April Timeline

April 19, 1775 -- "The shot heard round the world" begins the Battles of Lexington and Concord, and the American Revolution.  Commemorated in Maine and Massachusetts on the third  as Patriot's Day with the holding of baseball games in Fenway Park and the running of the Boston Marathon.  Also commemorated by Tea Partiers, "Patriot" groups, and white supremacists in less wholesome ways.

April 20, 1889 -- Birth date of Adolf Hitler.  Commemorated by white supremacists and other pond scum.  In America these commemorations are often combined with Patriot's Day.

April 15, 1955 -- Income tax returns are set as due annually on this date or the nearest next business day for most people living in America.  Protested by anti-government groups and other pond scum.

April 19, 1985 -- FBI raids the compound of The Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord (CSA) in Arkansas, a reactionary white supremacist Christian group wanted in connection with several murders with no loss of life on their major holiday, the 210th anniversary of "the shot heard round the world".

April 19, 1993 -- FBI raids the compound of the Branch Davidians, another reactionary Christian group with outstanding arrest warrants, hoping to recreate their success with the CSA.  Instead, 76 adults and children die.  Both raids are commemorated by other reactionaries around the country.

April 19, 1995 -- Right-wing nutcase Timothy McVeigh bombs the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City in retaliation for the Branch Davidian raid.  The most destructive terrorist act on American soil until 9/11, it kills 168 adults and children.

April 20, 1999 -- Junior right-wing nutcases Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold kill 12 children, a teacher, and themselves at Columbine High School in an attempt to outdo Timothy McVeigh.  It's the worst American public school massacre -- until this winter.

April 16, 2007 -- Unable to handle stress and the "frightening prospect" of being "turned out into the world of work, finances, responsibilities, and a family," (according to the official review) college nutcase Seung-Hui Cho kills 32 people and himself at Virginia Tech in the worst massacre at an American college in modern times.  No one knows if he was commemorating Patriot's Day or just panicking over the end of the school year.

April 15, 2013 -- The Boston Marathon Massacre.

Yo.  You think we could maybe have a serious discussion on domestic terrorism in this country?  Or is everyone gonna stuff their heads in the sand and act all shocked, shocked, SHOCKED the next time blood flows in the third week of April?

In 2014 Patriot's Day falls on April 21.  Mark your calendar.