1993 - The Branch-Davidian’s compound in Waco, Texas burned to the ground. It was the anticlimax of a 51-day standoff between the religious cult led by David Koresh and U.S. federal agents (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms). 86 perished including 17 children. Koresh and his followers opted not to surrender themselves and the children to the agents; exchanging gun fire, instead. Nine members of the cult escaped.
1995 - The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, OK was destroyed by a bomb estimated at 5,000 pounds, hidden in a rent-a-truck. The blast was the worst bombing on U.S. soil. Timothy McVeigh was charged with terroristic murder. 168 people including 19 children died in the blast. 490 were injured. On June 2, 1997, McVeigh was found guilty on 11 different counts, including several first degree murder convictions for the deaths of federal officers. He was executed (lethal injection) on June 11, 2001 at the federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana. Terry L. Nichols, an Army buddy of McVeigh, was sentenced to life in prison.