March 20, 1995: The subway system in Tokyo, the capital of Japan, is hit with a terrorist attack that leaves 14 people dead, and over 1,000 people hospitalized.
The Tokyo Metro opened in 1927, and remained in operation throughout World War II and the postwar reorganization of the country. It carries about 7 million people per day. In 2022, a 24-hour ticket costs 800 yen, or about $6.71. Which means if you ride it to and from work every day, and no other rides, that's about $3.36 per ride, making it more expensive that New York's Subway; but if you need 4 trips per day, that's about $1.68 per ride, making it cheaper than New York.
The attack took place at 7:00 AM local time. The weapon was Sarin, ordinarily a colorless, odorless liquid; but, in this case, in a gaseous form. Exposure is lethal even at very low concentrations, where death can occur within 1 to 10 minutes after direct inhalation of a lethal dose, due to suffocation from respiratory paralysis, unless antidotes are quickly administered. People who absorb a non-lethal dose, but do not receive immediate medical treatment, may suffer permanent neurological damage.
The attack was launched by Aum Shinrikyo, founded by Shoko Asahara. A nearly blind man who was convicted of practicing pharmacy without a license, and founded Aum Shinrikyo in 1984, at age 29. It was a doomsday cult, containing elements of Hinduism, the Chinese form of Buddhism, and evangelical Christianity.
Like David Koresh, leader of the Branch Davidian cult that was taken down by the American federal government in 1993, Asahara told his cult members that he was the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. He gave them conspiracy theories about rival Japanese religions, the Jews, the Freemasons, the British Royal Family, and, for some reason, the Dutch. He believed that the world could only be saved after a nuclear war -- a sickening statement for someone from the only country on whom nuclear weapons had ever been used in warfare.
On May 16, 1995, Asahara was arrested, but due to technicalities, it took 7 years for his trial to begin. He was convicted, sentenced to death, and finally hanged on July 6, 2018, 23 years after the attack.
In 2007, without him, Aum Shinrikyo split into 2 separate cults, named Aleph and Hikari no Wa. Both have been designated as terrorist groups by NATO, the European Union, and Russia.
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March 20, 1995 was a Monday. Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. There were 4 games played in the NBA that night:
* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 106-102 at The Omni in Atlanta.
* The Dallas Mavericks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 102-100 in double overtime at the Gund Arena in Cleveland. (It's now named the Rocket Arena.)
* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 104-96 at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
* And the Sacramento Kings beat the Denver Nuggets, 91-89 at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento. (It's now named the Sleep Train Arena.)
And there were 5 games played in the NHL:
* The Quebec Nordiques beat the Florida Panthers, 5-4 at Colisée de Québec. Owen Nolan scored the winning goal with 2:27 left in overtime.
* The Washington Capitals beat the Hartford Whalers, 5-0 at the Hartford Civic Center. (It's now named the PeoplesBank Arena.)
* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Montreal Canadiens, 8-4 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia. Eric Lindros had a hat trick.
* In "The Battle of Alberta," the Edmonton Oilers beat the Calgary Flames, 5-2 at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton.
* And the Los Angeles Kings beat the St. Louis Blues, 5-3 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.
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