February 26, 1993: A bad day. The Branch Davidian siege begins outside Waco, Texas; and a bomb is set off in a parking garage underneath the World Trade Center in New York. It does not bring the Twin Towers down, but it does kill 6 people and injure over 1,000.
The 1,336-pound urea nitrate-hydrogen gas-enhanced device was intended to make the North Tower collapse onto the South Tower, taking down both skyscrapers, and killing tens of thousands of people.
Ramzi Yousef, a 24-year-old Pakistani, and Eyad Ismoil, a 21-year-old Jordanian, drove a yellow Ford Econoline van into the public parking garage beneath the World Trade Center around 12:00 Noon. They parked on the underground B-2 level. Yousef ignited the 20-foot fuse, and fled.
At 12:18 PM, the bomb exploded, instantly cutting off the WTC complex's main electrical power line, knocking out the emergency lighting system. The bomb caused smoke to rise to the 93rd floor of both towers, including through the stairwells, which were not pressurized, and smoke went up the damaged elevators in both towers. With thick smoke filling the stairwells, evacuation was difficult for building occupants and led to many smoke inhalation hospitalizations.
The garage was severely damaged in the explosion, but the North Tower did not collapse. Had the van been parked closer to the WTC's poured concrete foundations, Yousef's plan might have succeeded.
Those, as yet unknown, who were responsible were treated as criminals by the Democratic Administration, and, within 6 days, the 1st arrest was made. A little over a year later, the 1st convictions were obtained. Within 4 years, all involved were in federal prison.
Eight years later, there was another attack on the World Trade Center, which did bring the Towers down. Those who were responsible were treated as war enemies by the Republican Administration, and they weren’t caught in the remaining 7 years of the Administration. The next Administration, Democratic, obtained justice in a little over 2 years.
Yousef eluded the authorities until February 7, 1995, until he was arrested in Islamabad, Pakistan by agents of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service. In the interim, he had planned, but had to call off, an attempt to assassinate Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan in 1993; left a bomb that killed 25 people at the shrine of Ali al-Ridha (a famous figure of Shia Islam, as al-Qaeda are Sunni) in Mashhad, Iran in 1994; left a bomb on a 1994 Philippines Airlines flight from Manila to Tokyo that did not destroy the plane, but killed 1 person, injured 10 others, and forced an emergency landing; and launched the Bojinka plot.
The Bojinka plot was intended to blow up 11 U.S. airliners, crash one into CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia; and assassinate Pope John Paul II. It failed on January 31, 1995, when a co-conspirator got scared, and the rest of the plot had to be called off. But, in this plot, we can see the start of the idea to carry out the attacks that were launched on September 11, 2001. Those attacks were approved by Osama bin Laden, leader of al-Qaeda. They were planned by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, an uncle of Ramzi Yousef.
Yousef was extradited to the U.S., and convicted in 1996. Ever since, he has been incarcerated at ADX Florence in Colorado, the "supermax" prison from which no prisoner as ever escaped, and put on "Terrorist Row" with Oklahoma City bomber Terry Nichols and "Unabomber" Ted Kaczynski. In 2007, he claimed to have converted to Christianity.
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February 26, 1993 was a Friday. Baseball and football were out of season. There were 12 games in the NBA:
* The New York Knicks lost to the Detroit Pistons, 108-80 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan. Joe Dumars led all scorers on the night with 43 points. The Knicks were on the road, so the decision of whether to postpone the game never came up.
* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Portland Trail Blazers, 102-91 at the Brendan Byrne Arena. Despite the Meadowlands' proximity to Lower Manhattan, no thought was given to postponing this game, and the attendance was listed as 20,049, a sellout. At the time, the Nets were 30-24, fighting the Knicks for the Atlantic Division title, and the Blazers were 32-18 and the defending Western Conference Champions. Both teams, however, would end up losing in the 1st round of the Playoffs.
* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 114-111 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.
* The Orlando Magic beat the Washington Bullets, 92-91 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.
* The Boston Celtics beat the Atlanta Hawks, 110-99 at The Omni in Atlanta. Dominique Wilkins, known for his dunks as "The Human Highlight Film," scored 36 in defeat. Kevin Gamble led the Celtics with 27.
* The Miami Heat beat the San Antonio Spurs, 93-86 at the Miami Arena.
* The Indiana Pacers beat the Charlotte Hornets, 137-105 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis. Rik Smith scored 37 for the Pacers.
* The Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Dallas Mavericks, 99-89 at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
* The Phoenix Suns beat the Utah Jazz, 113-106 at the America West Arena (now the Mortgage Matchup Center) in Phoenix.
* The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Golden State Warriors, 106-98 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.
* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 114-102 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.
* And the Seattle Supersonics beat the Sacramento Kings, 141-120 at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento.
And there were 3 games in the NHL:
* The New York Rangers and the Calgary Flames played to a tie, 4-4 at the Saddledome in Calgary.
* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Buffalo Sabres, 6-4 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.
* And the Vancouver Canucks beat the Winnipeg Jets, 7-4 at the Winnipeg Arena.
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