n April 19, 1995, around 9:03 a.m., just after parents dropped their children off at day care at the Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City, the unthinkable happened.
A massive bomb inside a rental truck exploded, blowing half of the nine-story building into oblivion.
A stunned nation watched as the bodies of men, women, and children were pulled from the rubble for nearly two weeks. When the smoke cleared and the exhausted rescue workers packed up and left, 168 people were dead in the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil.
Just 90 minutes after the explosion, an Oklahoma Highway Patrol officer pulled over 27-year-old Timothy McVeigh for driving without a license plate.
Shortly before he was to be released on April 21, McVeigh was recognized as a bombing suspect and was charged with the bombing.
When McVeigh's ex-Army buddy, Terry Nichols, discovered that he, too, was wanted for questioning, he voluntarily surrendered to police in Herington, Kansas, and was later charged in the bombing.
McVeigh and Nichols are awaiting trial in Denver, Colorado, and could receive the death penalty if convicted of terrorism, murder, and conspiracy charges.
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