen Square to commemorate the death of Hu Yaobang, the deposed reform-minded leader of the Chinese Communist Party. It is the beginning of a 7 week-long standoff between students and the Communist government that will end in a bloodbath.

On the morning of April 21, 2016, Prince Rogers Nelson, who under the stage name Prince created more than 30 albums and won seven Grammy Awards, is found dead in Paisley Park, his Minnesota home and recording studio. The cause of death was an accidental overdose of the opioid fentanyl (Prince had been taking prescription pain meds for years for chronic hip pain, and was likely an accidental addict). He was 57 years old.

On April 21, 1918. Baron Manfred von Richthofen, the notorious German flying ace known as the Red Baron, is killed by Allied fire over the Somme River in France. Over a 3-year period, von Richthofen shot down 80 Allied planes, over the last year and a half while flying a Fokker triplane painted entirely red, earning him his famed nickname. In a dogfight over Allied lines, the Red Baron was struck by fire either from Canadian pilot Captain Arthur Roy Brown or by a machine gunner on the ground. von Richthofen managed to set his plane down safely, but died in the pilot's seat before troops reached him. He was buried by his enemies in France with full military honors, and the body exhumed and moved to Berlin after the war.

On April 21, 1980, 26-year old Rosie Ruiz wins the women’s division of the Boston Marathon. She is rewarded with a medal, a laurel wreath and a silver bowl; however, eight days later Ruiz is stripped of her victory after race officials learned she jumped into the race about a mile before the finish line. Ruiz was an unknown in the racing world, and officials became suspicious when they realized she had improved her time from the previous New York Marathon by 25 minutes. Ruiz, who died last year, never explained why she cheated.