Joe's Daily U.S. History Lesson -- April 19

APRIL 19 1776-The day it all started. I mentioned yesterday about Paul Revered and William Dawes warned the colonists about the British arrival, and Major John Pitcaim found Captain John Parker standing on the Lexington common freen. Pitcaim ordered his troops to disarm the American militiamen, and Parker ordered his forces to disperse peacefully. Then was the shot, and it was on. By the time the smoke cleared 8 American colonists were dead and 10 were wounded. Thus, the very brief Battle of Lexington. Pitcaim took his solders to Concord to destroy the weapons cache, as ordered by the British government. Only this time, the militiamen were ready for Pitcaim, and routed the British troops during a firefight at Concord’s North Bridge. Bad ass man! The British retreated to Boston but were under constant fire from snipers behind rocks and trees. The only reason Pitcaim had any survivors was because Lord Percy arrived with his column who h eld pursuers at bay with artillery fire. By the time Pitcaim’s men limped back into Boston, 20 percent of their number had become casualties. The American Revolution was now in full swing. It was looking real good for the Americans until the Beatles came over and sang I Want to Hold Your Hand, forcing Ed Sullivan to surrender his theater.

1993- The Mount Carmel Center is engulfed in flames …and 80 Branch Davidians, including children perish in the inferno. The Davidians, a religious group that separated from the Seventh-day Adventist Church in 1955, was led by Davide Koresh at the Carmel Center near Waco, TX. It all started in 1955 when Victor Houteff founded the Davidians based on his prophecy of an imminent apocalypse involving the second coming of Jesus Christ and the defeat of the evil armies of Babylon. The followers slept in tents, trucks, buses, wherever they could to await the final battle. When it didn’t happen, Benjamin Roden took over the Branch. When Benjamin died, control shifted to his wife Lois, who was supposed to give control to her son George, but instead gave it to David Koresh. This caused a schism in the group, and Koresh moved his group to Mt. Carmel. Roden’s group had its own story. Koresh meanwhile stated he was told by god to procreate with the women in the group to establish a “House of David” or his special people, which mean separating married couples in the group and agreeing that only he could have sex with the wives, while the men should observe celibacy. Good times. But getting back to the fire. The group was suspected of weapons violations and the ATF obtained a search warrant. The raid got out of control, gun fire was exchanged, four ATF officers were killed. After that epic fail the FBI took over. This lasted in a standoff that lasted 51 days. Attorney General Janet Reno made the suggestion to end the standoff with a gas attack, President Clinton agreed, and it was on. April 19, 1993, tear gas was thrown into the compound, and instead of the Branch Davidians surrendering peacefully the place caught on fire, for several possible reasons, and 76 people died, including Koresh. There remains to this day lots of conspiracies regarding the event, especially about how the fire strated. But whether it was a result of the sect members starting the fire, or it being started from mishandled tear gas containers, in 2000 an investigation blamed it on the sect members. This ugly day in American history would directly lead to another one exactly two years later: the Oklahoma City bombing.

1955 – Days and Deeds is due back Kewanee Public Library in Illinois. Emily Canellos-Sims was the perpetrator, who checked out the book two weeks prior. She  wouldn’t return this book of poetry until 47 yearzs later when she found it at her mother’s house. Emily returned the book to the library with a check for the overdue fine, $345.14. I hope she learned her lesson.