Did you know Lake Tahoe had the largest explosion in US history in 1980, which stayed the largest until the 1993 WTC bombings. This story is absolutely bonkers, and although I was 4 years old, I was a local and I am shocked this isn’t bigger history. A few guys rolled in an IBM Xerox copier into the Exec Offices, and it turned out to be a GIANT 1000lb bomb… and it was an attempt to extort money. 32 hours later, they just blew it up in the building why nearby people continued to play black jack, and some people gambled on when and if the explosion would happen. CASINOS SET UP GAMBLING ODDS in the casinos nearby and cross the way.
I am mainly fascinated that there’s little understanding how the guy knew how to build it, but the below Tahoe Quarterly article (last link above the first pic) explains a bit.
Blast from the past: 40 years ago Tahoe casino bombing was biggest in US history https://www.tahoedailytribune.com/news/blast-from-the-past/
The FBI was IMPRESSED… https://www.fbi.gov/history/artifact-of-the-month/april-2019-harveys-casino-bomb
More on the man who built it: https://tahoequarterly.com/summer-2013/the-man-behind-the-bomb
How the bomb worked: